hello,

i planted new plants (banana, bird of paradise, traveler's palms) three
weeks ago. was going to mulch around them afterwards, but never got to it.

the grass is now very high.

what is best way to get rid of it? don't want to "roundup" for fear of the
obvious.

it there a tool i can use? i have seen the "garden weasel" and garden claw"
on telivision and am wondering if one of these would be useful.

the grass is bahia, which has deep roots.

i like the grass and i don't like mulch. but i can't think of a way to keep
the grass surrounding these plants short. can you?

mike

"mike" wrote in message
om...
hello,

i planted new plants (banana, bird of paradise, traveler's palms) three
weeks ago. was going to mulch around them afterwards, but never got to it.

the grass is now very high.

what is best way to get rid of it? don't want to "roundup" for fear of the
obvious.

it there a tool i can use? i have seen the "garden weasel" and garden
claw" on telivision and am wondering if one of these would be useful.

the grass is bahia, which has deep roots.

i like the grass and i don't like mulch. but i can't think of a way to
keep the grass surrounding these plants short. can you?

mike


Other than mulch or landscape fabric, the best way to deal with weeds is
with 3 essential tools:

1)
http://www.gardeners.com/Swan-Neck-H...ing.34-526.cpd
This counts as two tools, since there's a short hand-held version available
as well, although I don't see it at this site. Either one skims just beneath
the surface, slicing off the tops. Some weeds will be killed this way, and
some won't, but the tool's still worth having.

2)
http://www.seedsofchange.com/garden_...16245&q=+knife
That is by far the single most useful tool I've ever used in the garden.
Totally indestructible. Stab straight down next to a deeply rooted weed,
twist & lift, and the weed's history. Buy it now.

mike wrote:

the grass is now very high.


If the grass is tall, lay it down, cover it with cardboard (you may
have to cut pieces that fit with the plants), cover the cardboard with
mulch. The grass will exhaust itself trying to push up the existing
stem. If you cut it first, it will have a higher chance of punching
through the cardboard.

On Tue, 13 Jun 2006 16:53:58 GMT, "mike" wrote:

hello,

i planted new plants (banana, bird of paradise, traveler's palms) three
weeks ago. was going to mulch around them afterwards, but never got to it.

the grass is now very high.

what is best way to get rid of it? don't want to "roundup" for fear of the
obvious.

it there a tool i can use? i have seen the "garden weasel" and garden claw"
on telivision and am wondering if one of these would be useful.

the grass is bahia, which has deep roots.

i like the grass and i don't like mulch. but i can't think of a way to keep
the grass surrounding these plants short. can you?

mike


Get the ground soaking wet or wait until a good rain, hand pull the
grass, then mulch.

You can see a variety of weed pullers, garden weasels, claws, twisters
and so on, at the World of Weeds website at www.ergonica.com. Using a
hoe, as suggested by someone, is not effective on grass, because it
will only cut some grass blades from the top and the roots will
continue to grow. The Weed Twister is more effective in this case
because it twists and removes large clusters of grass with roots
intact.

Have fun!


JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"mike" wrote in message
om...
hello,

i planted new plants (banana, bird of paradise, traveler's palms) three
weeks ago. was going to mulch around them afterwards, but never got to it.

the grass is now very high.

what is best way to get rid of it? don't want to "roundup" for fear of the
obvious.

it there a tool i can use? i have seen the "garden weasel" and garden
claw" on telivision and am wondering if one of these would be useful.

the grass is bahia, which has deep roots.

i like the grass and i don't like mulch. but i can't think of a way to
keep the grass surrounding these plants short. can you?

mike


Other than mulch or landscape fabric, the best way to deal with weeds is
with 3 essential tools:

1)
http://www.gardeners.com/Swan-Neck-H...ing.34-526.cpd
This counts as two tools, since there's a short hand-held version available
as well, although I don't see it at this site. Either one skims just beneath
the surface, slicing off the tops. Some weeds will be killed this way, and
some won't, but the tool's still worth having.

2)
http://www.seedsofchange.com/garden_...16245&q=+knife
That is by far the single most useful tool I've ever used in the garden.
Totally indestructible. Stab straight down next to a deeply rooted weed,
twist & lift, and the weed's history. Buy it now.

Holy smokes! That web site's a total disaster. :-)


"raycruzer" wrote in message
ups.com...
You can see a variety of weed pullers, garden weasels, claws, twisters
and so on, at the World of Weeds website at www.ergonica.com. Using a
hoe, as suggested by someone, is not effective on grass, because it
will only cut some grass blades from the top and the roots will
continue to grow. The Weed Twister is more effective in this case
because it twists and removes large clusters of grass with roots
intact.

Have fun!


JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"mike" wrote in message
om...
hello,

i planted new plants (banana, bird of paradise, traveler's palms) three
weeks ago. was going to mulch around them afterwards, but never got to
it.

the grass is now very high.

what is best way to get rid of it? don't want to "roundup" for fear of
the
obvious.

it there a tool i can use? i have seen the "garden weasel" and garden
claw" on telivision and am wondering if one of these would be useful.

the grass is bahia, which has deep roots.

i like the grass and i don't like mulch. but i can't think of a way to
keep the grass surrounding these plants short. can you?

mike


Other than mulch or landscape fabric, the best way to deal with weeds is
with 3 essential tools:

1)
http://www.gardeners.com/Swan-Neck-H...ing.34-526.cpd
This counts as two tools, since there's a short hand-held version
available
as well, although I don't see it at this site. Either one skims just
beneath
the surface, slicing off the tops. Some weeds will be killed this way,
and
some won't, but the tool's still worth having.

2)
http://www.seedsofchange.com/garden_...16245&q=+knife
That is by far the single most useful tool I've ever used in the garden.
Totally indestructible. Stab straight down next to a deeply rooted weed,
twist & lift, and the weed's history. Buy it now.