One web page says it is moderately toxic to mammals and it does kill honey bees and other insects. Last year I lost cukes and squash to cucumber beetles. Since I planted different varieties I noticed that some varieties didn't seem to be bothered by striped cucumber beetles. i.e. zucchini romanesquo. Squash bugs followed the cuke beetles. I replanted the winter squash only to lose some beautiful squash to gnawing critters. I am trying not to use any pesticides. So in addition to growing varieties that don't seem to be bother much, this year we kept the zucchini bed under a fabric low tunnel until almost 4th of July (I'm in NH) and the plants were getting huge. I also use this tunnel in the fall to protect a late planting of bush beans. I did find a couple of striped cucumber beetles. They were frequently spending the mornings inside the female blossoms. The squash bugs have started so I have been going out in the morning to scrape eggs into a bowl of soapy water. I also grew some cucumber plants inside and put them out as young plants with some marigolds which are reputed to repel cucumber beetles. I still lost a couple of plants but I'm not sure which varieties. The rest of the little patch is doing fine and we are eating cucumbers. This year's winter squash were planted in a new area on the other side of the house from the veggie garden. I thought maybe the bugs wouldn't find it this year. The seeds were planted late but look like they are doing fine. I did find a couple of beetles but no egg masses .... yet.

WEED MANAGEMENT 1. Know what a weed is. Weeds are pioneers. They are natures way of covering disturbed and bare ground. 2. DonÂt disturb the ground. Except for actually planting new plants or cultivating for a new vegetable garden or flower bed, avoid breaking the surface of the soil. That includes avoiding pulling, digging, tilling to remove weeds. Yanking out even the tiniest weed makes two mistakes. It brings up weed seeds that have been accumulating at the deeper levels of your soil where they have been too deep to germinate. It also creates a disturbed bit of ground that new weed seeds blowing in find suitable for setting anchor. An additional note: weed pulling disturbs the roots of the desired plants nearby. Evere wonder why people who pull weeds are ALWAYS pulling weeds?! 3. Cover the ground. Mulch newly planted areas, vegetable gardens and annual flower beds. The best mulch for smothering weeds is a semi-composted organic material of medium diameter particles (about ½-inch) that is applied four to six inches thick. DonÂt skimp. Contrary to popular belief, geotextile fabrics (plastics, "landscape cloth") do not work well in the long run and actually lead to more weeds. Plant living groundcovers to "finish" the landscape and garden. Use low, dense, mat-forming groundcovers to truly cover the ground completely. Some of the most effective weed-suppressant groundcovers include Acacia redolens, Campanula poscharskyana, Cerastium tomentosum, Dymondia margaretae, Gazania rigens (gray-leafed trailing), and Thymus polytrichus ÂPink ChintzÂ. Plant other plants (low, dense, spreading shrubs and/or full clumping perennials) densely enough to leave no room between them. The idea is to cover the ground so thoroughly that no weed seeds can find their way to the ground. Those that do make it to the ground cannot make their way up. And those very few that do make it up canÂt compete well. 4. Hoe weeds. When weeds do come up in open ground, the best way to eliminate weeds for the long run is to "shave" them off with a sharp hoe. A Dutch or onion hoe is ideal; these have shallow but wide blades that work as does your razor blade. Hoeing works on weed seedlings. The larger the weed, unfortunately, the more difficult it becomes to actually be able to scrape them off with a hoe. Use the hoe as you would a razor, scraping toward you with the blade level from side to side against the ground and the handle tilted up enough to allow the sharpest part of the blade to cut at the base of the weeds. ItÂs important that you sharpen the hoe blade regularly with a fine rasping file. You keep your best kitchen knives sharp all the time; why not your hoe. The soil is best hoed when pretty dry. The hoe doesnÂt cling to the soil and neither do the weeds. Hoeing works for all young weeds. Young annual weeds (our most common type) once hoed, do not return. Perennial weeds will re-sprout from storage roots, tubers, underground stems and the like. The resprouting does, however, use up the food in the storage organ, thereby weakening the plant and a second hoeing of these, within a week of their resprouting will rid the plant of its ability to photosynthesize (which puts more food back into the storage organ). With older perennial weeds, the storage organ will continue to send up a new sprout and your persistent hoeing will eventually totally exhaust the organ. Where hoeing is impractical (tight spots, flower beds, containers), use a snipper of an apporpiate size. yeah, it works and it really isn't that much work, in the long run. I do it. 5. Mow weeds. Where seasonal weeds have grown too tall for a hoe to scrape them off easily, mow them down with a regular lawn mower. If they continue to grow, mow them again. Repeat. This works best if you mow them early, before they get too tall. The idea is to keep them mowed until beyond their blooming period, if you have to, so that they never set seed and become a worse problem or at least a continuing problem. Annual weeds eventually give up and peter away. Tall-growing perennial weeds also give up and fade away. Low-growing perennial weeds, however, are persistent  maybe even more vigorous -- under this process. Hoeing (early on, of course) and mulching are better methods for such low-growing weeds as oxalis, dandelions and many clovers. 6. Snip off the awkward weeds. Where you have small weeds popping up in the mulch or in the lawn, use any sharp tool to cut them off at their very base. No need to pull, which would either disturb the mulch or interfere with the lawn. This technique also is the best method for removing weeds from containers in which youÂre growing other plants. 7. Cut down the big stuff. Use a special tool called a weed cutter. ItÂs used much as you would a golf club, swinging with an easy stroke back and forth through the stems of the weeds. For those of you who are power-inclined, get out your power weed whacker. 8. Mow your lawn high. If you need to reduce or prevent lawn weeds, set your mower blades to 3 to 4 inches high. A tall-growing lawn shades out weed seedlings and produces a healthier lawn overall that better competes with almost all weeds. 9. Avoid frequent fertilizing of your lawn. Lawns do best with a good organic fertilizer once or twice a year. More frequent fertilizing, especially with quick-acting fertilizers and especially in summer feed the weeds as well as your lawn. 10. Water your lawn infrequently and deeply. Frequent shallow watering encourages weed seed germination. An aside: frequent, shallow waterings also increase disease problems as well as create a less drought and heat tolerant lawn. Joe

