Re: [gardeners] Good groan and moan
margaret lauterbach (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Mon, 15 Mar 1999 07:53:27 -0700
>
>Tell me--: could you utilize Preen to cut down on the weeds in
>your beds? Last summer I was inundated with Veronica/Creeping
>Charlie in both my largest flower bed, and the veggie garden. There
>was no way I could hand pick it out, and I went crazy. The other
>8 beds were clean! I like a mulch on all beds, but my hubby hates
>it because he says the pine bark nuggets bury themselves in the soil,
>and whenever he is digging, they are in his way. But THIS summer I
>am going to try buckwheat hulls (about the size of lentils) spread
>at the same time I am planting my flower seedlings. They can always
>be rototilled in without harming anything....
>
>Penny, NY
>
I don't know, Penny. The main problem is that most of the "weeds" are
volunteer herbs. Cursed calendulas, cantankerous catnip, etc. I like to
let garlic chives, sorrel and anise hyssop grow wherever they want, but I
yank out calendulas, Sweet Annie, Motherwort and tansy 'til I'm blue in the
face, and I still have a ton of it. The flower beds have common mallow,
dandelions, and weeds of that ilk, but that's Chuck's problem. We have a
composted sawdust mulch available here that they call "soil-aid." We can
buy it for $18 to $20 a yard, delivered. It looks great on a flower bed,
separating plants, but if the wind comes up suddenly, $40 worth of soil aid
may be whisked away. We're usually careful to water it as we go along to
prevent that, though. Buckwheat hulls sound interesting. Those or rice
hulls would be very beneficial here, but it took me three years to get the
farm supply place to carry corn gluten meal (and I think they're charging
double what they should). Who knows? I use grass clippings for mulch in
the veggie garden. Let your children do some of the eatin' work, and have
fun. Go make some angels in the snow, but make sure someone is around to
help you up. <VBG> Margaret, who's partial to cranes and winches