I've been pulling weeds from an untended plot. Most are over 4' tall.
It's slow and my muscles are sore. Is it better just to cut them
down to the ground or should I continue trying to put out roots and
all?

"Hassen bin Lai" wrote in message
om...
I've been pulling weeds from an untended plot. Most are over 4'
tall.
It's slow and my muscles are sore. Is it better just to cut them
down to the ground or should I continue trying to put out roots and
all?

If you don't get them by the roots, they'll just grow back. If the
weeds are annuals, cutting them will aid in minimizing seed formation,
but in general there will be enough seeds in the ground for next year
anyway.

I suggest some mechanical means be used. Hoe first, then rake up the
dislodged plants. This will remove the bulk of the plants and you can
hand pick the rest. You may fork up the plants, then rake. Even
better, if you can do it, is to till the area. However, the plants
will get entwined on the axle of the tiller and make a real mess.

If you're amenable to chemical use, spray with Roundup. This will kill
everything and you can start over.

Good Luck,

Guy Bradley
Chesterfield MO
zone 6

On 18 Aug 2004 09:26:53 -0700, (Hassen bin Lai)
wrote:

I've been pulling weeds from an untended plot. Most are over 4' tall.
It's slow and my muscles are sore. Is it better just to cut them
down to the ground or should I continue trying to put out roots and
all?

Are they perennials or annuals?

If they're annuals, I would just keep them from going to seed. If
they're perennials, though, you're going to have to get those
roots sooner or later. And if you wait until later, those roots will
be deeper and harder to pull.


Penelope

On 18 Aug 2004 09:26:53 -0700, (Hassen bin Lai)
wrote:

I've been pulling weeds from an untended plot. Most are over 4' tall.
It's slow and my muscles are sore. Is it better just to cut them
down to the ground or should I continue trying to put out roots and
all?

Are they perennials or annuals?

If they're annuals, I would just keep them from going to seed. If
they're perennials, though, you're going to have to get those
roots sooner or later. And if you wait until later, those roots will
be deeper and harder to pull.


Penelope

I am a person who hates to pull weed, so here is how I would get out of
most of it. I would first pick any seed heads off the plants and toss
them in a hot compost pile or else somewhere they won't do any harm.
then I would mow the rest down and leave the remains where they fell.
Next if the important part. Cover the area with a thick layer of
newspaper (it often helps to dampen it as you put it on)and cover that
with grass clippings, compost, mulch of some kind or a combination of
all three. If you want to plant something there soon, just dig a hole
right through what you have put down and it will do fine. You will get
rid of most of the shallow rooted plants and grasses with just this.
You will still find a few, but many times fewer weeds than you started
with coming through the covering. It is really not a very big job at
this point to dig up these survivors or spot treat with a weed killer.

I use this method all the time to start new beds in areas that started
out as lawn with assorted weeds and have had great success. I am also
using it right now to clear an area along and under a tree line that
started out as nothing but big weeds and little honeysuckle trees. As I
chop down the little trees they get chipped up and used as mulch on the
paper, so they are even helping in their own demise.

Good luck with your project

Linda


Hassen bin Lai wrote:
I've been pulling weeds from an untended plot. Most are over 4' tall.
It's slow and my muscles are sore. Is it better just to cut them
down to the ground or should I continue trying to put out roots and
all?