Friday, July 2, 2004

On the Greener Side

Why weed?

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By DANA DUGAN

It’s July, Idaho’s most lovely and warm month. Now, that we’ve already gotten our gardens going and are watering when allowable, there’s a hitch. Water not only produces healthy plants, it produces healthy weeds.

It’s an old saw but true. Weeds are the bane of a gardener’s existence. However, it’s an absolutely essential part of the process, just as much as digging, planting, dead heading and pruning.

There are some people who say, "Oh, just let them be, weeds are nature’s gifts as well." But consider that a single redroot pigweed plant produces upwards of 100,000 seeds. A purslane plant produces at least 50,000. If even half of these seeds reproduce, as many as 75,000 new weeds could appear. My back aches just pondering this thought. Also, these seeds can survive for years; for instance purslane sees can survive under ground and dormant for 40 years and redroot pigweed for 25 years. And yes, weeds are living plants too but if allowed to flourish they choke out all semblance of art in the garden.

Whenever we turn the soil or dig holes for more plants the weed seeds can germinate. So regular weeding is part and parcel of the gardening experience.

Hence, my weeding theory. Weeding is nature’s way of getting us on our knees, into the garden and intimate with the creation. Standing around admiring it all is fine, but true hands-on gardeners need to be inside their plots, relearning where things are and how they grow.

Besides the above mentioned weeds, prevalent invaders in our area include quack grass, herbane, leafy spurge, knapweed, puncturevine and common mallow.

Some are harder to eradicate while others prove simpler. The common mallow, also known as Malva Neglecta, is one of the most common and pesky of Blaine County’s weeds and something that should not be neglected. It may not be on the noxious plant list but it is obnoxious. You must pull these out by the root rather than clipping, as they, just as with many weeds, will just grow stronger like hair does when cut.

But there’s a bonus to all this weeding other than getting in touch your garden again. One of the best ways to eliminate weeds, other than the constant digging and pulling is planting. The more there is shade from bigger plants, which also suck up the water, the less chance there is of weeds growing.

As it happens, this is a great time to plant because gardeners are able to see where their holes are. Plug these holes and the ones created by pull big weeds out with long lasting summer bloomers. Some of the more unusual annuals that might be fun to plop into these holes that are blooming at present—and will continue to—include, calibracoa, diascia, nemesia and nicotiana. These plants may require a bit of fertilizing to maintain continuous blooming. Or try interspersing hypoestes, whose foliage comes in a pinky color.

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