"If You Build It, He Will Come!" III AKA Flowers Are Meant To Be In Flower Beds

Hello Collinwood Family,

Last month’s article focused on the rich history, tapestry as well as diversity of our Collinwood community and encouraged neighborly efforts toward recycling together with proper trash disposal for ourselves and our neighbors.  This month’s article was inspired by my wife who recently while driving towards our home mentioned how lovely the tiny white “flowers” looked on many of the lawns in our neighborhood.  I told my wife that: “those are not flowers honey, but weeds.”  Now, though I gest, many don’t realize that only flowers are meant to be in flower beds not lawns.  And, though our lawns can be arrayed in the beautiful colors of white, yellow and even lavender, these weeds by there very definition are plants that are “out of place”.  As one article states and I quote:  “Some plants are not sown. They come up anywhere in the garden or lawn. They look as if they are out of place since they are not planted with any intention. The result - they completely ruin your gardening and farming efforts and the landscape theme adopted. Qualities of such plants called weeds have not yet been established by the book, but they are categorized as pernicious, thus hampering activity of humans. They grow at pace and space that is not welcome, and hence have to be removed and discarded. They have a number of features that are not desirable at all.

These undesirable plants keep spreading widely all over the garden space and can adapt to all weather conditions. The sad part is that they disperse a lot of seeds. For quite a long time, the seeds remain dormant but then, they grow quick and cover a lot of space, especially when the weather conditions favor them. Due to this growth, the rest of the plants in the garden or lawn get impacted negatively. These 'random' plants take up a lot of space; absorb a lot of water, light as well as nutrients from the soil. They keep popping up in all the empty garden spaces year after year, providing no special benefits to the landscaping.”1

Lawn weeds may conveniently be divided into two classes based on the way in which they emerge from the seed. Monocots emerge with a single seed leaf whereas dicots emerge with two seed leaves. Most monocot weeds found in turfgrass are from the family Gramineae and are termed weedy grasses. Examples include crabgrass, annual bluegrass, tall fescue, and quackgrass. Dicots, on the other hand, are termed broadleaf weeds and include such plants as dandelion, clover, ground ivy, knotweed, and plantain.2

The most effective method of controlling lawn weeds is to maintain a dense and vigorously growing turf cover. Weeds are often an indication of problems in the grass plant environment, and killing the weeds without correcting the underlying problem will lead to unsatisfactory results. For example, a problem with knotweed is usually an indication of severe soil compaction. Control of knotweed without correction of the soil compaction will only lead to sparse soil cover until the area is again invaded by weeds that grow in compacted soil.

Often turf weeds can be controlled simply by altering the cultural practices to favor the grass plants rather than the weeds. The cultural controls may include raising (or lowering) the mowing height, changing the frequency of mowing, lengthening (or shortening) the period between irrigations, increasing (or decreasing) the application of fertilizer, or aerifying the soil.

A combination of proper cultural practices plus prudent use of chemical is sometimes necessary to control weeds effectively in turf. Whenever herbicides are used, container labels should ALWAYS be read and followed carefully.3

So remember family only Flowers are truly meant to be in Flower Beds.

Until Next Time Happy Planting Collinwood Family.

Sincerely,

DPD

 Footnotes:

[1] ezinearticles.com/ Resolving The Problems With Weeds

[2] extension.umn.edu/ Weed Control In Lawns And Other Turf

[3] extension.umn.edu/ Weed Control In Lawns And Other Turf