The Obsessive Neurotic Gardener

Category Archives: Weeds

Lazy, part 2 – DGP

Posted on by Posted in Garden problems, Weeds .

We’ve had nothing but rain for what feels like the last month and because of that, I’ve been unable to get outside and work my magic. And if I’m being honest, I’m also tiring of the chores so take the two together and you get what you see below.

A few thoughts here:

  1. You know that hose and sprinkler have resided in this sport for a long time since watering hasn’t been a need for like months now. I may need a crowbar to get it out of the ground. Yes, I’m embarrassed.
  2. I suck at designing the front of my garden beds. I become so consumed with the design of the middle and back that I push aside the need for groundcovers or even smaller annuals. This is a theme throughout and one I need to concentrate on for next year. My planned direction is to up my annuals game to cover these spots as they’re more interesting and colorful. Just need to account for deer resistance.
  3. I have zero hardscape borders in any of my beds. It’s just soil directly into lawn. While I know these could aid in preventing the grass and weeds from creeping in, I’ve never seen anything even close to attractive. What do you all do?

Removing Canada Thistle

Posted on by Posted in Weeds .

I’ve written about my attempts to remove Canada Thistle many times before and I’ve attempted to capture it all on video before but never followed through.

That changes today.

The video below captures step one in my attempted eradication of this terrifying and invasive weed.

I will win.

The only way to prevent weeds

Posted on by Posted in Weeds .

I’m overwhelmed.

If you saw the weed sitch in my garden you’d scream in horror. It’s really bad. With all the rain and the inability to get outdoors, the weeds have exploded in numbers I never thought possible. It’s close to pushing me over the edge.

I’d show you some pics but I need to maintain some level of your respect. I can’t have you leaving in droves to visit better gardening blogs. I’ll never get you back after that. This blog would then collapse upon itself in loneliness and disappear into oblivion.

I can’t have that.

Just imagine the worst case weed scenario and add on 10% more badness.

I’ll try to attack it over the next few weeks and then show you more of my garden when it’s looking all nice and pretty. Maybe we’ll look back and all have a chuckle.

So as I ignored 75% of the garden this morning I quickly realized why the other 25% was okay to photograph. That 25% has no room for weeds. It’s completely filled in with nothing but plants.

The weeds don’t have a chance to see the light of day.

They die an ugly death under the surface never to be seen at all.

The good chokes out the bad.

It’s nothing but all thriving plants all the time.

Seems so easy.

Now to apply that logic to the other 75%.

Gotta run.

 

Mixed bag

Posted on by Posted in Dogs, Weeds .

A bunch of different items for today:

1)Last year I talked about my battle with Canada Thistle and it is even worse so far this year. Like close to pushing me over the edge worse.

canada thistle

That ornamental grass above is in danger of being fully enveloped by these bully weeds. Just yanking them out of the ground hoping to get the entire root system has not worked.

Here’s my plan (which was really the original plan last year) going forward.

 

2)My latest Social Media obsession is Snapchat. I’m still trying to grasp how to utilize it for gardening and plant purposes but I will get there. Take a deep breath and give it a whirl won’t you? And if you do, add this wanna-be-15-year-old-who-looks-more-and-more-like-a-43-year-old-every-day.

snapchat

 

3)Within the next week or so, I will be fortunate enough to trial an “automower” from Husqvarna. Much more to come on this one and yes, it is a robotic lawn mower. How cool is that?

4)Have I mentioned just how over the top pumped I am for my three Andropogon ‘Red October’? And they all just emerged within the past few days.

andropogon

 

5)Mia is still kind of awesome …

mia

… and spoiled

mia

 

 

 

Embrace the dandelions

Posted on by Posted in Spring, Weeds .

An open letter to my obsessive lawn loving friends and family:

I love you all, I really do. But you have to chill the hell out. There is nothing you can do about it and in fact, I’m writing this letter today with the goal of not only talking you off the ledge, but to also tell you why you in fact need to embrace them. “Them” being those delightful little pops of yellow spring flowers known as the dandelion. Please take notice that I used the term “flower” and not “weed”, because that is your first step in coming to terms with your unnecessary lawn stress.

Listen, I’m not here to patronize you, that is not the intention at all. I was once like you, wickedly concerned with the perfect looking lawn. I too shared the weekly dream of a pristine sheet of green with nothing else present but those lawnmower lines. I subscribed to the Scott’s 137 step plan and cheered on the idea of killing everything in the lawn’s path. I cut my lawn diligently each week scooping up all of the clippings along the way because any visible clump represented laziness. I’d too then trim the shit out of the lawn for like and hour or so and then grab my painfully loud blower and blow the loose clippings on the driveway into my neighbor’s lawn. I may have even grunted a bit when it was all done.

