Weed Control Strategies

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Bill recently retired after more than30 years as the county extension agent for horticulture in Houston, Texas, where he wrote a weekly column for the Houston Chronicle and coordinated the Harris County Master Gardener program. He had more than 100 chickens, ducks and turkeys in his back yard at one point, with plans to photograph every chicken known to humanity. Bill now concentrates his energies on gardening, writing and photography.

"Weeds are unrelenting along the Gulf Coast! All summer we fight Bermuda grass, nut grass, crabgrass, goosegrass, Dallis grass, spurge, pigweed and others. Then winter arrives—usually for about two weeks—and we get new weeds chickweed, henbit and annual bluegrass. In most cases the answer to this dilemma is mulch, mulch, mulch. Last summer, I moved into a new place that demanded attention inside - hence no time for tilling a garden. So I just dug a hole in the Bermuda grass, added some compost plus slow-release fertilizer and planted a few tomatoes. Then I surrounded the plants with newspapers—eight to 10 sheets thick—covered with cypress mulch. Talk about notill farming! This spring I'll spread more newspapers and keep on planting. In the meantime radishes, lettuce, broccoli and other cool-season crops now are growing where the warm-season crops used to be."

Southern Interior
DEAN LOLLIS,
GREENWOOD. SOUTH CAROLINA

Dean interned for Park Seed Company while a student at Lander University. Eight years later (in 2001) he returned to Park, where he works in catalog production and assists gardening journalists. Park's nine acre trial gardens annually include more than 1,500 varieties, and Park catalogs have been going out to gardeners since 1868.

[Park Seed Company; (800) 845-3369; www.parkseed.com ]

"Gardeners in Southern regions often fight a year-round battle to keep weeds at bay, especially if the winters are mild. If you aren't into weed-pulling, there's another option—ignore them! The formal garden I was trying to grow in my back yard turned out to be a breeding ground for weeds and out-of-control grass. I opted for a new plan of attack. Now, much of my yard is grown as a naturalized area. When I group plants together in spots, I put them closer than recommended—it helps them form a mass that simply chokes out weeds, and I can easily keep the grass trimmed around and beneath them. A heavy layer of mulch also makes it difficult for unwanted growers to reach daylight."

Central/Midwest
CONNIE DAM-BYL. DUNDAS, ONTARIO

Gardening and selling seed are in Connie's blood. Her grandfather founded the William Dam Seed Company 53 years ago, and it has grown to offer 800 varieties of untreated seeds and the largest selection of organic seed in Canada. Readers are invited to wander the five acres of test gardens showcasing over 1,000 trial varieties.

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