Gold Coast Gardener

October 22, 2006

By Gene Joyner, Extension Agent
Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service

Weeds in the landscape can make even the prettiest plants look horrible and although many people make valiant efforts to control weeds you can find them in almost any landscape if you look hard enough. Weeds for whatever reason seem to come in like magic, but actually it’s the seeds that are blown in by the wind and since that occurs constantly you get a constant threat of invasion.

The best way of keeping weeds under control is to prevent them from getting well established. In turfgrass areas you can keep the turfgrass well managed so far as mowing, fertilizing and disease and insect control and by keeping the grass thick and healthy it can out compete almost all the weeds that invade it.

In flower beds you can grow plants very thick and bushy that don’t provide weeds much area for competition or use thick layers of mulch and mulching materials come in many different types, but they should be 2 to 4 inches deep to be highly effective. Mulches are great in tree and shrub islands or in areas that have perennial weed problems.

Weeds can be combated chemically, too and many people do use chemical control for weeds and depending on the product used some products kill everything, weeds and good plants, too, if they are not applied properly, while others do tend to be more selective especially the types used in many turfgrass areas.

Unfortunately we don’t have one magic weed killer that kills every single type of weed successfully and even if you did kill them all out today, guaranteed more seeds would be blowing in tomorrow so you would have potential for them to start up again. This is why it’s very important for peace of mind for home gardeners to simply accept that some weeds probably are going to be around regardless of your best efforts. Unless you have an army of gardeners to physically pull out and remove weeds on a daily basis you’re not going to prevent the re-invasion of weeds coming back.
We have some weeds which are seasonal in appearance such as the upcoming winter season when many of our cool season types show up after Thanksgiving, but disappear in April when it gets real hot. Other warm season weeds are with us year round and those simply get thicker in the summer rainy season and then subside a little bit in the fall and winter dry season.

For information on weeds and how best to combat them in your landscape, you can pick up some information on weed control free at your Palm Beach County Extension office during normal business hours. If you have weeds you need identified or you need advice as to what types of products to control them the best, take a sample to the Extension office to their free daily clinic. You can also call the Extension Service on the telephone for free advice about weed control. Dial 233-1750 in the north and central county area or 276-1260 in the south county area.