Things are starting to turn green with the coming of spring, and that means its time to start caring for the grass and getting rid of weeds.
Professor of Weed Science, Don Morishita says it might still be a little early to start killing them, but it is certainly time to identify noxious weeds on your property.
Most perennial plants will shut down during low moisture times and not take in a nutrient, that’s why it’s good to wait a while before you try and kill it.
Dr. Don Morishita says, "The best time to control these perennial noxious weeds is after they've flowered, particularly if we have good moisture to keep growing."
Hard to believe you need to water a weed to kill it, but there's a good reason.
Morishita says, “If the weed is not taking in any nutrients it won't take in poisons as well and you want the plant to take in the poison and distribute it to its roots.”
Morishita says most garden and hardware stores have the chemicals needed to kill off weeds, and most will not hurt your grass. But, keep in mind it could hurt your loose leaf plants like flowers and shrubs.
In some cases it will take time to get rid of certain weeds.
Morishita says, "You have to commit a number of years to do that because these roots can survive for quite a while even though you apply chemicals at the right time. They’re still going to be some roots that will survive and that will re-grow."
So you have to be committed to a long term eradication plan and if comes to the point where a yard has to be completely torn up and killed, don't be too quick to start over again, the roots of weeds can survive.
For help in identifying noxious weeds go to idahoag-dot-us and click on the plants and insects link.