Now’s the time to declare war on weeds — and enjoy the daffodils while you’re in the yard
The beginning of March is daffodil season in Western Washington and the first to bloom are the loyal little dwarfs, especially “February Gold” and “Tete a Tete.” This is a good week to enjoy the daffodils in bloom while you are outdoors pruning wisteria, roses and fruit trees.
Weeding is the most important exercise this week. Getting control of the notorious shot weed that thrive in cool temperature is the best way to prevent a hostile takeover by this circular weed with the white flowers and seed-shooting talent.
One method, if hand weeding is not possible, is to smother blooming shot weed with the wet gunk cleaned from gutters or other dead plant material. You can also use damp newspaper or cardboard on top of this weed. Just keeping those shot weed blooms from seeing any sunlight will prevent the seeds from forming until you can get outdoors and do a proper job of uprooting, hoeing or properly mulching on top of the shot weed.
A mulch of wood chips or beauty bark 2-3 inches deep will smother shot weed and adding a layer of newspaper under the mulch gives you added protection that the weeds below will not make their way to the surface.
Here are the questions I get asked the most about spring weeds:
Q. My husband pulls weeds when he sees them but then leaves them sitting in a pile for days before cleaning them up. He claims the dried weeds can then go into the compost pile. True? — J.C., Orting
A. Depends on the weed. I add almost all dead weeds to my own compost as I pull weeds before they have seed pods. (OK, most of the time I get to them before they form seed pods.) The weeds I do not compost are horsetail and morning glory as my compost may not heat up high enough to kill the roots of these two tough weeds. The important point here is to pull or hoe any weed while young, and so early spring is the time to get outdoors and get your body moving.
Q. I was on one of your Zoom lectures from the water district and you were talking about weeding as you grow older. You showed a picture of a weeding stool on wheels for older people like myself to use. Where can I buy one of these weeding aids? — G., Email
A. First, congratulations on gardening even if bending or kneeling are no longer possible. Working close to the soil has many health benefits and hand pulling weeds will open air passages in the soil to benefit plants.
The company called Gardeners Supply Company sells the tractor scoot you may have seen, but there are also weeding kneelers and benches for sale at box stores and nurseries.
If mobility is an issue, some gardeners lean toward long-handled weeding tools to hoe up the weeds without bending over. Growing in raised beds is another popular solution to growing without bending, and many companies now offer containers designed for wheelchairs.
No matter your age or physical limits it is good to keep growing.
Q. I have horse tail invading my garden beds! This is a new weed that I believe came in with a load of bark mulch. I have tried spraying this weed with Roundup, but it doesn’t seem to kill it. What do you recommend? — Anon
A. First, my sympathies. Horsetail is a weed that was here before the dinosaur, and you will only waste time and money if you try to spray it with Roundup. Horsetail is also a weed that should not be hand pulled as doing so stimulates the roots to grow. (An exception to this is if you are willing to hand pull and follow every root filament and section and remove it from your soil.)
The best solution is to use a string trimmer or pair of scissors and cut this weed to the ground now. Then the horse tail will come galloping back. So you must cut it again, and again. It may take an entire summer but be persistent and you can starve out those horsetail roots by beheading the stems at ground level.
Do not compost horsetail.
Note: Improving your soil drainage and adding lime to the soil will discourage herds of horsetail.
Marianne Binetti has a degree in horticulture from Washington State University and is the author of several books. Reach her at binettigarden.com.
