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flowerbug
Garden Master
found ID with help (https://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/little-white-flower-annual-help-id.21835/#post-322598)
Spring Whitlow-Grass, except, well it's not a grass.
why i till as little as possible...
- Thread starter flowerbug
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found ID with help (https://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/little-white-flower-annual-help-id.21835/#post-322598)
Spring Whitlow-Grass, except, well it's not a grass.
AMKuska
Garden Master
So when you're using these tools, you're scraping them across the surface of the dirt?
thistlebloom
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The Rogue hoe you just slide along the surface and it slices the weeds off. It's got sharp edges on the forward and backward stroke. I have a similar triangle shaped scuffle hoe, but it's disappointing in it's effectiveness, and I had stopped using it.
The Rogue is heavy duty and very sharp, and easily sharpened if you work in a lot of rocky soil like I do.
It's a lifetime type of tool, one your son can pass down to his kids.
The Rogue is heavy duty and very sharp, and easily sharpened if you work in a lot of rocky soil like I do.
It's a lifetime type of tool, one your son can pass down to his kids.
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flowerbug
Garden Master
as much a possible, yes. on our more compacted clay and hard soils it is easier to skim it on top. in the more amended gardens with sand and organic materials worked in the soil it can go down several inches easily enough, but i much prefer to not work that hard and skim as close to the top as i can.
it's never needed to be sharpened and i've had it around 10yrs, the blade is pretty thin, i don't have a lot of rocks in most of the gardens.
so lucky
Garden Master
If you use mulch, such as straw, leaves, cardboard, etc, do you have a problem with varmints under the mulch? And what do you do about them?
ninnymary
Garden Master
AMKuska
Garden Master
So what about the roots? Isn't it bad to leave the roots in, or will they eventually rot if they are scraped regularly? I'm thinking I need to get a hoe, as I'm really tied of sitting there on a bucket for hours all day long pulling the suckers lol
thistlebloom
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Some deep rooted perennials will come back from roots, and some annual weeds also. But slicing the tops off with a hoe goes fast. If you just never go into the garden without taking your hoe with you
then you can slice them when they're little or as they sprout you'll be way ahead and it will be almost effortless.
Leaving the roots in will make more humus, so it's win win.
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flowerbug
Garden Master
@AMKuska there are certain weeds that are much worse than others. some are quite easy and won't survive being sliced off and then there are the others...
- grasses spread by roots/stolons so removing the top will not kill them, but if you keep slicing off the top often enough the roots will eventually give up and die off.
- thistles (perennial sow thistle and globe thistle are the two bad ones here) will come back and spread easily from just a bit of roots so to remove them manually may take several attempts to find all the roots. i noticed a few days ago i'd missed some thistles last fall so i'll be digging that area out again.
- horse tail is the other one that can run a long ways on just a bit of root and spread easily.
- milk weed will go a long ways like the thistles and horse-tail, but the roots are much larger so they are easier to track down.
none will survive being well smothered for several years.
the thistles are the worst for me because they get in among the irises and are nearly impossible to remove without lifting the entire garden. sow thistle is extra nasty to me because the smell of the broken plant/sap whatever will cause my nose to run like crazy.
- grasses spread by roots/stolons so removing the top will not kill them, but if you keep slicing off the top often enough the roots will eventually give up and die off.
- thistles (perennial sow thistle and globe thistle are the two bad ones here) will come back and spread easily from just a bit of roots so to remove them manually may take several attempts to find all the roots. i noticed a few days ago i'd missed some thistles last fall so i'll be digging that area out again.
- horse tail is the other one that can run a long ways on just a bit of root and spread easily.
- milk weed will go a long ways like the thistles and horse-tail, but the roots are much larger so they are easier to track down.
none will survive being well smothered for several years.
the thistles are the worst for me because they get in among the irises and are nearly impossible to remove without lifting the entire garden. sow thistle is extra nasty to me because the smell of the broken plant/sap whatever will cause my nose to run like crazy.
AMKuska
Garden Master
I'm getting one of those hoe things that look like a square today for Mother's day!! I'll let you guys know how it works, as I have one heck of a weedy garden.
