Weed Control Strategies

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Pacific Northwest
JOSH KIRSCHENBAUM,
COTTAGE GROVE, OREGON

Originally from Ohio, Josh learnedabout gardening in the Pacific Northwest as a community garden coordinator in Eugene, Oregon, where he helped transform an abandoned two-acre field into a viable, food producing garden. Since 1999 he has worked for Territorial Seed Company, where be helps grow and evaluate varieties at the company's 44-acre trial grounds and organic research farm in London Springs, Oregon. Territorial offers more than 800 varieties of seeds in two yearly catalogs (one for spring and one for winter gardening), and specializes in varieties that mature sequentially to fill in the gardening season. [Territorial Seed Company; (541) 942 9547; www.territorialseed.com ]

"Urban gardening is a soothing counterpoint for people who feel removed from nature. I live in a second-floor apartment with no balcony and fulfill my gardening passion with a plot in a local community garden. One drawback, however, is that no matter how well a plot is kept weeded, the weeds from a nearby plot readily creep back in. Mulching with compost, straw, or even plastic helps. I also plant cover crops such as Austrian field peas or crimson clover when the garden beds are not occupied with vegetables."

ROSE MARIE NICHOLS MCGEE.
ALBANY OREGON

Rose Marie lives and gardens in Oregon's Willamette Valley. She is the president of Nichols Garden Nursery, started by her parents Nick and Edith Nichols in1950. Now she and her husband Keane McGee continue the family tradition of organic gardening, and selecting the best varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers. With more than 800 seed selections, there is always something in the Nichols catalog tempting for the gardener or cook. Rose Marie says you can grow the world in your backyard garden.

[Nichols Garden Nursery; (800) 4223985; www.nicholsgardennursery.com ]

"My earliest memories of gardening are associated with weeds. It is still a challenge that requires several strategies. Pull or hoe when the soil is damp and loose, and before weeds seed. Early planting and year-round gardening are two of our most valuable tools in weed control. Our biggest problem is with persistent rhizomatous grasses. The smallest piece of root is enough to start a new plant, so they are collected and discarded rather than composted. We create new beds with layers of newspaper, mulch and compost. These sit fallow for one season and then are planted in spring or fall with perennials, strawberries and transplants. Keep up the mulching, and in another season the bed becomes suitable for direct sowing."

Southwest
SUE AND CRAIG DREMANN, REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA

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