Dallas Morning News - May 6, 2021
Softer and Smarter Weed Control
It's time to worry about weeds again. Or is it? Weeds affect people's basic psyche - but they shouldn't. To solve many weed issues, simple mow the lawn regularly, leaving the clippings, mulch bare soil in beds and apply organic fertilizer a couple of times a year.
Primary control of weeds is the elimination of conditions that create the need for weeds. Severely noxious weeds rarely invade high-quality lawns. Weed-controlling products and techniques won't help if the lawn or garden is not maintained well. On the other hand, we do have effective organic tools when needed.
Pre-Emergent Weed Control Products
Corn gluten meal, a natural weed and feed fertilizer, must be broadcast before annual weeds germinate. Possibly its best use is on bare soil around new transplants. It will feed the young plants while stopping weed germination. This method, which works year round, can also be used after seed planting in the garden when the seeds have grown into small seedlings.
Post-Emergent Products
These are products that kill green, growing grasses and broadleaf weeds. There are several strong soaps, vinegars, and plant oil products on the market in this category. They are non-selective (kill everything) and used for spot spraying. Vining weeds such as Carolina snailseed, trumpet vine and poison ivy are the toughest to get rid of. All you can do is physical removal followed by spraying the tender new re-growth with vinegar.
 Weeds in gravel can easily be controlled with vinegar herbicides |
A good vinegar herbicide is 10% white vinegar with 2 oz. of orange oil and a couple of drops of soap per gallon (no water). For a more powerful choice, Good Natured, Nature's Creation, MaestroGro and other companies have 20% vinegar that is legally registered for organic weed control.
Selective Weed Control Products
There's only one currently. AgraLawn Crabgrass Killer is a baking soda and cinnamon product that works well when dusted lightly on wet weedy turf. It kills crabgrass, chickweed, clover and many other weeds, even tough weeds like false strawberry and Virginia buttonweed but doesn't hurt Bermuda, St Augustine or zoysia.
 Organic herbicides can effectively kill weeds around shrubs and trees without hurting the trunks of the plants |
Dry or liquid molasses can be used for nutsedge. The dry product is used at 40 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft. or liquid molasses used at about a cup per gallon of water. It usually takes 2 or 3 applications of the liquid method for the nutsedge to slowly die away.
And, if you aren't worried about your exposure to the toxic products that I advise against, think about your pets that are running around with bare paws and noses in the plants. Roundup, Manage and Bayer are some of the common names to avoid, but look for these more technical terms in the active ingredients on labels of products you are considering - 2,4-d, dithiopyr, ethofumesate, indaziflam, mesotrione, pronamide, sulfentrazone – and many more. And no – they don't go away when they've dried on plants.
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