Due to the dangers of herbicides in general, I have very sparingly used
them, and I have controlled my weeds primarily by removing them by hand
and various tools, such as the Weed Twister.

Since I don't have a lawn, because my house is on a hillside (lots of
weeds on empty lots on both sides of my house), I cannot say with
confidence how much effort it takes to control weeds in a lawn by hand
or tools, with no chemicals.

My guess is that by working with smart tools, you could manage a 50' x
50' lawn with about 30 minutes of effort a week. This may be comparable
to the time it takes to mow a lawn, in general. Of course, with larger
lawns, the time needed for weeding will increase proportionately. For
those of you with large or smalll lawns, is 30 minutes a week a
reasonable time-budget for managing weeds without chemicals?

---
Raycruzer
weeder


Phisherman wrote:
On 16 Oct 2006 16:43:28 -0700, "raycruzer"
wrote:

Has anyone else lost a tree to a broadleaf killer?


I have purposely killed a (small) tree using a broadleaf killer, but
it is faster and easier to pull it out by hand. I recommend using
broadleaf killers cautiously and sparingly. RoundUp is safer to use
because it decomposes quickly and won't harm the root systems of
plants you really want to protect.

If you're trying to get rid of crabgrass in your lawn, will
weed-be-gone work?


No. Weed-B-Gone is formulated to distinguish broadleaf plants from
grasses. Crabgrass is a grass. However, there are lawn products to
kill crabgrass but not other grasses--I tried one product and it was
not effective. Best defense against crabgrass is a thick lawn. I
overseed every year and no longer have the need to use pre-emergence
applications, plus fewer weeds. Years ago I thought premium grass
seed was expensive, but in the long run it saves time and money and
results in a very nice lawn. All my neighbors ask me how I did it!

---
Raycruzer
weeder


John Bachman wrote:
On Mon, 16 Oct 2006 02:10:36 GMT, bizbee
wrote:

On Sat, 14 Oct 2006 12:39:31 -0500 in
, Treedweller
graced the world with this thought:

Probably not a coincidence. Your trees are your largest "broadleaf
weeds" in the weed-n-feed worldview. Use these chemicals at your own
risk.

A master gardener at the nursery told me that a broadleaf killer is
the way to get rid of suckers popping up in the lawn, and won't hurt
the tree. Of course, this is an established tree, but my guess ist
that a cup of broadleaf sprayed on the lawn isn't going to have an
affect on a thirty foot tall, 20 year old tree.

No need for a cup full. I use a hand sprayer, the kind that you hold
in one hand and pull a lever to eject a small stream. Squirt it on
the broadleaf, usually dandelions in my area and it is gone in couple
of days. I use Weed- B-Gone. No danger to trees or non-target
species.

John