Winter Weeds

Purple Deadnettle (Lamium purpureum)

Walking in the alley behind my house I notice these nice little flowers and was reminded that now is a good time to start your winter weed control.  I have gathered some information that may be useful for identifying weeds as well as some IPM methods for controlling weeds.  If you remain persistent and develop a good weed management program you will slowly reduce the weed populations in your garden.  Each successive season will make it easier and easier to maintain weed free garden.

IPM Strategies for Weed Control

• Identify the weed.
• Dig or pull the weeds in the winter or spring before they flower and set seed for the next year.
• Use good sanitation practices to prevent the spread of weeds. Small weed seeds can be spread by machines, clothing, pets, and by contaminated seed.
• If necessary, for the established weeds in your garden the best time to apply post-emergent herbicides is early spring when the weeds are actively growing but before they go to seed.
• To prevent germination of the seeds of winter annual weeds, apply a pre-emergent herbicide in late summer or early fall before the weed seeds have germinated.
• Follow-up the application of herbicides with non-chemical methods such as installing mulch, pulling weeds, or filling cracks.

Information Regarding Herbicides

• Be sure the label lists the weed you want to control.
• An herbicide will kill all susceptible plants, not just weeds. Make sure the label says it’s safe to use on or around the plants in your lawn, garden, or landscape.
• Be sure the weeds are in a stage that is susceptible to the herbicide.
• Herbicides that kill most plants they contact are called non-selective.
• Weed killers that control some kinds of plants but not others are called selective herbicides.
• Herbicides that control the germinating seeds before plants emerge from the soil are called pre-emergent herbicides. They won’t control weeds that already have emerged.
•  Use post-emergent herbicides to control plants that already have emerged.
• The younger the weed, the better a post-emergent herbicide will work.

Please try to minimize the use of pesticides that pollute our waterways. Use non-chemical alternatives or less toxic pesticide products whenever possible. Read product labels carefully and follow instructions on proper use, storage and disposal.

Weed ID links	Weed ID links	Weed ID links
Arenaria serpyllifolia (sandwort, thymeleaf )	Lactuca serriola (lettuce, prickly)	Ranunculus abortivus (buttercup, smallflower)
Barbarea vulgaris (rocket, yellow)	Lamium amplexicaule (henbit)	Brassica kaber (mustard, wild)
Capsella bursa-pastoris (shepherd's-purse)	Lamium purpureum (deadnettle, red)	Sisymbrium officinale (mustard, hedge)
Cardamine hirsuta (bittercress)	Lepidium campestre (pepperweed, field)	Stellaria media (chickweed, common)
Conyza canadensis (horseweed)	Lepidium virginicum (pepperweed, Virginia)	Thlaspi arvense (pennycress, field)
Erodium cicutarium (filaree, redstem)	Matricaria matricariodes (pineappleweed)	Veronica arvensis (speedwell, corn)
Hibiscus trionum (mallow, venice)	Potentilla norvegica (cinquefoil, rough)	Veronica peregrina (speedwell, purslane)

Additional Resources

University of Tennessee - Deadnettle and Henbit

Rutgers University - Weed Gallery

UMass Amhurst - Weed Herbarium

Spring and Daffodils

Daffodil Flowers by Petr Kratochvil

Perhaps, William Wordsworth did more than anyone for the daffodil by writing this verse:

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
and twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

Notwithstanding the snow flurries and the gray skies, spring has arrived.  So, it seems appropriate on a day like today to think of daffodils.  The daffodil or narcissus is a very popular garden plant found in many gardens.

Daffodils need little care in the spring.  The foliage should be allowed to remain on the plant undisturbed for eight weeks after bloom.  The foliage can then be removed after eights weeks by hand picking.  If the flowering is reduced or the flower size has become small, then the time for digging and dividing has come.

Dig the bulbs while the foliage is dying and can still be seen so the bulbs can be located.  Remove loose soil and allow bulbs to dry in shallow trays, onion sacks or old nylon stockings.  Do not let bulbs lie in the hot sun and never pile up bulbs while drying or those at the bottom of the pile will be ruined. Allow bulbs to dry in a cool, well-ventilated place for several weeks.

Plant the largest and healthiest bulbs in the fall. Daffodils should be planted six to eight inches apart.  If planted closer then the bulbs may need to be dug up and replanted every three to five years.

With a little work you can have these harbingers of spring and your own "host of golden daffodils"  in your garden.

Additional Resources

American Daffodil Society

Daffodils - University of Missouri

Cornell Flower Bulb Research Newletter

Cornell - Flower Bulb Research Program

International Bulb Society

BCCAC - Workday Before Photos

A couple of weeks ago I posted some photographs of the raised beds after Master Gardeners had cleaned the beds.  Now, I would like to contrast those photographs with these new photographs and show how much work was done.  Once again, thank you to all those Master Gardeners who braved the cold weather and made the cleanup a success.

Some Spring Gardening Chores

While spring isn't officially here, now is the time to perform some of those spring gardening chores. 

• Test for soil types and pH levels before major planting
• Plan planting areas based on exposure to sun, shade, and wind; consider distance from water source
• Dig beds in preparation for spring planting as soon as earth is friable
• Apply horticultural oil sprays to dormant trees and shrubs before buds open and if there is no danger of night frost
• Divide and transplant summer-blooming perennials
• Plant cold weather vegetables like spinach, peas, lettuce, and broccoli as soon as soil is workable
• Plant roses
• Apply fertilizer to roses as new growth begins
• Plant and transplant perennials
• Sow seeds of annuals and vegetables indoors that require 10 to 12 weeks before transplanting
• Prune all plant material to remove any diseased, dead, weak, or crossing branches
• Complete tree pruning before new growth begins
• Cut back ornamental grasses
• Remove weeds before they flower

This isn't a complete list chores, but should be more than enough to get you started with your spring gardening.


Additional Information 

Rutgers University - How to have your soild tested 

University of Illinois - Gardening with Perennials

Planting Roses

Colorado State University - Horticultural Oils

Colorado State University - Insect Control with Horticultural Oils

Penn State University - Need help identifying those spring weeds? 

Workday at BCCAC Demonstration Gardens

Last week a group of Master Gardeners got together to cleanup the raised bed demonstration gardens.  The photographs only show the results of the work without showing the state of the beds after a long winter.  Thank you to all the Master Gardeners who braved the cold weather and helped clean the beds.  Stay tuned for more updates on the raised bed gardens and watch our progress.