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Walking through the garden and pulling a handful of weeds can be an enjoyable experience until it isn't. When handfuls of weeds turn into wheel barrels of weeds it can suck the fun right out of gardening.
Show Notes
[00:00:20] Keith: Hey, Keith Ramsey with garden supply company. We've had a lot of questions recently about weeds how to rid your yard of weeds. And it's a constant problem for sure. The one thing about weeds that I always tell people is, if you just spend a few minutes figuring out what we do have and what the lifecycle is you can actually manage it a little bit better.
[00:00:56] Most people don't want to delve in that deep, but like vegetables, you get warm season weeds and cool season weeds. And if you know what stage the weeds you're at, or if it's an annual or if it's a perennial. You can actually manage the problem a little bit easier.
[00:01:10] There's things like chickweed that people come in the middle of spring and they said, I've got chickweed all over my yard and it's choking out my grass and I need to do something with it. And, it is choking out your grass and you do need to do something with it.
[00:01:23] But the reality is it's not that crazy of a problem because the first hot day it's going to start to fade. it's On its way out. And it's knowing that you need to have the pre-emergence down ahead of that. So you don't get to that point is easier than managing the problem at that point.
[00:01:38] And once if you're in a house or you're got a garden space and you've, and you start to understand what weed you have and what the life cycle is you can control them a whole lot easier. I always find that to me. Pulling weeds is a relaxing thing.
[00:01:55] It's, you can walk through the garden and you can pull a handful of weeds until you can't walk through the garden and just pull a handful of weeds. You're raking a wheelbarrow loads of weeds, so it's staying ahead of the problem knowing when to put down pre-emergence.
[00:02:10] If you put down pre-emergence, you can usually eliminate 90% of the germination and manage the problem and then pulling weeds is not actually painful. And it's something you can do in a short period of time. If you've got a weed problem, if it's a handful of weeds, you pull them before they go to seed.
[00:02:27] So that you're not dropping new seeds. And then You just don't want them to get, out of control at that point. So you're going to, you're going to pull all the weeds or you're going to rake the weeds out or the other option is spraying them. And people always shy away from spraying, but there's
[00:02:41] There are many organic sprays out there now that you can use. There's an iron-based product that works extremely well. And broadleaf weeds in you can't spray it on, on and around your plants, but it's not going to affect the roots of the plant. So it goes into the leaves. It's basically a toxic level of iron.
[00:02:58] So it'll cause the plant to cave in. And then you've added iron to your soil for future say, you're going to have greener plants, which is a benefit. Fatty acids is another one. It basically just Smothers the plant can't take in oxygen.
[00:03:11] And then there's all kinds of vinegar products on the market. Vinegar works really well. I recommend using a product that's that is the right percentage and something that's made for weeds over just experimenting in your kitchen, because I think people can cook up these recipes and then you don't really know what you're doing to the microbes in the soil.
[00:03:32] You don't know what you're doing to the worms. So using a product that's labeled that's been tested is not a bad idea. There's a clove based product that does the same thing. It'll, take care of any kind of light weeds not a really serious perennial weeds, but it does a good job.
[00:03:45] And then there's the standby that everybody's used for years that any more is the scariest thing on the market Roundup. I still think Roundup is a pretty safe product used in moderation. I've used it for years and been around it. I don't see, I don't see it being extremely detrimental in a home garden.
[00:04:02] More of an issue when it's sprayed over our food in large quantities on farms that they could you'll see it over sprayed into, taking taken out native plants and that kind of thing. And. We're losing pollinators and that kind of stuff, but Roundup in the garden is not something that I'm shying away from.
[00:04:18] It's something I use in my garden when I need to, otherwise I'm using something that's organic and and I would use it in the, in a perennial. I'd use it in a veggie garden, but I'd use it ahead of season over during, at the point that you've got food in there. And then the other end of that is pre-emergent, you're catching the weeds before the germinate.
