Oregon buttercup weed killer12/15/2023 ![]() When you want to garden in that spot, pull the chips away (they make a fine path material), and replace them with compost and manure, with a booster of alfalfa. Any weeds that do emerge will be easy to pull out, and the heap will rot peacefully for as long as you like. Now you can add the smother mulch of coarse chips, making it at least two or three feet deep. ![]() The heat helps to discourage the weeds from making a comeback, and, when this layer has broken down, the soil beneath it will be loosened, making it much easier to dig out any persistent weed roots. Begin by mowing or cutting back all weeds, and then layer on a two- or three-foot blanket of a hot-composting mulch such as grass clippings and dry shredded leaves in equal quantities. The most effective way to use a smother mulch is in combination. You will need to be vigilant about removing any and all shoots and stems as they appear, but by cutting the tops and starving the soil, you will win out in time. If the work is too difficult, just use more chips and keep a watchful eye on the area. Short-handled mattocks are great tools for root removal, as are heavy picks. The more you take away, the less you need to starve out. If the weeds are especially thuggish and well established, consider removing as much root as possible before applying the smother mulch. Before dumping the bark, cut back any weedy top growth (be sure to wear heavy gloves and long-sleeved, protective clothing), and heap it over the vulnerable root zone of the problem spot. Coupled with the weight of the bark and the lack of light and air, this is enough to discourage almost any weed from growing. As it breaks down, the coarse bark draws a lot of nitrogen from the soil, leaving it depleted and very lean. These chips are not suitable for garden use in the ordinary sense, but they do make a superior smother mulch. My supply comes from the road crews who trim trees around power lines. For these, I use deep (two- or three-foot) layers of very coarse bark chips. Worse weeds, such as English ivy ( Hedera helix), nettles ( Urtica spp.), and blackberries ( Rubus discolor), need coarser cover. Almost anything already growing there will be smothered by that heavy blanket, and no new weeds will grow through it. This makes a small, static compost pile that will work away quietly while you think about what you want the bed to look like. Be generous here a two-foot-thick layer is not too much. Anywhere you have an infestation of annual weeds, you simply heap a mixture of green grass clippings and shredded dry leaves or straw on top of the area. It is also one of the best ways to work toward a large soil-clearing project. Smother mulching is the answer to more serious weed infestations. Besides suppressing weeds, mulches conserve moisture and add insulation to soil, keeping our plants cooler in summer and warmer in winter. However, a good, thick mulch is effective anywhere and can be quite attractive. Long a tradition in organic vegetable gardens, mulching is less common among ornamental gardeners. Many common weeds can be kept at bay with mulch. Now we know better, but the Euro-trash weeds will always be with us. Until fairly recently, nobody worried or cared that weed seeds might come along for the ride. Most came as passengers (often in seed form) on deliberately imported plants. ![]() Many of our annual weeds, from sow thistles ( Sonchus) to dock ( Rumex), spurge ( Euphorbia) and chickweed ( Stellaria media), hail from other shores. ![]() In gardens, fireweed is a wicked runner that can tear through beds and borders in a single season. In the wild, fireweed is often the first plant on the scene after forest fires, but it is less successful at infiltrating healthy stands of native plants. This handsome, hot pink native is found in much of the temperate world. Fireweed ( Epilobium angustifolium) is a classic example. Other common weeds are termed “seeds of disturbance,” plants that mostly show up where the ground is broken. Scotch broom ( Cytisus scoparius), ox-eye daisies ( Leucanthemum vulgare), and English ivy ( Hedera helix) were imported as elegant ornamentals. Some of our worst weeds are deliberate imports that were brought here by misguided (if well-intentioned) gardeners. Unfortunately, this means weeds as well as imported border beauties. The problem is that this is one of the best places in the world to garden plants from all over the world love being part of the lush Northwestern scene. Weeds rank right up there with slugs and deer as ongoing annoyance factors in the garden. Though written for the gardener in the Pacific Northwest, many of the ideas, such as those for controlling weeds, are perfectly appropriate for gardeners in other parts of the West. Ann Lovejoy’s Handbook of Northwest Gardening, of which this is an excerpt, is full of ideas for creating and maintaining a sustainable garden. ![]()
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