I don’t remember specifically when it all changed, but it started when we moved into our new home 12 years ago. I went from a tiny suburban lot to a 2+ acre country lot. At first, I tried to keep up with the lawn in the same manner as at the old homestead, but it became evident early on that it wasn’t going to work, I could never sustain it. From that realization forward, I slowly evolved to who I am today. I educated myself through exhaustive online research. I read all of the opinion pieces on safe and organic “turf management”. And honestly more than anything else, I came to the realization that I cared a hell of a lot more about my garden and my plants than I did about the lawn. I wanted to spend as little time tending to the grass so as not to take away from my garden time.    

Having said all that, here are some key tenets I’ve come to live by when it comes to the almighty lawn:

  • Stop all fertilization – it is expensive, requires too much effort and if you dig around a bit, you’ll see that it wreaks havoc on our environment.
  • Stop with the watering – yes I know things can look bleak in the dead of summer, but just deal with it. You’re probably not watering the right way any way. Water is a precious resource and your lawn will recover in time when it finally rains again.
  • Keep the lawn clippings on the lawn – they will break down over time and that is your lawn’s only feeding which replaces the aforementioned fertilization. 
  • Cut the lawn at its highest setting – this lessens the stress of cutting back those blades so severely each week and helps shield those weeds and weed seeds from seeing the light of day.

And now one last one – Don’t fight the dandelions.

I know it kills your lawn aesthetics dream, but maybe if you knew that it can literally save the bees, you can come to terms with it. Seriously, the dandelion flower is their first source of nectar in spring. For those bees that managed to survive the winter, it is their best chance to make it so don’t you want to be part of rewarding those feisty creatures? You do know if there were no bees, well, we’d be in big trouble?

So learn to embrace the yellow flowers as a rite of spring. Sell yourself on the color they bring to the spring landscape. If that doesn’t work for you, know that the long taproot of the dandelion actually aids in bringing more nutrients to the lawn’s soil by breaking up that soil and making it easier for absorption.

Once you come to terms with the presence of dandelions, imagine all of the newly found time you’ll have now that you’re not trying to pull them one by one or god forbid if you were spraying them (we’ll discuss that a later date).

You can’t tell me that the quick-to-emerge-again dandelion flowers don’t look cool after a recent lawn cut.

lawn

It has such a natural spring time look doesn’t it?   

And when the dandelions are blooming at their peak, well it looks a hell of a lot better than just that boring green grid so many of you love.

dandelions

You are most welcome.

John

 

 

 

Canada Thistle Removal

Posted on by Posted in How-to, Weeds .

Here is a picture of a peony.

peony

Pretty, right? Well that is the end of pretty for today. Hope you enjoyed it.

My last few posts have focused on the the progress in my garden and how wonderful it all looks. Fun stuff for sure, but I need to get a dirty little secret off of my chest. More than ever before, I’m fighting off a vicious attack from …

… Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense):

canadian thistle 2

And there is no one to blame but myself.

I enjoy weeding. I really do. I’ve even considered creating an exercise video based on the core movements required for proper weeding. It is a test of strength, mobility and a lightness of touch needed to ensure the entire root system has been removed.

But not all weeds are created equally. And unfortunately, I’m a “once and done” weed guy. I never spray chemicals and in fact, never use any sort of spray, even if it is natural and safe. I don’t have the patience to wait for them to die; once I am in eradication mode, I want them out of sight.

This works well for some weeds and not for others. Who can forget my journey with Red Sorrel? I’m still fighting that battle; but we can discuss that at another time.

Similar to how I first attacked the red sorrel, when the Canada Thistle started to pop up in high volume, I grabbed my gloves and a trowel and went to work.

I dug deep enough to be able to grab the roots without touching the painful barbs and softly yanked them out trying to grab as much of the root as possible.

Once and done.

Out of sight and out of mind.

But not so fast.

Within no time, the Canada Thistle was back and badder than before. Like literally within the week. Most intelligent beings would research why this was the case, but not me. I went back to popping them out only to see them emerge again, nearly doubling in count. They were like the frickin Gremlins.

canadian thistle

canadian thistle 3

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times … and it is time to hit up Google.

Damn was I doing it all wrong.

