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USE THE RIGHT PRODUCT, AT THE RIGHT
AT THE RIGHT TIME, ON THE RIGHT PLANT!!!!
PART #2
BY GEORGE EDGAR
Last week I
wrote about Integrated Pest Management and weeds. Today the article is
about weed identification, and part #3 will be about wed control. The
most common weeds found in our lawns, flower gardens, and vegetable
gardens can be grouped as follows:
·
Annual
grasses such as Crabgrass (Digitaria
sanguinalis), Annual Bluegrass (Poa
annua), Foxtail (Setaroa glauca)
and Goosegrass (Eleusine indica).
(Annual means the plant grows for one year, may flower and go to seed,
and then dies.)
·
Annual
Broadleaf weeds such as Prostrate Spurge (Euphorbia
supina), Spotted Spurge (Euphorbia
maculata), Black Medic (Medicago
lupulina), Pennycress (Thlaspi
arvense), Purslane (Portulaca
oleracea), Henbit (Lamium
amplexicaule) and Common Chickweed (Stellaria
media).
·
Perennial
broadleaf weeds such as Dandelion (Taraxacum
officinal), White Clover (Trifolium
repens), and Ground Ivy (Glechoma
microcarpa). (Perennial means the plant usually grows for 3 or more
years. However, it may be a perennial in one hardiness zone but only an
annual in a colder zone.)
·
Perennial
grasses such as Bromegrass (Bromus
inermis), Rough Bluegrass (Poa
trivialis), Tall Fescue (Festuca
arundinacea), Nimblewill (Muhlenbergia
schreberi) and Quackgrass (Agropyren
repens).
·
Perennial
sedge such as Yellow Nutsedge. Most people call it “Nutgrass” but it is
really a sedge so does not respond to some broadleaf weed killers.
Correct
identification of the weed is important as use of the wrong herbicide
may kill everything or may not kill the weed you want to kill. I have
heard some people say that when they applied a specific product it
seemed to make the weed grow faster. That may be true, as some weed
killers such as 2-4-D, Clopyralid, Dicamba, and Triclopyr are really
growth regulators. Also most require more than one application and some
only kill off the top but do not kill off the root. So, if you don’t
have the right product, at the right rate, at the right time of year, on
the right plant, and use the correct number of applications, it may seem
like you are only encouraging the growth of the weed and not killing it.
Be aware that
after identification, and knowing about the life cycle, one herbicide
(weed killer or preventer) will not kill or prevent everything we call a
weed. And some herbicides are ok for the lawn but should not be used in
the vegetable garden. Also some herbicides kill the weeds that are
growing (post-emergent) and some herbicides prevent the seeds from
germinating (pre-emergent), and many hard to kill weeds needs two to
three applications for effective control.
“USE THE RIGHT PRODUCT, AT THE RIGHT
AT THE RIGHT TIME, ON THE RIGHT PLANT!!!”
For more information on
lawn weed control go to http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/pubs.
In the box on the top left side of the screen type in EC1256, or
“Landscape Weed Management”,
or “Lawn and Garden”. Publication EC1256 talks about control products
and has colored pictures of the most common landscape weeds. Under “Lawn
and Garden” are many useful articles. These publications can be read on
line, or printed for reading later and for reference. Or go to
http://lancaster.unl.edu for
garden and lawn information, good tips, and access to other websites.
In writing this
article I also used “Integrated Turfgrass Management for the Copyright 2016 |