The garden world is starting to come alive again. Early bloomers like forsythia and redbud have burst into bloom and the ground is not always covered with snow. Unfortunately, it also means that weeds tend to pop up. If you do not take action in a timely matter, you may look one day and realize that your landscape is overrun. It is best to start weeding as soon as they appear and keep up on it.
Do Your Weeding While They Are Young
One of the key parts of weed control is early removal. When they are small, they are easier to remove. You can also prevent future weeds if you take them out before they have had a chance to flower and produce seeds. Plan on walking through your landscape at least weekly (more if you have the time) to scout out new weeds and remove them promptly. If you choose to use a herbicide, pay attention to the weather and follow the directions on the bottle. The efficiency of the chemical can be lessened if you use it on days that are hot and/or windy, for example.
Use a Preemergent Herbicide
Another way to keep weeds at bay is to use a preemergent herbicide. These chemicals work by keeping the seeds from germinating in the first place. This does mean that you have to be careful where you use it, as it doesn’t discriminate and would also work on grass or vegetable seeds, for example. Use this early on to catch as many weeds as you can before they sprout. You may want to do another application later in the season to combat any weed seeds that may have drifted in since the first treatment.
Have you started weeding your landscape?
Image by tuchodi under a Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
