Our weed of the season...

[Andrew]

Well, it's that time again!

With full crop rotation in effect, our beds have been invaded by this year's surprise.

We don't know what it is, but think it may be "Chickweed"...

Regardless... this stuff seems to fragile to weed out easily in order to remove the whole thing, but it grows like crazy and want to blanket itself through, around, and over almost any other plant growing nearby...

The leaves are really small - about 1/8" or so, but I think there could be two different species intermingling...

Argh.

So... what is it and how do we get rid of it?!?

Thanks!
Andrew

 

[Pulsegleaner]

The one on the left MIGHT be chickeweed, if it is really far into it's development and dying.

The one on the right is clearly birdvetch (V.sativa) In fact if you look carefully in the upper left of the picture you can see one of the little "peapods". If you can break it off at the base NOW you might stop it from coming back (as far as I know, vetches repoduce exclusively through re-seeding, so if you can yank the plants now while the seed is still immature it should stop it reproducing*

*Note that vetch seed can stay dormant for a while, so you could still get a little from previous seed in the soil (though if the plant is new to you the odds are there isn't all that much old seed in the ground)

 

[Andrew]

Thanks Pulsegleaner -

Well, I can certainly tear them both out... only issue is that it leaves a lot of debris still in the ground; that said, I guess I could pull it & then mulch over it. Maybe add some Preen?

 

[so lucky]

@Andrew, I think Preen is a weed preventer that kills the seed as it germinates. so if you are wanting to prevent the roots from resprouting, Preen wouldn't help with that. If the weeds have already released seeds, then it would help you. (Probably. It works better with small seeds)
Laying down a weed barrier would be a great way to go. If it works as a mulch, and decomposes to enrich the soil, so much the better.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

You'd definitely want to mulch the vetch in (again provided no seed is mature). It's a legume, so it adds nitrogen to the soil. In fact birdvetch was originally planted on PURPOSE as green manure (and sometimes still is), the weedy stuff is at least partially escapee material (none of the three major vetch species of the US are natives)

 

[seedcorn]

This year for me it's purslane. I got on my hands and knees 4 days ago, plucked it out by the roots. It was like a yard from all the rains. Couldn't see the okra which was clean 10 days ago. Wife wondered why I didn't take hoe to it. As I explained wanted to save what was up which meant hand weeding. Once plants uncovered, took hoe between rows. Even then too wet to be out there.

She is also my largest garden pest as her way of helping is pull the tops off of weeds, making the roots go stronger and harder to pull.

 

[thistlebloom]

This year for me it's purslane. I got on my hands and knees 4 days ago, plucked it out by the roots. It was like a yard from all the rains. Couldn't see the okra which was clean 10 days ago. Wife wondered why I didn't take hoe to it. As I explained wanted to save what was up which meant hand weeding. Once plants uncovered, took hoe between rows. Even then too wet to be out there.

She is also my largest garden pest as her way of helping is pull the tops off of weeds, making the roots go stronger and harder to pull.

Seed,you should be eating your Weedies. At least some of that purslane. It's so rich in benefits. Can't tell you what to do about that other pest though.

 

[Nyboy]

My new knee pads didn't help any of my hate for weeding. lucky just this morning lady who weeded my flower beds in past call me back.

 

[seedcorn]

Trust me, I have enough for half of the county. They are really doing well. I did try them. They were OK.

 

[digitS']

I nibble on the purslane out of revenge.

It seems apparent to me that my style of gardening, encourages it. It isn't worse than last year but worse than 10 years ago when I was starting out in the big veggie garden. Worse than 20 years ago when I was starting out in the little veggie garden and the dahlia garden.

Of course, there were other weeds there. Those haven't gone away, just that their percentage of claimed ground is lower.

Chickweed is only a problem in the shady corner.

DW is very tolerant of weeds. She is, however, helpful and quicker than I am in nearly everything she does. Slipshod, but quicker. I make up for early quitting time by having to redo her work after a few days.

Steve