I knew the Canada Thistle root system was extensive, but up to 15 feet deep? Holy s. And each time you break off a root by pulling it out of the ground, you are theoretically creating two new plants by splitting the root in half. Double the bastards to deal with in the future. Why didn’t I just take a minute to read up on this before jumping into the fray blindly?

Well now I’ve learned and it is time to attack these in a different way.  As I’ve now read, the best option is to prepare for a long and drawn out battle. By cutting them to the ground first and then cutting off the subsequent new growth on a weekly basis, the nutrient reserves in the roots are slowly spent and eventually, this perennial will die (or so we should hope).

So that is what I did.

canadian thistle 5

canadian thistle 6

And as you can see, there were kind of a lot to deal with.

canadian thistle 4

The goal is to keep this up on a regular basis and under no circumstances can I allow them to flower so they can spread their ugly little wings.

canadian thistle 7

And while this may prove to be a successful plan, the absolute best option is to plant, plant and plant. As the old adage goes, give weeds no exposure to the sun and no room to grow. For me, my best bet is to plant Bee Balm and let it take over.

bee balm

It is working in many areas of the garden so why not grow them everywhere?

More to come as the new canada thistle weeding plan unfolds.

Using cardboard to suppress weeds

Posted on by Posted in Weeds .
Late last summer, I published a post about my weeding prowess and proudly posted the results of my work: 

Not a weed to be found in site. I even shared my most secretive of tips on the proper weeding form:

A bit cocky, yes. Did I assume it would hold up over time? Yeah, I did.
But as you may recall, it all fell to crap only a month later. That is when I wrote about my struggles with the weed, red sorrel. And how I totally mismanaged how to eradicate these weeds. 
Fast forward to this spring, and I’m stressing big time over my weed “issues”. Here is what things look like in the neglected section of my side garden bed:  ï»¿
Damn I’m lazy and/or need more time. 
My immediate thought was to get in the dirt and start pulling like a raged lunatic. But I’m not that guy any more. I now count slowly to ten and review the options in my head. Pulling blindly didn’t work out in the recent past so we need a new approach. I have been making a concerted effort to plant in all available empty spaces but that wouldn’t work in this spot. Hmmmm …
I recalled reading up a bit on the use of cardboard as a weed suppressant. And guess who has oodles and oodles of cardboard sitting in their garage? It was time to surf the interwebs a bit before making a final decision on my next steps.
I found a great discussion on this topic at the GardenWeb forums which you can read here, and after reading each and every entry, decided I was going to give it a go. What was there to lose? Even if it fails miserably, I can chalk it up as a learning experience. Garden as labaratory, if you will.     
       
Before I show you Operation Cardboard as Mulch, I also wanted to share an article with you that is anti-cardboard. You can read it here – “Why I don’t like carboard mulch”. Interesting stuff, but not enough to change my mind.
So here we go.
One section of the bed overrun with weeds: 

And yet another weed party here:

Down goes the cardboard pieces, sort of like a jigsaw puzzle:

Next step was to soak the cardboard to keep it in place:

Final step was to put down a few inches of mulch to keep it all in place and to further squash out those undesirables.

Here is the first “before and after”:

And the 2nd “before and after”:

I have additional areas to hit up with more cardboard so this is only the beginning.

Here’s hoping the weeds die a painful death as they are starved of the sun.

I’ll be sure to keep you updated along the way; good or bad.

John

What f’n Red Sorrel taught me

Posted on by Posted in How-to, Weeds .
I originally hated writing this post about a friggin weed. 
It pained me to no end. 
I felt like a weed didn’t deserve my time and effort, so all I really wanted to do was wallow in self pity about how this weed was slowly bringing me to my knees. 
And then I realized I couldn’t have been more wrong. 
The weed in question, red sorrel (aka sheep’s sorrel) has been plaguing me for years. I would do my best to eradicate it by hand (no chemicals here) only to see it come back ten times worse. I’m talking carefully pulling out the roots and rhizomes like I was detonating a bomb. Some times the roots would extend two to three feet but I’ll be damned if I didn’t get them all. 
I just pulled and pulled, never taking the time to actually research what I was pulling out. I was like a caveman:
“Weed bad, must pull.”
In fact, it wasn’t until I started this post that I even knew what this weed was called. It took a desperate plea on Facebook, along with the photo below to get an answer as to what it actually was:  

Once I got the name and confirmed that it was in fact accurate, I began to read up on it. As I learned more and more about this plant, the skies opened up and shouted “Now learn from what you are reading dumb ass”. OK, got it.

