NEIGHBORHOOD GARDEN FOR MARCH 27, 2016

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USE THE RIGHT PRODUCT, AT THE RIGHT RATE,

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 RATE,

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 Northern Great Plains” by Frederick P. Baxendale, Ph.D. & Roch E. Gaussoin, Ph. D. (members of the University of Nebraska Turfgrass Science Team). Published by the Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska: 1997.

Copyright 2016