Weeds: The Gardener’s Never-Ending Task

We have had lots of rain here in my Maryland, zone 7 garden.

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We have had lots of rainfall here in my Maryland , zone 7 garden . And with the rain , the grass and pasture have grown in leaps and bounce – way bigger than all of the cautiously planted vegetable , herbs and flowers . I cite Shakespeare here : “ Sweet bloom are slow and weeds make haste . ”So I spend the last three days weeding , which gave me lots of sentence to reflect on the subject …

We ’ve all learn weeds draw as “ any plant life that maturate in the wrong place “ . really , some plants that we purposefully plant one twelvemonth can become weeds the next year if allowed to go to cum . Merriam Webster definesweed ( noun ): ( 1 ) a plant that is not valued where it is grow and is usually of vigorous growth;especially : one that tends to overgrow or choke out more desirable industrial plant ( 2 ) a weedy growth of plants.weed ( verb)to remove sens from ( an area of land , such as a garden ) first utilise twelfth 100 ; origin Middle English fromweodweed , herb ; cognate to Old Saxonwiodweed .

Probably the most long mourning band in my garden are grass , specially finger grass ; bindweed , benweed , pigweed , hairyGalinsogaand genus Perilla . These are the plants that I battle daily during the originate season and have to remove the most often , so as to maintain some semblance of fiat in the garden to allow the cultivated veggie , herbs and flowers to grow and age .

And then there are plants that are referred to as wild weeds … that are wonderfully toothsome solid food and medicinal works . These plants are often called potherb which I harvest to eat ; when they are invading the garden and I ca n’t eat all of them , then I rationalize and remove them and they go on the compost slew to be returned to the earth eventually . I am fortunate to have an overabundance of dandelion , violets , chickweed , mustards and cresses , wild sour grass , lambsquarters and more – all of which I eat a lot of and preserve – however I do take away these plants when they are encroaching the quad of cultivated plant or taking up too much garden space .

I determine it easy to weed in between plants , standing with a long - handled weeder or a hoe . That said , I am more often on the earth on my knees or rearend using my spare hands to get nigh around a industrial plant , or with a hired hand weeder for in between , or my hori hori for unregenerate , abstruse roots . This nurseryman ’s overused knee do not put up with much kneeling , even with a gum elastic kneeling pad , and so I have begun using a ball to sit around upon .

It is not a magnanimous example ballock and not a belittled schoolyard ball – it is a medium - sized clod that is just proper . I pulled it out of one of those Brobdingnagian , wire testis bearer that you see at the box storage and even the grocery , they are cheap and fun to bound . I suppose you could go to a sporting goods store and bribe a small exercise ball that would be sturdier , though mine has been around since last class and I still have n’t popped it . Take one out and sit on it to try it out – it should n’t be so big that you have to lean over too far to weed – and it should n’t be so small-scale that you are squat too dispirited and it is n’t easy / comfortable to posture on and turn over . I model on the clod and roll down the row as I weed and I do not have to get up and down – it works great for me ( although one does require to be slightly coordinated)–you have to sort of get a scooching technique go .

Once weeded , the garden looks so tidy – and then it is almost time to start out over again because the locoweed develop so fast in bare ground . Therefore it is of the essence to mulch . I use straw shuck because it comes take shape the farm next door . woodwind instrument mulch is fine for bush and trees and perennial , however it is too acid for vegetables and herb and edible blossom .

decently at this mo , it seems that we have taken back the garden – it is weeded and mulch – however just hold back …

Recently , Hudson Valley Seed posted this article on weeding : https://hudsonvalleyseed.com / blog/6 - tips - for - summertime - weeding/?utm_source = Hudson+Valley+Seed+Company+E - Mail+List&utm_campaign = dd1a77584b - EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_01_10_COPY_01&utm_medium = email&utm_term=0_bb3d09aa7e - dd1a77584b-186638569 .

There is a wonderfully informative 36 - page pamphlet put out byhttps://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/3618go here and dawn on “ Weed Control for the Home Vegetable Garden ” to download the pdf . It is well deserving the read .

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The vegetable garden looks tidy momentarily after many days of weeding and mulching. Click on other pix to enlarge and read captions.Photo/Illustration: susan belsinger

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