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It’s really difficult to write about weeds because they are so hard to describe without a colored picture. Sometimes even a colored picture doesn’t do justice because so many weeds look alike. When we had the Extension office to work out of, and we were open Monday evenings, it was much easier as most of the gardeners who came in Monday night brought either a bug or weed with them.

The definition of a weed is any plant that is growing where it is not supposed to be. One might think that a few corn stalks in a soybean field doesn’t matter, but it does, since soybeans ripen faster than corn, immature corn kernels can mold among the beans and create havoc.

I have been a serious gardener for many years and although the kinds of weeds that I battle change from year to year, it remains a battle. I am mowing my lawn quite often partly due to all the moisture earlier this spring and also because I use the grass to mulch my gardens. A weed that has taken over my lawn is common plantain. Plantain likes moisture, compacted soil, and shady spots. All three conditions are present where plantain is taking over.

Common plantain is easily identified by its broad oval 2-3 inch long leaves marked with deep parallel veins. The leaves grow quite close to the ground. In late summer it sends up several six inch flower spikes that sort of looks like fireworks sparklers. Plantain isn’t a problem in a garden that is worked because it likes compacted soil. Broadleaf herbicides applied in late summer or early fall can help eliminate plantains in the lawn.

I’m not going to take a survey, but I would guess the number one problem is quack grass. It grows everywhere and under any condition. It is also known as couchgrass and is a cool season perennial that easily survives frigid winter. It spreads by seeds and rhizomes which are underground roots. This is the way that raspberries spread. The difference is that if you sever the root of the raspberry it will die, but a tiny part of the quackgrass rhizome will continue to grow. This is why this weed is such a problem in your perennial flower bed, asparagras patch or even on your lawn.

The best way to control quackgrass is to manually remove it. Tilling breaks up the rhizome and causes it to spread. You can use an herbicide and spot spray. Add a few drops of dish detergent to help the chemical to stay on the grass foliage. This herbicide kills anything green, so follow instructions very carefully and spray only on the windless days so the chemical does not drift.

If quackgrass is the number one weed problem, then crabgrass has to be number two. Just about the time you get quackgrass under control, or you give up, along comes crabgrass. Crabgrass is one of the fastest growing annuals on the planet. It’s a European weed that is found in gardens from coast to coast.

Crabgrass has a couple of factors going in its favor when it competes with your garden or your lawn. It grows really fast and its tiny seeds can germinate whether they are just barely covered with soil or buried nearly two inches deep. To make things worse, a big plant can produce 150,000 seeds. The slender seed spikes spread out like fingers as the seeds become mature, hence the nickname of fingergrass. Quackgrass spreads underground like raspberries. Crabgrass spreads above ground as do strawberries.

Later in the summer you can recognize crabgrass in the lawn by its thick stand and light green color. If it’s a serious problem on the lawn you can apply a pre-emergent herbicide, but wait until next year, before it “emerges.”

Another weed that is in my asparagras patch and raspberry patch is binder- weed or Wild morning glory. These are good names because it grows like a morning glory and it binds to everything it can climb on. Another name for it is “devilsguts” because the roots have been known to go down 20 feet. In 1922 California proclaimed it their worst weed. It grows wild in every state except Florida.

If you really want to garden without binder weed, it is best to go with annuals. That way you can dig freely each growing season without damaging the root structure of plants you want to see again next year. If you faithfully pull binder weed out you can win the war. If you can clean the area and then mulch you may get control since binder weed is like other plants in that they need light.

I probably could write for hours on all the weeds that attack our garden. I have tried to cover four weeds that give me the most trouble.

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