Weeds: Part I

We have a weed problem.  Actually we have a enough weed problems that I felt like I had to split this into two different posts becasue it was too long.

The first is bermuda grass.  It is just fine in the lawn, but since it spreads with runners...lots and lots of really long runners, it gets into everything.  Personally, I think it's the worst in the knock-out rose hedge we planted along our front fence last summer.  It always seems to grown right along the base of the rose bush where it is really hard to pull without getting impaled on a thorn or two, but I really don't like it creeping up into the vegetable garden either.  thankfully, it seems that it is really only an issue in these two places.

Bermuda Grass in the rose hedge              Bermuda grass in the cumbers

The second major offenders are a result of this tree.  It's was a Crataegus sp. (Hawthorn Tree).  The reason I say "was" a Crataegus is becasue we cut it down in order to the Shade Tropical Garden we planted this spring.

Before                                                                                                 After

The main reason we cut this tree down was that it was in the way of another garden we want to install in the future, but in order to cut it down safely, we would need to drop it where we were installing the Shade Tropical.  As bad a we felt cutting down a tree (especially since it was Earth Day), we made ourselves feel better by planting a bunch of Acer palmatum (Japanees Maples), a Eriobotrya japonica (lowquat) and a Ficus-carica (Fig) that day.

Crataegus suckers in the rose hedge

The other reason, that is almost as compelling as the "wrong plant in the wrong place" reason it the insane number of suckers it sends up all over the yard.  These are not simply little trees either, these suckers could be used as lethal weapons.  They are covered with inch long, perfectly smooth thorns.  We hate them, the dog hates them, they are horribly hard to dig out and they laugh in the face of herbicide.

Let me know if you have any fabulous ideas on how to irradiate these two from my garden.  We mulch, we lay down barriers, we pull, we dig, and from time to time we even spray herbicide.  Later on I'll tell you abound the other two weeds that are also a large part of our weed problem.