Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Weeding 6.26.10

Weeding. Seriously. It's driving us crazy. Not just a little crazy. We're going insane crazy. I'm not sure I can live in a house with this much weeding. The morning glory made David so nuts that he decided to dig out a couple of the beds to get down to the root systems. This worked. For a week. Then it was morning glory city all over again.

Anyone have any morning glory advice?

5 comments:

Marianne said...

Ummm, well.... yes, bindweed (or morning glory as it's known around here) is my nemesis. I'm sure what I'm going to tell you will not be good news so stop reading now if you wish. It is the weed that DOESN'T die. If the plants produce seeds (and each plant produces around 600 seeds), the seeds can lie dormant in the soil for up to 60 freaking years. Plus it's drought tolerant, roots can live up to 14 feet deep, one inch root fragments can grow new plants, and root systems can live for many many winters even when there's no foliage. So it's firstly important not to let the existing plants go to seed. And really the only way to control it (I don't think you can ever really get rid of it) is to crowd it out with other ground cover or cover crops that are well watered. Then just keep yanking them out as you see them to try to starve the extensive root systems. There's plenty of advice on the internet for bindweed so take a look, but I swear it's impossible. You'll never get all the roots and seeds even if you keep digging out all the beds. Sorry to hear you've joined my Bindweed Haters club. Give my condolences to David.

Camille said...

Get out and weed at least once a week. Get it before it blooms. Don't just pull it out - I used a dandelion digger (long straight hand garden tool with tiny fork at the end) to go down beside the stems/roots and get it low down. Keep at it. it's better the next year if you keep at it this year. And even better the next year after that.

I've also heard that you can take an eyedropper of round-up out every morning and put one drop into each bloom. Every day. Haven't tried it...

Just be thankful you don't have Virginia Creeper. It's the same idea - but bigger, thicker, and deeper.

Good luck - and condolences on the loss of your brother. We're thinking of you...

Amber said...

I don't, but I had to comment AGAIN on your amazing backyard! Wow! The views must be to die for.

Malisa said...

I had it in the woodchips at the old house...that I don't own anymore. I just got lax on summer and it got worse and I couldn't keep it under control. I've noticed it in the backyard here and it's the one weed I'm the most worried about. It's spread quickly. Marianne pretty much nailed why.

The Dunham Family said...

Kerri, I don't think a nuclear bomb would take care of morning glory!