While I was out spraying some weeds the other evening – my gardening time now falls in the 30 min or so right after Avery goes to bed – I realized I needed to bust out the big guns for a couple of particularly nasty culprits.
Usually, I pull weeds. For weeds I know I can’t successfully kill by pulling, like dandelions (you’ll almost never pull the root out unless you dig it out) and a few others, I use Round Up.
But….Round Up is potent. And I usually mix it a little strong, since I have one weed in particular that seems to need a little more concentration or it just wilts and chuckles. Nothing more annoying than taking the time to actually spray a weed and then realize it’s still there a week later and practically gloating.
So I mix it strong…and sadly, I’ve definitely killed a few good plants with it. By “good”, I mean ones I actually wanted to survive =( Every summer I seem to take out at least one good plant with the Round Up sprayer.
I think I might have killed our tiny little lilac this summer. Woe is me, truly, if I did, and it’s not looking good.
So okay. Back to the point. Dandelions etc = Round Up candidates.
BUT sometimes you need to spray a weed that’s way too close to another plant, or twining itself through another plant as in the case of this guy:
Bindweed. Ugh. What a pain this one is. It’s a vine that resembles a morning glory, has a super long root that never comes up with pulling, and it twines itself (with an iron grip) around everything.
Some poor neighbor down the street doesn’t know I was taking photos of the weeds in his front yard. That could’ve been interesting. “Oh, uh, HI. I was just taking a picture of this weed because it’s so spectacularly out of control!” Mmmm. Awkward.
Or it could’ve given me an opportunity to share my “tip” with him on how to get rid of it.
Still awkward? I probably wouldn’t have made any friends with that one.
Ok so here’s what you do. Grab a plastic sack (I use the produce bags from the store) and poke a hole in the bottom. Pull the bindweed vines up through the hole and into the plastic sack.
Spray the Round Up directly into the sack (which protects nearby plants – and did I mention to DOUSE those suckers? Bindweed is tough!), then tie the sack closed and let ‘er bake!
It looks a little junky, but a few days or a week later, the roots of the bindweed should be dead and you can retrieve the sack from your yard and throw it in the trash.
Happy weeding!
Burbs & Blooms 