I've never tried it, but I don't see why it wouldn't work as long as you gave it enough room for its roots--they don't like to be cramped. From what I've seen, the majority of those passis' big roots that spawn suckers stay within 4 inches of the surface, so it shouldn't be hard to hem them in. Personally, I think warnings of their invasiveness is overblown. Suckers that aren't devoured by caterpillars are easily pulled if young, and failing that, I've yet to see one that could win a fight with a lawn mower. Persistent they are, but bamboo and English ivy, they ain't.

Since I mulch thickly with oak leaves (which my neighbors very nicely and conveniently rake up 'for me' and leave by the front curbs 'for me' to pick up) there's not a lot of weeds in the flower beds and hand pulling works for those few. When something is needed to kill deep rooted weeds like baby hackberry and pecan trees a broad leaf weed killer is used. Just a couple of drops full strength on new leaves will kill the whole plant. Being a plant hormone it's less toxic than the non selective weed killer commonly used, but I'm still very careful not to get it on my skin since I'm very sensitive to chemical products. You can also cut the stem of the plant you want to kill and put a drop on the cut area or stump and the roots will be killed. That way you can get rid of the part of the plant that shows by cutting it back and still kill the roots. Using the 'drop method' instead of spraying cuts down on the risk of getting a killing mist drift over to garden plants. However, I'm going to mix up a little broad leaf spray to treat the little tree seeds that sprouted by the thousands this year in the gravel paths and the front area that is graveled. I just bought 32 ounces of 'Ortho Weed B Gone Max for Southern Lawns' at Lowe's for $8.00. At this point with weeds and grass actively growing I'd think a selective broadleaf weed killer would work best for the lawn. "Broadleaf weed killers are selective herbicides that work in lawns by targeting dicots [broad leaved plants] that are actively growing while not harming the monocots such as lawn grass. The most common broadleaf weed killer is 2,4-D also known as Trimec. "2,4-D is an auxin or plant hormone that, when applied to the leaf area, simply confuses the plant to death. When auxin, the hormone that makes plants grow, is sprayed over the entire plant, the plant becomes deformed, then dies." If you have grassy weeds in addition to broadleaf weeds you can get away with just spraying the center of the grassy weed (being careful not to get it on the good grass) with a selective grass killer like 'Grass B Gone. I did that on the winter grass next door and it worked great. Here's a good article on many ways to eliminate weeds in lawns. Applying preemergents at the right time of year works great too. I think Oct and Feb were the times recommended for application in my city. If I'd been smart I would have sprinkled it on the gravel areas and not have the sprouted tree seeds that are there now. Weeding is sure not the most fun part of gardening. That's for sure! Here is a link that might be useful: How weed killers do their job ...