11
votes
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Bird-friendly weedkiller for patio?
Your best bet is probably to pour boiling water on the weeds. The heat will kill the plants, and the water will of course be harmless to the birds as soon as it cools. Just be careful not to burn ...
- 9,424
10
votes
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What kind of grass is this, and how can I keep it out of my garden
With those long underground rhizomes (the thick white runners you see) and upright growth this appears to be quackgrass (Elymus repens).
Unfortunately, controlling it isn't much easier with that bit ...
- 5,839
9
votes
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What is the safest weed killer to use around a toddler?
Your strawberry and veggie patches are almost done for the year where you live, so it seems to me it would be best to tackle them next spring. For now, I would cut down the weeds as close to the ...
- 9,424
9
votes
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Do I have poison ivy, poison oak, or some other noxious weed?
I'm in the UK, and we don't have poison ivy, oak nor sumach, so I've never actually seen them. However, the small leaved plant covering the ground in between the Hosta leaves and the one with palmate ...
- 131k
8
votes
To be effective, how long does Glyphosate weed killer need to be applied before it rains?
From pioneer.com:
"Foliar absorption of herbicides occurs in a liquid phase only; once a water droplet has dried on the leaf surface and herbicides have crystallized little to no additional ...
- 181
8
votes
How to get rid of bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) once and for all?
Some years ago I apparently eradicated bindweed from a small (15 x 7 feet) unenclosed front garden adjacent to the parking lot. I lived on an Estate where a number of small, bored children were always ...
- 81
8
votes
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What should I do about bare patches in my lawn after killing off Creeping Charlie?
You must not use Scotts Weed and Feed formulation now for two reasons - one, you've already applied a weedkiller to the entire lawn, and one of the active ingredients, 2,4D, is present in both ...
- 131k
8
votes
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Variegated Arboricola shrubs leaves wilting
The active ingredient of the herbicide used is Dicamba Mecoprop. It also affects broad leaf shrubs and trees. From this pdf by the International Society of Arborists
Once the material is absorbed ...
- 57.4k
8
votes
Community treatment of wild parsnip - your recommendations
Since wild parsnip is a biennial, when I owned a couple of acres I would just wait for it to set seed, then snip the seedheads off into a five-gallon pail and burn them. I did the same for Queen Anne'...
- 16.9k
7
votes
Can weeds be put into compost, or will they grow again when the compost is used?
Since some perennial weeds can regenerate from even tiny root fragments, they are not considered safe for composting unless you use the Berkeley method of hot composting, and measure the temperature ...
- 23k
7
votes
Get rid of weeds from my raised garden bed - without pesticides
Mulch is commonly used to control weeds, as it sounds like you've discovered on your own. Since you have a bad infestation you could use cardboard (or layered newspaper) with wood chips on top to ...
- 1,152
7
votes
What are these weeds & how can I prevent them?
The first photo is pokeweed, Phytolacca americana, a perennial plant native to North America. I would not recommend you eat this plant unless you know exactly how to prepare it to remove it's toxins. ...
- 1,135
7
votes
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What is solarization?
Soil solarisation is the process of using a green house effect with plastic to kill some pathogens and weeds in the first 6 inches layer of soil. It also helps break down organic materials on the ...
- 23k
7
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How long do I need to stay off the lawn after applying weed killer?
Read the label of the product you are using. The label will state a re-entry interval. Without the label we don't know what is in the specific spray you are using, so we can't give a proper answer.
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7
votes
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Can I add paint to roundup, to see where I've been?
Don't use paint! Any paint has binders and adhesives, so it will tend to clog your sprayer, and (as you note) you can't be sure what the interaction of the various ingredients will be with the active ...
- 355
7
votes
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What is this weed and how do I kill it without killing the grass?
It does look like wild violets, and they are difficult to eradicate, but triclopyr, or any other lawn weedkiller that purports to kill these, is much more effective used in autumn, see here https://...
- 131k
7
votes
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What are these weeds and how can I get rid of them?
You have hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) in your garden. This plant very often comes as "hitchhiker" with newly bought plants.
It is a very prolific seeder and can bring even two generations ...
- 15.6k
7
votes
Advise from experienced farmers
Yes, but you must be smarter than a doctor or engineer: some of the richest are php engineers.
It is mainly economy: if there are many people that could do something, they will fight to produce it ...
- 13.9k
7
votes
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How do I eliminate weeds in established play area?
15x30 feet with the sort of weed density you are showing? - Take an hour and pull them out by hand, or with a hoe. If you notice a lot of root penetration below or between the under-fabric you might ...
- 20.3k
6
votes
Can weeds be put into compost, or will they grow again when the compost is used?
My suggestion would be to check it the weed is flowering. If it has any flowers remove them before throwing it in your compost bin. If done right, your compost bin will reach high enough ...
- 8,217
6
votes
What is this vine-like weed and how do I kill it?
Don't kill it, just learn to live with it and look how beautiful it is. If ever it takes too much space, reduce it mechanically by hand. Remember that plants are very strong and that products which ...
- 410
6
votes
How to get rid of bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) once and for all?
I have found that a good deterrent is to run chickens on a chosen piece of ground. They peck away any bits of green and the plant becomes exhausted. Same applies to Japanese knotweed, but you will ...
6
votes
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Get rid of weeds from my raised garden bed - without pesticides
IMPE, the main problem with hand-weeding an 8 foot by 50 foot bed (I did a 5x50 myself once) is that there's way too much in one bed - and the middle is hard to reach. I have re-bedded and shrunk my ...
- 20.3k
6
votes
How to reseed grass after killing weeds?
If the "lawn" is more weed than grass, I would kill everything and start over. If you take that option, Ortho is the wrong product because it isn't supposed to kill grass.
A review on Amazon.com ...
- 11.3k
6
votes
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What's the best tool to remove weeds?
What makes a weed a weed?
Plants that grow where we don't want them to - either because we find them unattractive or because they compete with plants we prefer in a specific place.
Unfortunately, "...
- 15.6k
6
votes
My new allotment plot is covered in horsetail
If you are willing to put in the time weeding, just go ahead and plant - might as well get something useful grown while you are weeding. Horsetail is a pain to get rid of but really easy to spot, and ...
- 20.3k
6
votes
Why doesn't my turf grow against the exterior wall?
It's hot and dry under the eaves. Walls of the house radiate heat and the eaves prevent all but slanting rain from wetting it. Chances are good the soil is also more compacted.
With a different ...
- 57.4k
6
votes
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What are the benefits of solarization?
Solarization is a combination killer by smothering and intense heat. This may work to kill your crabgrass, but some of it may still survive even this harsh treatment. Crab grass may even grow through ...
- 6,336
6
votes
Accepted
Looking for plants to out-compete poison parsnip
Rhubarb should work well, if you get a large kind. It has huge leaves that cover the ground around it. I personally consider it ornamental, including when it goes to seed. It should smother out ...
- 17.7k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible