The Battle Against Weeds!

Keeping your landscape plantings, flower beds, and nursery crops free of weeds is a battle, but if you approach it with a strategic plan, you will prevail.

This week's Backyard Bulletin focuses on Weed Control and offers a collection of informative ideas, articles, tips and knowledge to help you win the Battle Against Weeds.

3 Types of Weed Control
There are many types of weed control available for every weed problem, ranging from simple to quite involved. The different types of weed control can be grouped into three categories: mechanical, organic and chemical.

Mechanical
Mechanical weed control includes simply pulling the weeds out by the root as they emerge. The drawbacks to this type of weed control are that the weed may not be completely removed, other plants may be uprooted in the process, and neighboring root systems may be damaged.

Organic
Organic Weed Control means to garden without relying on synthetic pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, or fertilizers. There are many natural ways to maintain your garden. Mulch is a favorite type of weed control, and very effective. It deprives the weeds of much needed light. Using layers of newspaper or landscape fabric under the mulch boosts its effectiveness. Other non-toxic types of weed control include salt, vinegar, boiling water, dish washing soap and alcohol. While these may kill existing weeds temporarily, they rarely solve a long term weed problem.

Chemical
The third type of weed control is chemical, which involves the use of herbicides to kill or prevent weed growth. Because many herbicides are specially formulated for specific types of weeds, a gardener must understand the type of weed he is facing. Just like plants, weeds come in annual, biennial and perennial forms. Different types of herbicides include pre-emergence, post-emergence and spot treatments.

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How to Properly Mulch Your Organic Garden

Keeping your landscape plantings, flower beds, herb gardens or vegitable plants weed free is a challenging for any gardener. In order to develop a plan on how to approach this battle, you first must understand how weeds work and what kind of weeds you are dealing  with. 

Weeds are plants and they function just like the desirable plants in your yard. They need water, sunlight, and nutrition to survive. Of these three key survival needs, the easiest one for a gardener to eliminate is sunlight. Through proper mulching you can eliminate the sunlight...more>> 

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10 Tips for Effective Weed Control

Weeds are the enemy of a beautiful healthy lawn. They can quickly take over and turn a lush green carpet into an eyesore. But there are ways to deal successfully with a weed problem, and there are things you may not be aware of that promote the spread of weeds. So here are the top 10 tips for getting rid of weeds in your lawn...more>> 

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Questions to Ask When Hiring A Lawn Care Company

Many people prefer to leave lawn care to the professionals. 
Understanding the needs of your lawn, trees and plants will help you know whether a company's suggested services are for you.

Some questions to ask prospective companies include:

• When and how often will you provide mulching, fertilizing and pruning?
• What types of weed control do you practice?
• How do you determine whether a pesticide is needed?
• Are your pesticides safe for children and pets to be around?
• Is your company insured, licensed and bonded?
• Will a lawn maintenance representative visit my home before drawing up a contract?

Another good tip: Once you've narrowed down your list to a few lawn maintenance companies you're interested in, check them out on the Better Business Bureau site to read any consumer reports.

In This Issue:
> 3 Types of Weed Control
> How to Properly Mulch
> 10 Tips for Weed Control
> Questions to Ask When Hiring A Lawn Care Company