[00:04:35] That's the pre part it's before that seed germinates, you get the pre-emergence out and then it stops that seed from getting to the point where it's going to get a root into the ground and start to grow. And there's an organic option there too. Corn, gluten Corn gluten is a is a product that it'll do exactly what the chemical products do.
[00:04:55] . It just slows the growth of the cuddle lead, and when it comes out of the seed, the seed will dry up and you'll eliminate probably 90% of the germination. Dimension is a product that we use both for crabgrass and the lawn And for weeds in beds.
[00:05:11] It's not something that I would use in a veggie garden, but there's two or three different pre emergencies you can use in a veggie garden as well that are labeled for veggie gardens. And don't go into the plant. And then the other part of it is, it's like weeding, but cultivating the soil turning the soil and digging around the plants.
[00:05:27] That makes a big difference in weed control. When you're in a perennial situation or within trees and shrubs, you can mulch, and mulching it'll either smother out weeds or it keeps the weed seeds from getting to a moist enough space that they can germinate.
[00:05:40] And all kinds of mulches can be used. You could. You can shred your leaves and use leaf mulch. It's very effective, and it's good for the soil. You can use a Woody-type malt or bark mulch. In a veggie garden, a lot of times, we'll use paper or cardboard. Usually, you can just recycle cardboard from packages or a dumpster.
[00:05:58] And then You can also buy just cheap rolls of brown paper and roll them out in a row. That does an excellent job because it stays dry. It's going to keep cutting down the light that weeds underneath it will get. And then it just gives you a good, hard walk-in surface in between yours.
[00:06:16] Get to know the weeds you have and what you have. You can always bag of weed and bring it in. Now we got people that can. They can tell you what you've got and when it needs to be sprayed or when the pre-emergence needs to go out. The more you understand the weeds you're trying to manage, the easier it'll be.
[00:06:34] Just walk through the garden and pull a handful of weeds. Just keep them under control and managed. And it's not the end of the world to pull a few weeds. We'll see you next time.
Creators and Guests
What is In The Garden?
In the Garden with Keith Ramsey is a podcast aimed at helping you grow and maintain a beautiful and healthy garden and landscape.
Each podcast will focus on a new specific topic. Check back every two weeks for the latest episode!
Keith: Hey, Keith Ramsey
with garden supply company.
We've had a lot of questions
recently about weeds how
to rid your yard of weeds.
And it's a constant problem for sure.
The one thing about weeds that I always
tell people is, if you just spend a
few minutes figuring out what we do
have and what the lifecycle is you can
actually manage it a little bit better.
Most people don't want to delve
in that deep, but like vegetables
you got warm season weeds and
you get cool season weeds.
And if you know what stage the
weeds you're at, or if it's an
annual or if it's a perennial.
You can actually manage the
problem a little bit easier.
There's things like chickweed that
people come in the middle of spring and
they said, I've got chickweed all over
my yard and it's choking out my grass
and I need to do something with it.
And, it is choking out your grass and
you do need to do something with it.
But the reality is it's not that
crazy of a problem because the first
hot day it's going to start to fade.
it's On its way out.
And it's knowing that you need to have
the pre-emergence down ahead of that.
So you don't get to that point is easier
than managing the problem at that point.
And once if you're in a house or you're
got a garden space and you've, and
you start to understand what weed you
have and what the life cycle is you
can control them a whole lot easier.
I always find that to me.
Pulling weeds is a relaxing thing.
It's, you can walk through the garden
and you can pull a handful of weeds
until you can't walk through the garden
and just pull a handful of weeds.
You're raking a wheelbarrow
loads of weeds, so it's staying
ahead of the problem knowing
when to put down pre-emergence.
If you put down pre-emergence, you can
usually eliminate 90% of the germination
and manage the problem and then
pulling weeds is not actually painful.
And it's something you can
do in a short period of time.
If you've got a weed problem, if
it's a handful of weeds, you
pull them before they go to seed.
So that you're not dropping new seeds.
And then You just don't want them to
get, out of control at that point.
