Only had the morning to play yesterday, but deadheaded my early spring containers, cut down the perennials I had left for the winter, pulled early weeds in the veggie garden, scouted for and removed more blooming corydalis incisa. C. incisa is a recently identified non-native invasive. It first showed up in my garden two years ago, at which time I was delighted by the early and delicate leaves and flowers. By this March had spread with such alarming vigor I did a little research ... then pulled every bit I could find before it went to seed this year.

I like the idea of getting a head start on the weeds. I have these mile-a-minute weeds that come up everywhere. Glad you got outside this weekend!

I feel like I just got something done today. It was nice this afternoon. I was glad that I pruned back the Barberry and Spireas in March. They have grown in amazingly well. As far as the weeds are concerned I'm considering trying Snapshot DG by The Andersons if it really works in perennial beds without harming the good plants. I need more information about the product first.

I worked on part of my garden last weekend, thinking of going out and planting more today

I have gotten rid of some spireas but I wouldn't get rid of all of them. If you cut them back in late March to early April and you can prune them way down, they come back really nice and more manageable. You can also keep them flowering for most of the year by dead heading them after their flowers die.

Sounds like everyone is busy! A few things I'll note. I am an organic gardener so I avoid any chemical based fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides. One common practice, albeit not the same look, is black landscaping fabric. Many commercial farmers and even mid-scale residential gardeners have used this application with success. I only have +/- 120 SF of garden and I don't mind spending a few hours here and there to remove the unwanted plants.

I think the best way to get rid of the weeds is to just get down and dig them out. Most aren't so bad. I have also noticed that some of the plants that I buy come with extra weeds! That product Snap Shot I have mentioned is good for container plants in Nurseries and I'm tempted to ask my local ones to start to use it to prevent these extra weeds from entering peoples gardens. Also good healthy soil is the best weed prevention, topping that off with a nice 2" layer of mulch, either root or cedar. Note: don't use the red or black cedar mulch because it isn't good for soil enhancement and allows the chemicals from the dyes to seep into the soil.

Landscaping fabric stands in the way of our native, solitary, and very doclile, ground-nesting bees, some of which are in decline. I'll stick with a good layer of un-dyed, organic mulch - shredded leaves for the back gardens, wood chips for the front.

The spirea is gone and even the hole looks better! Still weighing options for filling it, but in no hurry; the Austin rose 'Tradescant' will now have more space.