"Jangchub" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 5 Jul 2008 19:33:51 -0700, "Eigenvector"
wrote:


I do use a claw in the spring, but for certain weeds all it seems to do is
make them multiply. I guess if pulling weeds was simple they wouldn't be
called weeds. Based on your response and Jangchub's it sounds like I'm
worrying about them too much.

No, that's okay. You may want your garden more tidy than others. If
you want to try to get rid of unnecessary weeds, one trick is never
let it get big enough to produce seeds. The night before you plan to
do weeding, give the entire area a very deep soak. Water long enough
to lay down one inch of water. That will percolate down about eight
inches and make it much easier to pull weeds out. Just grab them from
as low to the ground as you can and jiggle them to loosen the roots
and then up. Try not to disturb the soil too much because weed seeds
can lay dormant for decades and all you have to do is disturb the
soil, turn it, till it, and you have seeds you never saw before in
your life!

If you truly don't mind sharing the garden with some weeds, don't go
crazy to get rid of them. If you just keep at it, cutting flowering
heads of weeds off before they set seed, in time you will get rid of
most of the weeds.


I guess it's all about expectations then. Here in the Pac Northwest grass
seems to be the biggest weed around. Dandilions and Catsear aren't
typically a problem so much as they are easy to pull out. But grass, pull
it out and huge clods of dirt come with it - if your not careful it uproots
the plant growing next to it.
Actually, I have a crop of quackgrass growing in my herb garden - I
deliberately left it to grow, partially to see how it would do and partially
because I simply couldn't get rid of it. It actually makes the garden much
greener and with the barriers I have around it, it won't spread beyond its
borders. I never have to water it, it competes mightily with other weeds,
and it provides a home for the frogs and snakes.

In article , "Eigenvector"
wrote:

On average, how much time would you say you devote per week pulling weeds
from the garden? I say per week, rather than per day because I used to pull
weeds on the farm - but I don't live on a farm anymore and I'm certainly not
going to devote 10 hours a day doing it.

My experiences pulling weeds in the fields made me completely apathetic
about them. However recently I've got it in my head that I might be able to
keep the garden clean without resorting to chemical warfare - but it just
doesn't seem to help. Dandilions, Catsear, Rye, and two others that I'm
actually gonna post an ID on here shortly are overrunning my garden even if
I do pull weeds for an hour a day.

How do you keep the weeds down? Pulling them up, covering them over with
mulch, weapons of mass destruction, or do you just not worry about it
anymore?

Side question:

What is the best method for controlling rye grass growing up inside a clump
of something like rosemary or lavender?

For the side question, I dug up a gaura in order to free it from
unpullable grass, almost killed the little shrub, but it eventually
returned, and so did the grass well rooted in the gaura's roots. So now I
just pull what I can hoping to tire out the grass before it tires me out.

I probably do weed for an hour a week but it's pretty much arranged to not
have to weed at all. All shrub clippings get mulched up and returned to
the yard, in autumn leaves are repositioned where I don't want weeds to
pop up in spring, and a Toyota pick-up truck load of clean compost costs
very little except the labor of shoveling it all over the place. Some
areas are so densely planted the weeds don't have a chance, like under the
mixed hedge which is too dark for much of anything to grow though poppies
do well at the shade-line so long as it's no nuisance that they lean over
in the only direction for sun.

Areas unplanted are permitted to be as weedy as they like, and if I spread
a garden into a weedy area, I lay down heavy cardboard and put steer
manure on that and then plant it the following spring. If it's possible to
make a hill, a new area I cover with a foot or two feet deep with
half-finished mulch and tree branches, add some dirt, then the cardboard
(and for loamy looks, inert composted steer manure) on top of that and
then add a foot or so of good garden soil on top the next spring for a
gardenable mound. All orchestrated to keep from weeding, yet a couple
significan perennial gardens encircling the patio I just weed.

-paghat the ratgirl
--
visit my temperate gardening website:
http://www.paghat.com
visit my film reviews website:
http://www.weirdwildrealm.com

In article , "David E. Ross"
wrote:

First of all, I never walk through my garden without pulling at least 1
or two weeks.

