Advice for getting rid of weeds

Weeding comes with the turf for gardeners. We all spend way too much time wrestling with them, and we all wish for a magic solution to get rid of them. There is none. You have to just pick your weapon (mine is a Korean hand plow) and go to battle.

What makes a plant a weed? That’s your call. Basically, it’s any plant growing where you don’t want it, whether that’s an invasive shrub, an overenthusiastic vine or an interloper choking out your daisies.

Sometimes we let weeds remain, but doing so can be dicey. For example, because nettles are the larval host for several butterflies — including the red admiral, Eastern comma, Milbert’s tortoiseshell and question mark — I keep a stand of stinging nettles in a corner of my property, but I draw the line at allowing them to infiltrate the garden (and they certainly try). Yes, allowing it to remain makes more work for me to keep it contained, but I’ve decided that it’s worth it.

Other annoying plants, though, have fewer redeeming qualities and must be dispatched. Rating weeds according to their hassle level is one way to organize your workload and choose your tools. Smartweed, purslane and Canadian clearweed multiply rapidly, but they can easily be removed by hand. Ragweed, lamb’s quarters and carpetweed usually come up, root and all, with a little coaxing from a hand tool. Sheep sorrel sends out such a vast network of threadlike roots that you’ll need to meticulously tease a colony out of the soil with a weeding tool. Pokeweed and burdock quickly send deep taproots plunging down. A spade or something equally substantial will be required to do the job.

Michelle Beloskur, the coordinator for the Midwest Invasive Plant Network, a nonprofit that educates about nonnative nuisance plants in nine Midwestern states as well as Ontario, deals with the eradication of particularly challenging invasive culprits. For example, Japanese barberry can be dispersed rampantly, both by seeds and by wandering branches that anchor into the soil. A colony can spread quickly and its thick, thorny growth creates a perfect breeding ground for ticks. Although barberry has relatively shallow roots, eradicating mature plants will require considerable muscle.

Gardeners who regularly combat invasive shrubs often turn to wrench-like tools engineered to provide the leverage to get the whole underground network. Removing the roots in their entirety is the secret to success. Beloskur suggests a battle strategy that works with this and other problematic plants: “Learn to identify these plants and pull them when young.”

Getting rid of nuisance shrubs can be a relative cakewalk, though, compared to eliminating an infestation of vining plants such as roundleaf Asian bittersweet, which has a vast root system and stems that tend to strangle anything vertical. In my experience, small sections of bittersweet roots can support a new shoot, followed quickly by a colony. Again, squelching the problem early is the answer. You may be tempted to mow it, but that’s not the best strategy, Beloskur says. “Consistent mowing can set the plant back, but it rarely eradicates the problem.” Your foe is always lurking underground, waiting for the opportunity to sprout. Instead, remove it root and all.

Japanese knotweed poses similar issues. This plant, with deep and meandering roots, is a notorious bear. A minute node can pioneer a new colony, so Beloskur urges decontaminating your equipment. Spray tools full force with a hose after each use to prevent spreading plant parts. Similarly, disturbing large sections of soil while dispatching undesirables can expose seeds of other foes, so replant immediately with good guys that have a broad footprint to fill the space. Monitor for unwanted sprouts for several seasons.

And don’t rely on barrier fabric, Beloskur says; it’s not a practical solution for suppressing weeds. The fabric needs to be in place and fully depriving the plant of light for at least a year to be effective, which is a tall order. “Wildlife can create holes in the barrier,” she says.

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Safely disposing of weeds presents another issue. James McGrath, a professional estate gardener in Connecticut, regularly battles the biennial weed garlic mustard. In the best scenario, his crew would rid the property of garlic mustard in its first year, before the plants send up flowering growth in the early spring of their second growing season. However, garlic mustard lurks in hidden places and the average plant produces approximately 600 seeds (vigorous individuals have the potential of spreading as many as 7,900 seeds). It also refuses to die. Even if you snap off the top and eliminate the roots, wilted garlic mustard can still flower and set seeds. After weeding, McGrath smothers the plants in black garbage bags and leaves them to bake in the sun before disposing of them. Never send a weed that can resurrect itself or create progeny via viable seed to your compost pile. It can haunt you.

McGrath studies his enemies’ growth habits and persistently digs the plants early. Keeping ahead of things helps him control the troublemakers. For catchweed bedstraw (a.k.a. cleavers), he patrols frequently, gathering the crown of the weed in his hand and pulling to remove the entire expansive root system. Mugwort, however, is a trickier nemesis. Young plants are easily removed, which is his method for preventing expansion of a colony. He has studied mature mugwort’s root system and discovered that the rhizomes travel shallowly below the soil surface. “You can actually dig below the plant and roll up a large section, like rolling a carpet,” he says. He’s considering renting a sod cutter for an eradication project.

In my seven-acre garden, I spend a lot of time removing weeds. Patrolling for nascent issues is key, starting in the spring and checking for young sprouts. Vining plants tend to be my primary challenge. I try not to yank. A gentle, slow tug is more apt to extract the entire transgressor, roots and all. It’s sweaty, hard work, but every rogue that I wrestle from the soil is a major victory. I finish the day a hot, but proud, mess.

As McGrath says, “Staying on top of issues is so satisfying; I see weed removal as a challenge that I’m going to win.”

Tovah Martin is a gardener and freelance writer in Connecticut. Find her online at tovahmartin.com.