One of lifes necessary evils is dealing with alien labs carts in your lawn and garden. There’s really no other way around it because anywhere you grow plants worth keeping the weeds are sure to follow. Even the liberal application of chemical and organic herbicides, and weed barrier fabrics are not fool proof against the infiltration of those unwanted plants. When this is the case the best plan of attack is pulling those pesky weeds by hand.
When hand pulling there are some specific techniques that will allow you to make sure that particular weed will not make a return appearance.
First off you have to get up close and personal with the weed. As you get ready to pull you need to grip the base of the weed at the point where it enters the soil. This helps to prevent the weed from breaking off leaving the root behind. In cases of hard to pull weeds consider getting a weed pulling tool. By inserting the forked bit down along the length of the root it will sufficiently loosen the soil to allow complete removal.
Another thing to remember is that the bigger the weed the harder it can be to pull. This is because the root system can be very long holding the top part of the plant firmly in place. To make weeding easier water your lawn or garden before hand to moisten the soil; this allows the root to slide out of the ground easier.
Also consider weeding earlier in the day when it is cool outside. Weeding in the middle of the day is a sure way to make doing so a not real fun experience. The idea is to get into the habit of pulling weeds regularly during the week so do it when you will be most comfortable. If you have a compost pile throw those soon to be dead weeds into it and turn them under. The heat generated by the composting organic matter will quickly kill the weed and any seeds that it may contain.
One last advantage of hand pulling weeds is it allows you to get up close to all your other plants. This gives you the opportunity to notice problems that you might not have otherwise seen. This can help improve the health and well being of your lawn and garden as you work to remedy any problems that come to your attention.
Once you have eradicated a good portion of your weed problem its time to start looking at ways to keep them to a minimum. In the garden and flower beds this can be accomplished by using a thick layer of mulch. This not only keeps weeds from sprouting but also helps to retain moisture and releases organic nutrients back into the soil.
If you have an overwhelming weed problem then chemical weed killers can be used to deal with the situation quickly. They work quickly and can eradicate large amounts of weeds effectively. If you do use such a product do so carefully as they are harmful and can damage or kill your desirable plants. As an alternative consider using a more organic weed killer made from common household products.
Keeping the weeds out of your lawn and garden takes a little time and patience at first. Once they have been effectively dealt with keeping them out of your landscape is little more then pulling the few that do sprout once or twice a week.