Everyone has a particular weed in their yard that gets their goat! Whether the cure is digging it up, spraying it with weed killer or just giving it a good yank, sometimes weeds are determined and resilient. Warring with these interlopers is just part of the gardening process one must endure in order to reap the rewards of a beautiful garden.
Creeping Charlie or ground ivy can be one of the more persistent weeds, as it is able to vine itself in-between, under and around plants. It is particularly tough on lawns as it chokes out the healthy grass. Spraying is often difficult because one can’t get the spray too close to the plant the gardener is wanting to preserve. This leaves hand pulling as the best defense to ridding the area of old Charlie. Even so if a bit of this underground and overground binding vine plant is left, it will readily re-emerge. Also don’t leave it to bloom because the seeds from the bloom help spread the plant.
Some people refer to violets as a weed, while others covet their presence in their landscape. Like their companion Charlie, this plant vines underground and sends off seeds to nestle in lawns and flowerbeds. This plant is most adaptable to the environment it’s able to find itself in – preferring shade. However, an adult plant can thrive in a sunny yard as well. If it gets loose in the lawn it can adapt itself to avoid a lawn mower by growing closer to the ground as the mower shaves off the higher grass. If one were to embrace the violet and just let it take over a bed, its purple flowers would make a beautiful presentation. Keep in mind not much else would have a chance to grow where it settles and it can definitely take over a lawn.
Who doesn’t love to watch a small child blowing the puffball from a mature dandelion bloom? Sweet as this may be, the resulting seeds flying from these puffballs will result in planting more dandelions. Maintaining a healthy thick turf of grass is probably the best defense against dandelions. Keeping the grass mowed at a higher point and fertilization are keys to having and maintaining healthy turf. On the other hand, dandelion leaves make a nice salad green and the plant also can be fermented into a decent wine.
There are several other vine weeds which are also capable of invading your landscape. One that offers a lovely flower is the wild morning glory or bindweed. Some folks just let them grow over their back fences due to their pretty flowers, but there is a danger here. Birdweed is really a tough green to kill once it gets a stronghold. Even though one pulls it up at every opportunity it tends to reinvent itself year after year. Some people apply herbicides in an effort to kill it out, but this method has to be used several times to be effective.
Come St. Patrick’s Day, many of us are looking for a shamrock in a pot to display. What many of us are getting instead of a shamrock is an oxalis plant. If turned loose in our landscape, it will become a pestering weed. Another name often attached to it is the yellow wood sorrel and it loves to grow almost everywhere. The cure that seems to help is just pulling it up or using a herbicide. Again, it is a persistent plant and one has to be ever watchful for it.
These are just a few of the aggravating weeds that can invade our landscape; there is a more extensive list with cures found on the HGTV website. Have a look because one of your pesky problem weeds could be listed there.
Credit: www.herald-dispatch.com
