Let's Play Weed/No Weed - Round 1

11 years ago

After buying a home with a very neglected garden, I am on round three or so of clearing the weeds and need some help identifying if these are weeds or not. Because I had quite a few, I uploaded them to flickr, linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to 14 photos

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Comments (6)

Dzitmoidonc
11 years ago
Stars: seeds from an Ornithogalum species? Is there a bulb underneath?
Methinksweed:Prickly Lettuce, or another weed that looks very simolar. White milky sap when you break a leaf?
IDK2: looks like Buddleia. Woody stem? Probably Buddleia.
I think weed: Either a Ribes species or Humulus species. Either way, likely a weed.
chaudk
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks Dzitmoidonc - that helps - I will dig down further on the stars and see if there is a bulb and compare the IDK2 to images of buddleia (and pull the weeds, of course).
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If you can find someone; do it! I did it for the first time this year....let the young neighbor boy trim the front ditch. He did a fairly good job. It was horribly overgrown. I haven't heard back from him; it may have scared him to death! I am still behind but I think that will be my permanent state. Today DH wants to do the chain saw work.....cutting off bottom limbs on trees so we can mow right up to the trunks and knock our glasses (me) or cap(him) off. I also have some dead stuff to cut down. He will hook the trailer to the 4-wheeler and pull it around and load it as we go. I do the chain saw. I won't let him work over his head much since 2004. Good luck with the weeding but don't get too hot.
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Before you invest more money for bigger solutions, consider how much time and money you have to actually be handling this. A good lawn is not just a 1-season job of doing something to make it look good. You may have to do something for 2-5 years before you see the result you want. Laying down sod for the entire yard is a fast option but if you aren't taking care of it, you just used a lot of money and will have similar issues again (just like you have described about your previous attempts) A non-grassy solution is that maybe you can turn your entire backyard into a kind of playground or xeriscape area for your kids. Rocks, mulch, pea pebbles, etc -- they will allow for your kids to be able to play in the yard, and for you to be able to spot unwanted plants quickly. Where you do want a particular group of plants, you can do a small bed, either in-ground or in a raised bed. But even at that, it's still something you'll have to maintain throughout the year, because unwanted plants have a way of blowing in through the wind, animals, or even popping up through landscape fabric. If you do have a rototiller already, it's still a good idea to use it to turn the weeds under if you don't want to pull them out first. After that, maintain the area by actively pulling out weeds. You can even make it a game with your kids. Even when I hand-pull weeds, the area I'm working in does get better without high cost of money, but it needs my continuous vigilance to keep it that way.
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Not yet. It all (with the exception of the white clover) just appeared in the past couple of weeks. Do you think a post-emergent would help at this point, or should I just cut my losses for this year and appreciate the fact that I have more than just dirt to cut?
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I tried to comment earlier but I didn't see it go through, so apologies if this winds up a duplicate. If it is Sage, it is not a variety I'm familiar with. The leaves are a little waxy and have zero fragrance. The plant has more of a tendency to spread out along the ground and creep: it first sends shoots straight up, but they lie down as soon as they reach a certain size (not even a very big size) , then lie flat and continue to grow along the ground. It seems to have a taproot. I took a photo of it next to my sage bush for comparison, it usually grows more flat like pictured. It could be Sage, I just wouldn't be familiar with what variety. Right now it's growing several feet out onto my sidewalk in mat form.
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budbackeast
11 years ago
Congratulations on your new home. IMHO, you might just want to clear the yard of everything and begin anew. Build your own little paradise!
I DID!
Nursing along suspicious plants of unknown varieties is usually unfulfilling. Use your imagination and engineer your own dream yard. It isn't that hard, and done right, will bring you great happiness.
chaudk
Original Author
11 years ago
thanks budbackeast; I considered that and am not quite going that far, but I am to the point that I am going to pull anything suspicious. There are lots of tulips and roses and a big patch of artichokes that are easily identified so am keeping those and anything else that I can easily separate from being weed.
Kimmsr
11 years ago
Keep in mind that "weeds" are plants you do not want growing where you do not want them. So one persons "weed" may be anothers desireable plant. One example is "Goutweed", "Bishops Weed", "Snow in the Mountain", "Aegopodium podagraria" that some consider an invasive "weed" while others consider it an attractive ground cover.
Some plants many consider "weeds", Dandelions, Plantain, etc., are grown by others as food crops. Sometimes asking 10 people whether this plant is a "weed" will often get you 15 different answers.
If you don't want that plant growing where it is growing it is a "weed" and you can get rid of it. Is a self seeded Forget Me Not growing in a crack in the sidewalk a "weed" or not?
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
11 years ago
Determining whether a plant is native vs. invasive in the sense that it is not native is objective. Many plants whether native or not are called invasive in regard to their behavior for not being a desirable plant in a garden setting. It's necessary from the context of the sentence to determine which meaning of the word "invasive" applies to that info. Is your goal to have only native plants? Or are all well-behaved plants welcome? Determining from that point what will live in your yard or not is where gardening becomes subjective.

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Let's Play Weed/No Weed - Round 1

Comments (6)

Dzitmoidonc

chaudk
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budbackeast

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Let's Play Weed/No Weed - Round 1

Comments (6)

Dzitmoidonc

chaudkOriginal Author

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budbackeast

chaudkOriginal Author

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Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL

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