Weeds: Know Your Enemy

[00:00:20] Keith: Hey, Keith Ramsey with garden supply company. We've had a lot of questions recently about weeds how to rid your yard of weeds. And it's a constant problem for sure. The one thing about weeds that I always tell people is, if you just spend a few minutes figuring out what we do have and what the lifecycle is you can actually manage it a little bit better. 

[00:00:56] Most people don't want to delve in that deep, but like vegetables, you get warm season weeds and cool season weeds. And if you know what stage the weeds you're at, or if it's an annual or if it's a perennial. You can actually manage the problem a little bit easier. 

[00:01:10] There's things like chickweed that people come in the middle of spring and they said, I've got chickweed all over my yard and it's choking out my grass and I need to do something with it. And, it is choking out your grass and you do need to do something with it. 

[00:01:23] But the reality is it's not that crazy of a problem because the first hot day it's going to start to fade. it's On its way out. And it's knowing that you need to have the pre-emergence down ahead of that. So you don't get to that point is easier than managing the problem at that point. 

[00:01:38] And once if you're in a house or you're got a garden space and you've, and you start to understand what weed you have and what the life cycle is you can control them a whole lot easier. I always find that to me. Pulling weeds is a relaxing thing. 

[00:01:55] It's, you can walk through the garden and you can pull a handful of weeds until you can't walk through the garden and just pull a handful of weeds. You're raking a wheelbarrow loads of weeds, so it's staying ahead of the problem knowing when to put down pre-emergence.  

[00:02:10] If you put down pre-emergence, you can usually eliminate 90% of the germination and manage the problem and then pulling weeds is not actually painful. And it's something you can do in a short period of time. If you've got a weed problem, if it's a handful of weeds, you pull them before they go to seed. 

[00:02:27] So that you're not dropping new seeds. And then You just don't want them to get, out of control at that point. So you're going to, you're going to pull all the weeds or you're going to rake the weeds out or the other option is spraying them. And people always shy away from spraying, but there's  

[00:02:41] There are many organic sprays out there now that you can use. There's an iron-based product that works extremely well. And broadleaf weeds in you can't spray it on, on and around your plants, but it's not going to affect the roots of the plant. So it goes into the leaves. It's basically a toxic level of iron. 

[00:02:58] So it'll cause the plant to cave in. And then you've added iron to your soil for future say, you're going to have greener plants, which is a benefit. Fatty acids is another one. It basically just Smothers the plant can't take in oxygen.  

[00:03:11] And then there's all kinds of vinegar products on the market. Vinegar works really well. I recommend using a product that's that is the right percentage and something that's made for weeds over just experimenting in your kitchen, because I think people can cook up these recipes and then you don't really know what you're doing to the microbes in the soil. 

[00:03:32] You don't know what you're doing to the worms. So using a product that's labeled that's been tested is not a bad idea. There's a clove based product that does the same thing. It'll, take care of any kind of light weeds not a really serious perennial weeds, but it does a good job. 

[00:03:45] And then there's the standby that everybody's used for years that any more is the scariest thing on the market Roundup. I still think Roundup is a pretty safe product used in moderation. I've used it for years and been around it. I don't see, I don't see it be

Episode Transcript

Keith (00:16):
Hey, Keith Ramsey with garden supply company.
We've had a lot of questionsrecently about weeds how
to rid your yard of weeds.
And it's a constant problem for sure.
The one thing about weeds that I alwaystell people is, if you just spend a
few minutes figuring out what we dohave and what the lifecycle is you can
actually manage it a little bit better.

(00:36):
Most people don't want to delvein that deep, but like vegetables
you got warm season weeds andyou get cool season weeds.
And if you know what stage theweeds you're at, or if it's an
annual or if it's a perennial.
You can actually manage theproblem a little bit easier.
There's things like chickweed thatpeople come in the middle of spring and
they said, I've got chickweed all overmy yard and it's choking out my grass

(00:57):
and I need to do something with it.
And, it is choking out your grass andyou do need to do something with it.
But the reality is it's not thatcrazy of a problem because the first
hot day it's going to start to fade.
it's On its way out.
And it's knowing that you need to havethe pre-emergence down ahead of that.
So you don't get to that point is easierthan managing the problem at that point.

(01:18):
And once if you're in a house or you'regot a garden space and you've, and
you start to understand what weed youhave and what the life cycle is you
can control them a whole lot easier.
I always find that to me.
Pulling weeds is a relaxing thing.
It's, you can walk through the gardenand you can pull a handful of weeds
until you can't walk through the gardenand just pull a handful of weeds.