So you're going to, you're going
to pull all the weeds or you're
going to rake the weeds out or
the other option is spraying them.
And people always shy away
from spraying, but there's
a lot of organic sprays out there now
that you can use there's an iron based
product that works extremely well.
And broadleaf weeds in you can't
spray it on, on and around your
plants, but it's not going to
affect the roots of the plant.
So it goes into the leaves.
It's basically a toxic level of iron.
So it'll cause the plant to cave in.
And then you've added iron to your soil
for future say, you're going to have
greener plants, which is a benefit.
Fatty acids is another one.
It basically just Smothers the
plant can't take in oxygen.
And then there's all kinds of
vinegar products on the market.
Vinegar works really well.
I recommend using a product that's that
is the right percentage and something
that's made for weeds over just
experimenting in your kitchen, because
I think people can cook up these recipes
and then you don't really know what
you're doing to the microbes in the soil.
You don't know what
you're doing to the worms.
So using a product that's labeled
that's been tested is not a bad idea.
There's a clove based product
that does the same thing.
It'll, take care of any kind of light
weeds not a really serious perennial
weeds, but it does a good job.
And then there's the standby
that everybody's used for years
that any more is the scariest
thing on the market Roundup.
I still think Roundup is a pretty
safe product used in moderation.
I've used it for years and been around it.
I don't see, I don't see it being
extremely detrimental in a home garden.
More of an issue when it's sprayed
over our food in large quantities on
farms that they could you'll see it
over sprayed into, taking taken out
native plants and that kind of thing.
And.
We're losing pollinators and that kind
of stuff, but Roundup in the garden is
not something that I'm shying away from.
It's something I use in my garden
when I need to, otherwise I'm using
something that's organic and and I
would use it in the, in a perennial.
I'd use it in a veggie garden, but I'd
use it ahead of season over during, at
the point that you've got food in there.
And then the other end of that
is pre-emergent, you're catching
the weeds before the germinate.
That's the pre part it's before that seed
germinates, you get the pre-emergence out
and then it stops that seed from getting
to the point where it's going to get a
root into the ground and start to grow.
And there's an organic option there too.
Corn, gluten Corn gluten is a is
a product that it'll do exactly
what the chemical products do.
. It just slows the growth of the
cuddle lead and when it comes
out of the seed and then the seed
will dry up and you'll eliminate
probably 90% of the germination.
Dimension is a product that we
use both for crabgrass and the
lawn And for weeds in beds.
It's not something that I would use
in a veggie garden, but there's two
or three different pre emergencies
you can use in a veggie garden as well
that are labeled for veggie gardens.
And and don't go into the plant.
And then the other part of it is,
it's like weeding, but cultivating
the soil turning the soil and
digging around the plants.
That makes a big
difference in weed control.
When you're in a perennial situation
or within trees and shrubs you can
mulch and mulching it'll either
smother out weeds, or it keeps the
weed seeds from getting to a moist
enough space that they can germinate.
And all kinds of mulches can be used.
You could, you can shred your
leaves and use leaf mulch.
It's very effective and
it's good for the soil.
You can use a Woody type malt or bark
mulch, in a veggie garden a lot of
times we'll use paper or cardboard.
Usually you can just recycle a cardboard
that, from packages or from a dumpster.
And then You can also buy a,
just cheap rolls of brown paper
and roll them out in a row.
That does a really good
job because it's stays dry.
It's gonna keep cut down the light that
weeds underneath it are going to get.
And then it just gives you a good,
hard walk-in surface in between your.
Get to know the weeds that
you have and what you have.
You can always bag of
weed and bring it in.
Now we got people that can, they
can tell you what you've got and
when it needs to be sprayed or when
the pre-emergence needs to go out.
The more you understand about
the weeds that you're trying
to manage, the easier it'll be.
Just walk through the garden
and pull a handful of weeds.
Just, keep them under control and managed.
And it's not the end of the
world to pull a few weeds.
We'll see you next time.