A freudian typo, weeding for two weeks each week!

On days when I set aside time to work in my garden, I usually pick an
area that has not been weeded recently and clear it entirely of weeds.
By "weeds", I mean any plant that is not something I planted (except of
course for volunteers -- interesting weeds). I spend about 1-2 hours a
week weeding.

I also save interesting weeds. The orange hawkweed has not gotten
established here on the penninsula, but across Puget Sound in King County
it's become a pest, and in Idaho it's illegal not to get rid of it in your
yard. It's SO beautiful and I allowed a bit of it to spread because no
other weed (or flower) can thrive in its presence and its blooms are
gorgeous. I have to stay on top of it to keep it from spreading seed, and
as this gets tiresome, I'm finally going to have yank it for the BOTTOM of
a compost heap. Too bad it's so aggressive as it's otherwise so lovely.

I actually pull some weeds; these are generally seedling ash trees (the
most common weed in my garden),

I never thought of 'em as weeds but I do have to treat as weeds seedling
hawthorns, seedling hollies, and seedling Franchette's cotoneaster.

Contrary to some of the other replies, weeding is very important. The
pimpernel was crowding out my candytuft and primroses in back and the
persicaria in front.

Besides out-competing some weeds including dandylion and hawksweed secret
a hormone that retards the growth of surrounding plants.

-paghat the ratgirl
--
visit my temperate gardening website:
http://www.paghat.com
visit my film reviews website:
http://www.weirdwildrealm.com

On 7/6/2008 7:46 AM, Eigenvector wrote:
"David E. Ross" wrote in message
...
On 7/5/2008 10:55 AM, Eigenvector wrote [in part]:
Side question:

What is the best method for controlling rye grass growing up inside a
clump
of something like rosemary or lavender?

I almost missed this.

There are herbicides that are specific to grasses. That is, they kill
grasses but not non-grasses. As always, read the label warnings
carefully. Some of these herbicides might cause temporary or even
permanent damage to plants you want to keep.


I'm almost inclined to let the grasses grow where they are - coming up
inbetween the lavender clumps. They tend to match the lavender plant, but I
was worried that if they got a foothold the lavender would get starved out.
I really don't like resorting to chemical warfare, but pulling the grass out
doesn't seem to work.

More options on my plate.


Grass won't starve lavender. Lavender prefers a "lean" soil with scant
nutrients. It also prefers a soil without abundant moisture. It's more
likely that the grass will fail to thrive in an environment that favors
lavender.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

"paghat" wrote in message
...
In article , "Eigenvector"
wrote:

On average, how much time would you say you devote per week pulling weeds
from the garden? I say per week, rather than per day because I used to
pull
weeds on the farm - but I don't live on a farm anymore and I'm certainly
not
going to devote 10 hours a day doing it.

My experiences pulling weeds in the fields made me completely apathetic
about them. However recently I've got it in my head that I might be able
to
keep the garden clean without resorting to chemical warfare - but it just
doesn't seem to help. Dandilions, Catsear, Rye, and two others that I'm
actually gonna post an ID on here shortly are overrunning my garden even
if
I do pull weeds for an hour a day.

How do you keep the weeds down? Pulling them up, covering them over with
mulch, weapons of mass destruction, or do you just not worry about it
anymore?

Side question:

What is the best method for controlling rye grass growing up inside a
clump
of something like rosemary or lavender?

For the side question, I dug up a gaura in order to free it from
unpullable grass, almost killed the little shrub, but it eventually
returned, and so did the grass well rooted in the gaura's roots. So now I
just pull what I can hoping to tire out the grass before it tires me out.

I probably do weed for an hour a week but it's pretty much arranged to not
have to weed at all. All shrub clippings get mulched up and returned to
the yard, in autumn leaves are repositioned where I don't want weeds to
pop up in spring, and a Toyota pick-up truck load of clean compost costs
very little except the labor of shoveling it all over the place. Some
areas are so densely planted the weeds don't have a chance, like under the
mixed hedge which is too dark for much of anything to grow though poppies
do well at the shade-line so long as it's no nuisance that they lean over
in the only direction for sun.

