Sick of weeding already

[boops]

I have never seen so many weeds, clover and tree seedlings in all my gardens as I have this year. I must have pulled 50 oak tree seedlings, all hiding under my taller Hosta. On my hands and knees all last weekend scraping out moss also. Anyone else having an immense weed issue this year?

[irawon]

Boops,
Weeding is a never ending chore here. You could drive yourself nuts if you're a perfectionist. I have all sort of weeds in my beds that I've never had before in addition to the regulars . For some reason this year there were more maple tree seedling than usual.. lots of clover, dandelions etc. Lots of spruce tree seedlings too. I could start a tree farm with them. The moss and liverwort in my beds are really bad... I have a feeling that if you don't clean your tools between beds you transmit the spores...just scraping doesn't seem to do the job. My husband is cutting the lawn higher, so a lot of grass seeds blow into my beds too. I don't mulch because of slugs but I'm starting to reconsider. My strategy is to get the weeds that grow inside plant clumps first. I usually try to remove weeds with the roots one by one after loosening the soil but I'm starting to use a hoe.

After three days of rain, I was outside today examining the weed damage... they sure have grown. On a positive note, so have the hostas as my husband reminds me.

Glad you brought the subject up... I'm wondering what strategies others have to keep the weeds down.

[boops]

Yes we've had a ton of rain and the weeds and Hosta are thriving. I have been pulling weeds and grass from between my Day lilies foliage and thru my ground covers. Any place with vase shaped plants, I've been using Round up carefully, but mostly ripping stuff out by the roots and also using a claw while on my hands and knees. I even had this huge garlic mustard weed that I thought was a plant thriving because I was feeding it Many weeds I have now are unidentifiable. I chalk it up to a very windy spring and a lot of rain.
You are right tho-my Hostas have gotten huge this year, a few tripled in size from last year. I'll have to starting moving some companion plants out of some of the beds.
Good luck with your weeding.

[Linda P]

Over the past few years, I've used a pre-emergent in the hosta beds. This year it was very hard to get it on in time, because of the harsh weather conditions in early spring. I've had the largest crop of lambsquarter that I can remember, and another 'weed' source is the Sweet Annie that I forgot to cut last fall before it produced seeds. Those two weeds seemed to be fairly resistant to the suppressing abilities of my pre-emergent. I also used Roundup carefully, but it was hard to get that on as well. We had endless windy days this spring. I've noticed over the years that when we've had stressful weather events, there seem to be more tree seedlings. Perhaps there's something that triggers higher seed production when the tree is stressed, in order to ensure survival of the species? My dad, who was a life long advocate of planting trees, and who quietly studied them over his 91 years, thought so. Good enough for me! I don't use a lot of mulch either, only in newer beds, and I"m very careful to keep it away from the crown of the plants. Nature abhors a vacuum, so anytime there's a scrap of bare soil, there will be something waiting to take advantage of it. While weeding is a chore, it's also very good therapy; good for mental health, as your mind works out the problems of the day while your hands wander through the weeds, good for physical health as your body is called on to use muscles and assume positions not used in any other daily activity. Think of it as a wellness tool! And Happy Weeding!!!!

[boops]

I also have tons of chickweed, lambsquarter, and just plain grass but mostly clover growing. I guess its all a part of gardening. I must have done 1000 squats yesterday weeding LOL. Good for the ol' muscles.

[Eleven]

Yeah, my weeds are abundant this year. And I don't use any herbicides, so that means it's just me and my hands/tools. I wasn't able to get out there until Memorial Weekend, so things were pretty bad. Now I just do one bed at a time then take a picture of things looking all pretty. It's my memento for all the time between weeding each bed

Here's my last vision of beauty, before the weedlings started to grow again:

[boops]

Looks great!! All my Hosta companion plants are filling in nicely and I can't see a lot of the weeds unless I'm on my hands and knees. I don't mulch the hosta beds anymore, too much of a pain raking in the fall and spring, and I know mulch does keep down some of the weeds. I weeded again after our big rain this past week, they come out nice and easy that way.

[Carol O]

That looks good, Eleven. I spent all day weeding the vegetable garden and was glad the soil was perfect for weeding. Not too dry and not too wet.

[thy]

One area at the time is the way to go... yours look beautiful

[kHT]

Boops, I'll trade you your weeds for the male pine parts that are dropping out of our neighbor's trees. I have vac up at least 12 bags already just from the west side and another 8 from the east side. I went up on the roof after we had a heavy rain this weekend and the water ran over the edge of the gutters. Low and behold DH hadn't cleaned them since May and they were full up there too!! I have never see it this bad.

[morgansrgr8]

Wow Karma I would be using those pine parts as mulch. Might work for awhile. Now me I will have to weed till the day I die. Hubby loves his Rose of Sharon and has them everywhere. I have never seen a plant populate like it can. Wish he would let me get them away from my main hosta beds.

[boops]

LOL-my daughters and son in laws place which they bought from his parents has about 40 of this blasted Rose of Sharon which drop seed all over the place, I pulled at least 100 seedlings, about 25 two foot tall ones and round uped the rest. I hate those plants almost as much as the Yucca which you can't kill. I have even poured stump killer directly on the cut off yucca stump and that one appeared to die only to pop up about 3 feet away.
This year is certainly the worst weed, unwanted seedling etc. clean up I have ever experienced. I know how you feel morgansrgr8.

[Linda P]

I have Rose of Sharon too, and I've never seen so many seedlings as I have this year. I've hit the areas where they are growing twice with Roundup to kill them off, and there's another flush coming. I will keep the darn bushes, because I got them from a dear friend who is no longer with us. I will never forget the day in her garden when she dug some up for me. She said "Are you sure you want these? You'll have them coming up all over the garden." I do love them in bloom, and for me it's worth it when I see them and think of her. This has been a banner year for germinating tree seedlings of all sorts, some I don't even have in my garden have shown up. Mulberries are just horrid this year. I'm about to commence round 4 of trying to get rid of them. Hundreds of them, all over the garden, and they will turn in to a 6 foot tall tree before you can bat an eye if they get away from you.

[ViolaAnn]

Someone suggested it as a shade plant when I have to take down my sick Ash tree next winter. Maybe not!