Weed love a little help

[flowerbug]

i don't want any more poison spraying going on around me than already happens, so i'd say that without being able to use manual methods that repeated scraping with some plowlike device might do it enough. it takes a few years to get them knocked back. but once they're gone and if you can keep after the small ones that will sprout eventually you can remove them.

here we lost a lot of them to disease. and deer... and ...

 

[peteyfoozer]

Thank you @flowerbug. That’s what I will try to do. I love them and enjoy having a few but there are literally hundreds of them here!

 

[heirloomgal]

I don't know specifically about that product, but my next door neighbour's dog died very young of a cancer linked to chemicals used for perfecting lawns. A friend of mine also had 2 dogs (as a teenager) that got cancer from running in agricultural fields nearby where pesticides et. al were used, the cancers manifested in their underbellies. I would avoid using it if possible.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

Use little nitrogen and lots of P and K on the grass. Its like watching a glacier race but the dense grass root and solid nature of the resulting mat will be what those bloggers talk about with grass crowding out other plants.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

I don't know specifically about that product, but my next door neighbour's dog died very young of a cancer linked to chemicals used for perfecting lawns. A friend of mine also had 2 dogs (as a teenager) that got cancer from running in agricultural fields nearby where pesticides et. al were used, the cancers manifested in their underbellies. I would avoid using it if possible.

2,4-D was the other half of agent orange.

edit:

SELECTED CHEMICALS USED DURING THE VIETNAM WAR - Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange Exposure - NCBI Bookshelf

 

[peteyfoozer]

Yeah, I definitely don’t want it anywhere near my dog. Thanks guys. I hope this is enough to change his mind

 

[Branching Out]

I was thinking of you peteyfoozer when I read this paper on using vinegar as a herbicide in garlic fields:

https://www.rasacreekfarm.com/_files/ugd/15d174_6ccc2b5a65c841d1a0076e16dca79d05.pdf

For the past several years I have been using vinegar to kill bindweed in a massive patch of English Ivy on a steep slope; the vinegar knocks back the weedy morning glory, but has no effect on the waxy ivy leaves. I can spray it with reckless abandon and the results have been encouraging. Good chance that vinegar could torch your hollyhocks too-- and for the very small cost of purchasing a few gallons of vinegar I think it would be worth a try.

My suggestion would be to spray when the plants are nice and stressed, on a warm day with no wind. Ideally there should be several days of dry weather both before and after spraying, as rainy weather could wash off the vinegar and re-hydrate the plants. If you could hit the plants just as they begin to send up flower stalks that would be a bonus, as that is when they have committed all of their energy to above ground pursuits. If you use a tank sprayer you could spray the leaves without bending.

I like to spray the plants in the morning, and then again later in the day when it is really hot out. Coat the leaves with a fine spray as best you can. If possible follow up with another spray after a week or so. The plant may take several weeks to show signs of decline, which is normal. Field bindweed takes several applications before it dies, sending up new growth that I hit multiple times until it succumbs. Maybe this could work on holly hocks too.

By the way, there are several different vinegar available for purchase. I try to get the pickling vinegar, which is a little stronger than regular white vinegar. There is also a more acidic version that is used for household cleaning; around here it is far more expensive than the pickling one, so not worth the extra expense in my opinion. After you fill the tank be sure to add a little dish soap to increase the viscosity; this will help the solution stick to the leaves.

 

[peteyfoozer]

I was thinking of you peteyfoozer when I read this paper on using vinegar as a herbicide in garlic fields:

https://www.rasacreekfarm.com/_files/ugd/15d174_6ccc2b5a65c841d1a0076e16dca79d05.pdf

For the past several years I have been using vinegar to kill bindweed in a massive patch of English Ivy on a steep slope; the vinegar knocks back the weedy morning glory, but has no effect on the waxy ivy leaves. I can spray it with reckless abandon and the results have been encouraging. Good chance that vinegar could torch your hollyhocks too-- and for the very small cost of purchasing a few gallons of vinegar I think it would be worth a try.

My suggestion would be to spray when the plants are nice and stressed, on a warm day with no wind. Ideally there should be several days of dry weather both before and after spraying, as rainy weather could wash off the vinegar and re-hydrate the plants. If you could hit the plants just as they begin to send up flower stalks that would be a bonus, as that is when they have committed all of their energy to above ground pursuits. If you use a tank sprayer you could spray the leaves without bending.

I like to spray the plants in the morning, and then again later in the day when it is really hot out. Coat the leaves with a fine spray as best you can. If possible follow up with another spray after a week or so. The plant may take several weeks to show signs of decline, which is normal. Field bindweed takes several applications before it dies, sending up new growth that I hit multiple times until it succumbs. Maybe this could work on holly hocks too.

By the way, there are several different vinegar available for purchase. I try to get the pickling vinegar, which is a little stronger than regular white vinegar. There is also a more acidic version that is used for household cleaning; around here it is far more expensive than the pickling one, so not worth the extra expense in my opinion. After you fill the tank be sure to add a little dish soap to increase the viscosity; this will help the solution stick to the leaves.

Thank you! This is definitely worth a try!

 

[ducks4you]

You might try buying some heavt duty black plastic garbage bags, cutting them open and putting them down with weights, like bricks to kill the hollyhocks. No sun, no growth.

 

[peteyfoozer]

You might try buying some heavt duty black plastic garbage bags, cutting them open and putting them down with weights, like bricks to kill the hollyhocks. No sun, no growth.

I am definitely going to give this a try! I found some cheat grass growing there too