What is a weed?
A weed is any plant that’s growing where you don’t want it.
Some weeds are ugly.
Wisteria in bloom. Photo: Steve Bender.
How can youkill and prevent weedsand secure your sanity?
As always, ask Grumpy.
Here’s what works, organic or not, and I’ll let you make the choice.
emChinese privet. Photo: Steve Bender/em.
So why do Southerners hate them so?
Because these rampant vines smother, strangle, crush, and destroy everything around them.
They spread by runners, seeds, and suckers.
emKudzu in bloom. Photo: Steve Bender/em.
It has its good points, really.
Every bit of itleaves, flowers, tunersis edible.
Deep-fried leaves are delicious.
emWater hyacinth in bloom. Photo: Steve Bender/em.
Lacking cows (or goats), spray it according to label directions with Roundup.
It reproduces incredibly fast by seeds and floating plantlets (its population doubles every six days).
It completely hides the surface of still water in short order, making fishing and boating impossible.
emField bindweed in bloom. Photo: imgkid.com/em.
How to Kill It:The best control is climate.
Tender to cold and frozen waterways, it won’t survive drops in temperature much below 20F.
I don’t feel comfortable recommending them.
emNutgrass. Photo: flickr.com/em.
Instead, never release water hyacinth into the wild!
It spreads by seeds that can sprout after 50 years and roots that can grow 10 feet deep.
If it’s growing by itself, spray it with Roundup.
emBermuda grass. Photo: sunset.com/em.
You’ll miss lots of leaves, so repeat applications will be necessary.
You also need to prevent seeds from sprouting.
you’ve got the option to do this by applyingPreento the soil in affected areas.
emChameleon plant. Photo: visoflora.com/em.
Grow a thick lawn mowed no shorter than two inches and let the good grass crowd out the nutgrass.
How to Kill It: In the garden, suck it up and pull it.
Pull some every day.
emCudweed. Photo: flickr.com/em.
Hoe out seedlings before they get three inches tall.
In the lawn, treat according to label directions with Image containing imazaquin.
verify it’s labeled for your key in of grass.
emCommon violet in bloom. Photo: missouriplants/em.
Doesn’t matter if it’s bluegrass, Bermuda grass, crabgrass, goosegrass, or dallis grass.
Just about any weed-killer youspray on the grasswill kill your flowers too.
How to Kill It: Spray the grass according to label directions with Ortho Grass-B-Gon.
It kills only grasses and will not harm broadleaf plants.
Awful Weed #8: Chameleon Plant
How could a plant so pretty be a problem?
Plant it in your garden and you’ll find out.
Plant just one in your garden one spring and soon you’ll discover it coming up everywhere.
Pulling it does no good because any root left in the ground sends up another plant.
How to Kill It:Spray it according to label directions with Roundup.
It means your lawn is sparse and patchy due to mowing too short and not enough fertilizer.
A thick lawn leaves no empty spots for cudweed (Gnaphalium) to colonize.
How to Kill It:Apply a broadleaf weedkiller like Ortho Weed-B-Gon or Spectracide Weed-Stop according to label directions.
Awful Weed #10: Common Violet
Look, I don’twantto kill violets (Viola odorata).
They’re native and they’re cute.
The problem is one violet produces hundreds of seedlings in a single year.
That’s too much of a good thing.
How to Kill It:You’re gonna hate this, but no weedkiller will touch it.
Give yourself an incentive.
Sounds like it’s gonna take years.
Alabama A&M & Auburn Universities Extension.Control Options for Chinese Privet.
University of Maryland Extension.Invasives in Your Woodland: Kudzu.
Texas A&M Forest Service.How to Control Water Hyacinth.
Purdue Extension.Yellow Nutsedge Control.
USDA.How to get rid of Chameleon Plant.
PennState Extension.Lawn and Turfgrass Weeds: Wild Violet.