So here is what I was able to dig up and how that bit of info taught me more about my soil and growing conditions than I ever anticipated:

  • Prefers, even thrives in acidic soil – I would have guessed this soil was closer to being alkaline but either way, I NEED to get my soil tested. I’ve been too damn lazy to do it but why I deny myself this important bit of info is just plain dumb.
  • Thrives where there is a lack of nitrates – Reason #147 why I need a soil test.
  • Thrives where there is poor drainage – No friggin surprise there 
  • Thrives where there is little competition with other plants – The best solution to handling weeds has always been to provide them with competition and “weed” them out. I need to take this to a new level and plant more where there are any open spaces. Now that, is music to my ears.  
  • Pulling out these weeds can actually promote more to appear as each broken root can produce another rosette – I’ll never get that time wasted back. Will definitely rethink my approach when dealing with these. Here I am pulling the weeds a few weeks back: 

And how it looked when I was done: 

And then sadly,  a few weeks later:            

  • Is commonly used as greens for salads and is loaded with nutritional value – you mean I could have just pulled the leaves and made a f’n salad? Get me the blue cheese dressing already.

It took a weed to teach me that I need to “get in touch” with my soil and I thank it for teaching me that lesson. I’m so caught up in buying a plant, finding a space for it and then hoping it will all work out.

Remember, it all starts with the soil.

John  

The “art” of weeding

Posted on by Posted in Comedy, How-to, Weeds .
With the temperatures consistently over 90 degrees, my gardening tasks have been limited to weeding and a little deadheading/pruning here and there. 
Yes, you heard that right, I haven’t moved a plant in these harsh conditions, which proves that I am maturing as a gardener. We can only pray that this is a sign of positive things to come.          
Anyway, on to the topic at hand. 
I am ashamed and embarrassed to admit that the garden bed on the side of my house (where no human typically sets foot) looks like this:    

Nasty, eh? It was a strategic move to let it go so I could focus on the other areas of my landscape. You know, areas where people may actually linger and check out my plantings.

But the time has come to clean this disgrace up. And I have been more than pumped for the challenge.

I dove right in to the collage of weeds like a man on a mission. As I tore the weeds out and cursed them, I started to analyze my weed pulling process. I’m sure everyone has their own method and I’m sure those methods are more practical and successful than mine, but so be it. I like how I do it and why not share with you. It will be a very educational comedic read for you.

Topic #1 – Gloves:    

I don’t use them. Never have and never will. And here’s why:

There is a fine balance of brute force and gentleness required when pulling a weed and you cannot attain that balance with a glove on. However, when you use nothing but your bare hands, you can “feel” the weed. This allows the weeder to sense the depth and strength of its roots so the right amount of force can be used until that right moment where you dial it back just enough to ensure you have secured the entire root system:        

Topic 2 – Weed pulling body form:
The correct posture is a must. Shoulders must be back and I suggest imagining you are pulling your shoulder blades together while pulling. 
Also, assume a squatting position which gives you the best possible balance and allows you to be in it for the long haul.
Similar to weight lifting, these moves help prevent injury and all gardeners know we have no time for injury:    
** One side note before we move on. The hat I’m wearing is my “weeding hat”. It helps prevent sunburn on my neck and on the top of my head (the inevitable “thinning” has commenced). I have no affiliation with the University of Florida (or Tim Tebow for that matter). It is simply the only hat my son has that fits my huge cranium. Next.     

Topic 3 – Remember to stretch:
I like to incorporate various stretches while I am actually weeding to make sure the muscles stay loose and there is no cramping. The stretch below is a personal fave (farmer’s tan optional):   

Topic 4 – Effort you are willing to put in:

Weeding is not to be taken lightly. You must get each and every last weed, no matter how small and insignificant they may seem. It’s just the way it goes. That little weed will be a big weed in no time. I am convinced the little weeds know what they are doing by acting all innocent and unimposing.

Go big or go home:      

Topic 5 – How to pass the time:

With such a long time commitment, you need to mentally prepare yourself for the grind. Save all of your deep thoughts and “meaning of life” type analysis while weeding:

The time will pass before you know it and that garden will look fantastic:     

Before I go, I’ll let you in on one last bonus when weeding with reckless abandon.

Your significant other will love the dirty fingernails and calloused fingers.  

It screams tough and sexy and reminds them that you are one with the earth.

Trust me, it works on my wife all the time.

John