weeds to target late summer and fall

AN ENCORE VISIT to my public-radio show and podcast one recent August by Teri Dunn Chace, author of “How to Eradicate Invasive Plants,” happened just in the nick, I do believe. Late summer and fall turn out to be the best time for getting the upper hand over a wide range of common weeds, including Japanese knotweed, ragweed, Ailanthus, bindweed, curly dock and more, so I was relieved to have Teri help me chart a focused course of action. We griped about weeds, and grappled with them together.

No matter what weed you are facing, if it’s flowering or setting seed now, be sure to behead it: mow it down, harvest the blooms for bouquets, or otherwise prevent a successful sexual reproduction cycle.

teri dunn chace’s basic weed strategy

FIRST A FAST REVIEW of Teri’s basic strategic weed-fighting plan, since simply pinpointing specific things this time of year isn’t the whole story.  Her plan, she admits: mostly practical and straight-forward.

“Although it’s common sense, it’s things we sometimes don’t do,” says Teri, “but if we did it would make a big difference.” Don’t let things get to where you want to turn to the store to buy some chemical to erase your weed woes. Follow her strategic plan instead:

Knowledge is power: ID your weeds (otherwise how do you know what it will take to defeat them?). Intervene early (too late for that now, but really: this is the key of all keys with weeds). Good timing is key: Each plant has a life cycle, a biology, and knowing what its cycle is can help you figure out when to best expend your efforts against it. (This is where ID’ing it first comes in, particularly.) Assess the situation. How bad is the problem, and how many different problems are you facing? Which then dovetails to… Concentrate your Read more on awaytogarden.com