Today I was putting down more soybean mulch. Since it is not a heavy weight vehicle I can drive it on the lawn to get close to where I am working. This flower bed has a large area where I am trying to get rid of a noxious weed, Nutsedge, that has taken over. It is a very hardy weed and spreads by roots underground and small bulbs too. I didn’t know what was for years and kept pulling it and now know that is a good way to spread it. It thrives by being pulled as it breaks off the bulbs and new plants start. I learned that Roundup doesn’t kill it just stunts it a bit then comes back like before.
A chemical called Sedgehammer is supposed to kill it but will have to be re-applied several times. I just sprayed it for the third time this year and now am trying to smother it. Some dies each time but more comes up just as hardy….nasty weed. Last year I put down layers of newspaper and topped it with grass clippings over some of the Nutsedge. Where I did this just a few plants are growing so I am now covering this large bed with layers of newspapers covered by about 8” of the soybean mulch. That is a thick layer of mulch but nothing else is growing there anyway. According to what I have read on the subject this will help kill it off and what I experienced last year it did help.
I worked for several hours laying the paper and piling the mulch on top keeping all the green Nutsedge tucked under the paper. The wind wanted to carry my paper off so had to be quick about getting some mulch on to keep it from blowing away. My problem now is I ran out of old newspapers and I am not done with that bed. I had a pretty good stack when I started but want to layer them 3-4 pages thick and that takes a lot of newspaper. One nice thing is the newspaper will decay and rot away eventually so it won’t have to be removed like laying plastic would.
I know this will probably not completely eliminate it but hopefully I can spray the few plants that come through to eventually get rid of it. When I get it under control, hopefully by next summer, I want to use this space for flowers and vegetables.
I have been re-working all my flower beds this spring and it has really taken a lot of time. The last two summers being on crutches and very limited things I could do really took it’s toll on them. I have a flower bed in the front of the house that has Nutsedge too so have been trying to kill it there too. I have removed most of the flowers to make it easier to spray so it looks a little neglected right now.
As you can figure out – not much time is left for stitching these days. I will be done soon and then it will be just a matter of maintenance.
Until later,
Lynn
1 comment:
You ole country gal! 8-))
I don't know about that weed - guess that is fortunate!
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