(01:43):
You're raking a wheelbarrowloads of weeds, so it's staying
ahead of the problem knowingwhen to put down pre-emergence.
If you put down pre-emergence, you canusually eliminate 90% of the germination
and manage the problem and thenpulling weeds is not actually painful.
And it's something you cando in a short period of time.
If you've got a weed problem, ifit's a handful of weeds, you

(02:05):
pull them before they go to seed.
So that you're not dropping new seeds.
And then You just don't want them toget, out of control at that point.
So you're going to, you're goingto pull all the weeds or you're
going to rake the weeds out orthe other option is spraying them.
And people always shy awayfrom spraying, but there's
a lot of organic sprays out there nowthat you can use there's an iron based

(02:25):
product that works extremely well.
And broadleaf weeds in you can'tspray it on, on and around your
plants, but it's not going toaffect the roots of the plant.
So it goes into the leaves.
It's basically a toxic level of iron.
So it'll cause the plant to cave in.
And then you've added iron to your soilfor future say, you're going to have
greener plants, which is a benefit.

(02:47):
Fatty acids is another one.
It basically just Smothers theplant can't take in oxygen.
And then there's all kinds ofvinegar products on the market.
Vinegar works really well.
I recommend using a product that's thatis the right percentage and something
that's made for weeds over justexperimenting in your kitchen, because
I think people can cook up these recipesand then you don't really know what

(03:10):
you're doing to the microbes in the soil.
You don't know whatyou're doing to the worms.
So using a product that's labeledthat's been tested is not a bad idea.
There's a clove based productthat does the same thing.
It'll, take care of any kind of lightweeds not a really serious perennial
weeds, but it does a good job.
And then there's the standbythat everybody's used for years
that any more is the scariestthing on the market Roundup.

(03:31):
I still think Roundup is a prettysafe product used in moderation.
I've used it for years and been around it.
I don't see, I don't see it beingextremely detrimental in a home garden.
More of an issue when it's sprayedover our food in large quantities on
farms that they could you'll see itover sprayed into, taking taken out

(03:51):
native plants and that kind of thing.
And.
We're losing pollinators and that kindof stuff, but Roundup in the garden is
not something that I'm shying away from.
It's something I use in my gardenwhen I need to, otherwise I'm using
something that's organic and and Iwould use it in the, in a perennial.
I'd use it in a veggie garden, but I'duse it ahead of season over during, at
the point that you've got food in there.
And then the other end of thatis pre-emergent, you're catching

(04:14):
the weeds before the germinate.
That's the pre part it's before that seedgerminates, you get the pre-emergence out
and then it stops that seed from gettingto the point where it's going to get a
root into the ground and start to grow.
And there's an organic option there too.
Corn, gluten Corn gluten is a isa product that it'll do exactly
what the chemical products do.

(04:35):
. It just slows the growth of thecuddle lead and when it comes
out of the seed and then the seedwill dry up and you'll eliminate
probably 90% of the germination.
Dimension is a product that weuse both for crabgrass and the
lawn And for weeds in beds.
It's not something that I would usein a veggie garden, but there's two
or three different pre emergenciesyou can use in a veggie garden as well

(04:57):
that are labeled for veggie gardens.
And and don't go into the plant.
And then the other part of it is,it's like weeding, but cultivating
the soil turning the soil anddigging around the plants.
That makes a bigdifference in weed control.
When you're in a perennial situationor within trees and shrubs you can
mulch and mulching it'll eithersmother out weeds, or it keeps the
weed seeds from getting to a moistenough space that they can germinate.

(05:20):
And all kinds of mulches can be used.
You could, you can shred yourleaves and use leaf mulch.
It's very effective andit's good for the soil.
You can use a Woody type malt or barkmulch, in a veggie garden a lot of
times we'll use paper or cardboard.
Usually you can just recycle a cardboardthat, from packages or from a dumpster.
And then You can also buy a,just cheap rolls of brown paper

(05:43):
and roll them out in a row.
That does a really goodjob because it's stays dry.
It's gonna keep cut down the light thatweeds underneath it are going to get.
And then it just gives you a good,hard walk-in surface in between your.
Get to know the weeds thatyou have and what you have.
You can always bag ofweed and bring it in.
Now we got people that can, theycan tell you what you've got and

(06:06):
when it needs to be sprayed or whenthe pre-emergence needs to go out.
The more you understand aboutthe weeds that you're trying
to manage, the easier it'll be.
Just walk through the gardenand pull a handful of weeds.
Just, keep them under control and managed.
And it's not the end of theworld to pull a few weeds.
We'll see you next time.