Bio Invasion
Fending off the weeds: This time, it’s war.
February/March 2001
By Denise Fagan
My war on the weeds.
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Tossing my trowel, cultivator and weeder to the ground, I don gloves and survey the job before me. Out in the berry patch, I spot crabgrass bearing down on desperate runners sprung forth in hopes of escape. Nearby, knapweed masquerades as tomato plants and clover creeps through the coriander and lemon basil, hugging the soil like a soldier preparing for an ambush.
Triaging the damage like a medic on a battlefield I head toward the stricken strawberries. The berries seem to be turning blue - a result, no doubt, of being strangled. Pulling up the crabgrass proves futile, like trying to pull toilet paper from the stingy contraptions in certain public restrooms. I receive some satisfaction shredding the stubborn weed roots with the cultivator until I realize the extent of the entrenchment. It is like an intricate, underground vascular system with arteries, veins and hair-like capillaries. I resort to biological warfare and douse the enemy with a chemical in a bottle that has a skull and crossbones on it warning of injury, deformation or possibly even death if you so much as think about it.
Having survived the exposure, I assume an attitude of conviction and march up to the knapweed in what I hope appears to be a commanding and intimidating manner. They stand there innocently, and one actually extends a purple-flowered peace offering. Appearances are deceiving. The laid-back weed has such a firm hold I could easily believe that it had found a way to cement itself into the ground. In my exasperation I grab hold with both hands, pull for all I'm worth, and wind up on my rear end holding the upper portion of the plant with the purple flower intact. I could swear that I hear snickering, but when I look over at the flowerless fiend and its buddies they are silent and sinless, just trying to get by in this world like everybody else. I decide to return later to deal with the deadbeats; fantasies about the propane blowtorch in the garage flit through my consciousness. I only wish I knew how to use it.