Areas unplanted are permitted to be as weedy as they like, and if I spread
a garden into a weedy area, I lay down heavy cardboard and put steer
manure on that and then plant it the following spring. If it's possible to
make a hill, a new area I cover with a foot or two feet deep with
half-finished mulch and tree branches, add some dirt, then the cardboard
(and for loamy looks, inert composted steer manure) on top of that and
then add a foot or so of good garden soil on top the next spring for a
gardenable mound. All orchestrated to keep from weeding, yet a couple
significan perennial gardens encircling the patio I just weed.

-paghat the ratgirl


Thanks, I appreciate that. Now I at least have some sympathy as I pull up
the individual grass stalks.

On Jul 6, 1:31*pm, "Eigenvector" wrote:
"paghat" wrote in message

...





In article , "Eigenvector"
wrote:

On average, how much time would you say you devote per week pulling weeds
from the garden? *I say per week, rather than per day because I used to
pull
weeds on the farm - but I don't live on a farm anymore and I'm certainly
not
going to devote 10 hours a day doing it.

My experiences pulling weeds in the fields made me completely apathetic
about them. *However recently I've got it in my head that I might be able
to
keep the garden clean without resorting to chemical warfare - but it just
doesn't seem to help. *Dandilions, Catsear, Rye, and two others that I'm
actually gonna post an ID on here shortly are overrunning my garden even
if
I do pull weeds for an hour a day.

How do you keep the weeds down? *Pulling them up, covering them over with
mulch, weapons of mass destruction, or do you just not worry about it
anymore?

Side question:

What is the best method for controlling rye grass growing up inside a
clump
of something like rosemary or lavender?

For the side question, I dug up a gaura in order to free it from
unpullable grass, almost killed the little shrub, but it eventually
returned, and so did the grass well rooted in the gaura's roots. So now I
just pull what I can hoping to tire out the grass before it tires me out.

On Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:46:11 -0700, "David E. Ross"
wrote:

First of all, I never walk through my garden without pulling at least 1
or two weeks.

On days when I set aside time to work in my garden, I usually pick an
area that has not been weeded recently and clear it entirely of weeds.
By "weeds", I mean any plant that is not something I planted (except of
course for volunteers -- interesting weeds). I spend about 1-2 hours a
week weeding.

As he says.

I've never learned the names of most.

J.

Billy wrote:
In article ,
"Eigenvector" wrote:

On average, how much time would you say you devote per week pulling weeds
from the garden? I say per week, rather than per day because I used to pull
weeds on the farm - but I don't live on a farm anymore and I'm certainly not
going to devote 10 hours a day doing it.

My experiences pulling weeds in the fields made me completely apathetic
about them. However recently I've got it in my head that I might be able to
keep the garden clean without resorting to chemical warfare - but it just
doesn't seem to help. Dandilions, Catsear, Rye, and two others that I'm
actually gonna post an ID on here shortly are overrunning my garden even if
I do pull weeds for an hour a day.
Why in god's little green earth would you want to pull up dandelion and
rye? Dandelion has been much discussed here as it is a salad and
medicinal plant, and it also has an incredible taproot that transports
nutrient minerals to the surface to improve the soil.

Rye on the other hand creates an extremely large amount of biomass in
the soil which improves water retention and generally keeps the critters
happy.

Oh, are we talking lawn here?

Pour a slab and paint it green.

In my vegetable garden, I probably spend ten minute a week, if that
much, pulling weeds.
How do you keep the weeds down? Pulling them up, covering them over with
mulch, weapons of mass destruction, or do you just not worry about it
anymore?

Side question:

What is the best method for controlling rye grass growing up inside a clump
of something like rosemary or lavender?

Anyone know how to rid a garden of Tradescantia that has completely
taken over? It leaves its roots in the ground from which new plants grow
and multiply. I have tried rolling it up and disposing of it; used
broad-leaf herbicides; tilling the soil, and am now thinking the only
effective way to rid my garden of this pest is to completely redesign
the entire garden, remove everything and start again, hopefully
Tradescantia-free!