pokeweed itch
catb
17 years ago
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
17 years agosabe
17 years agoRelated Discussions
Least Favorite Weed
Comments (36)I have enjoyed looking through this list of least favorite weeds and see that mine, after 10 months of posting, is still missing  quack grass! A close 2nd is bindweed, aka morning glory. I struggle continually against these 2 in the perennial beds. They are the reason I prefer to mostly grow annuals even tho I realize that this is a copout. Digging out the beds (carefully) each year isnÂt as effective against bindweed as the quack grass. IÂve come to realize that the dark roots of bindweed are very easy to miss, whereas the quack grass has rhizomes that look like nice fat bean sprouts (I wonder if theyÂd be good in a salad??). So, I miss some of the bindweed even amongst the annuals. For me, the way to deal with it is to let it grow a little and then spray with round-up. It will probably need another spraying in a couple weeks and maybe even a third! By this time, itÂs probably necessary to use a jar of herbicide and a paintbrush because the other plants are large and vulnerable to overspray. Trying to pull it out is just left to the vegetable garden where I don't spray. I can also use round-up for bindweed in the perennials so my real problem there is the quack grass. I just canÂt get it all out without digging every thing out and damn near sifting through the soil. But, left alone, it would probably crowd out just about anything. Digit...See MoreBest time to transplant pokeberries?
Comments (9)Well, I have to dig them up anyway - in a heavy rain the water sheets off the roof and knocks them over so they sprawl all over the path, and the branches break when I try to stand them up. If it's going to be a very rough move, I'll put them at the edge of the woods where they can recover out of sight. There's the beginning of a pokeberry grove over there already. I know they're toxic, although I haven't really worried about skin contact - I've never gotten an itch or a rash from touching them. Right now they're shoulder to shoulder with a few bronze fennels which are in bloom. Flat yellow flowerheads next to developing purple seeds, and lots of happy beneficial insects flitting about. Actually, the bronze fennel is another huge herb that dies down in the winter... It's just a question of when I should do the move. Thanks for the response, Rb. Claire...See MoreBirds and other mobile features in the garden 2014 #11
Comments (83)I'm almost finished with winterizing the deck, just a few more things to store today; all in its proper time. First I had to drain the hose and put out the heated birdbath, install the squirrel resistant cage around the rhododendron Percy Wiseman (tasty flower buds) and start protecting a few shrubs before the ground freezes so I can't put a stake in. This was the first morning with temperatures below freezing and my heated birdbath failed! It may be just the GFI - I reset it and we'll see tonight. I had to break ice and refill all of the birdbaths, to the great relief of the turkeys that were clustered around the frozen baths when I looked out this morning. The row in the back is turkeys bellied up to the water bar. I saw an article in the Cape Cod Times online today about Birders wonder if snowy owls will return to Cape. Apparently they're beginning to trickle down to New England. Claire This post was edited by claire on Sat, Nov 15, 14 at 10:50...See MorePOKEWEED help me
Comments (2)I know what you mean about how that nasty plant can just about drink roundup, even at 2x and 4x the regular strength it barely slows it down! I've even lopped off the branch crown and poured the stuff straight down the hollow stems, and all for barely any effect. They are a hard plant to pull out. And if you leave any of that root behind, you know its gonna come back next year (or even later in the same season!) Only on certain "perfect days" when the soil has just the right moisture content can you easily slip them right out of the ground. On those days, I go nuts and pull as many as I can. (But I still have 1000 more to go) I've found the only way to control this plant is to stop the seeds from growing and spreading. So, I wait until the plants have produced flowers/seeds, and the seeds start to form, but are not yet mature. Then I walk threw them all and lop off the branches and crowns that have seeds. This will control its spread as it tries to march across my land, and also drain the plant of a lot of its stored root energy. However, you will soon find that the beheaded stalks will soon form brand new seed clusters within a few weeks. Once again, wait until they are not-quite mature, and then once again, chop off the plants wherever you see the seeds. This cycle will repeat until fall, when you finally notice that the plant barely has any energy to keep regrowing and setting seeds and then it dies back for the winter. Eventually these plants get weaker and weaker and I'm finding that I no longer have any of those 8 foot monsters that I used to see here. What used to be a complete infestation is now a series of isolated patches, and each year, those patches are getting smaller and smaller as I continue my attacks and reclaim my land. good luck to you. ps - some people have said the sap of pokeweed can cause an itch on the skin, although I've never been affected myself, thankfully. You might want to dab a bit on your skin and wait a day to look for a reaction before you jump in the midst of all those leaves with that machete. good luck to you. don't give up....See MoreJAYK
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