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spinbaby

(15,198 posts)
Tue Jul 10, 2018, 06:11 AM Jul 2018

What a week of neglect will do!

I’m in the habit of going outside with my supervisor cat to putter in the garden. Not very long, maybe an hour in the morning and sometimes in the evening if it’s not too hot, but every day it’s not raining. I didn’t think I was accomplishing all that much until I went away for a week and came back to a crop of giant weeds I’d swear weren’t there at all the week before. Plus the deer acquired a sudden taste for nasturtiums and had a week with them and no deer repellent.

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What a week of neglect will do! (Original Post) spinbaby Jul 2018 OP
I have been fighting off infestations of creeping bellflower, The Velveteen Ocelot Jul 2018 #1
Because of my dogs, I won't use Roundup Mr.Bill Jul 2018 #3
I pull them spinbaby Jul 2018 #4
In our dry summer climate and hard soil, Mr.Bill Jul 2018 #5
The right tools work wonders spinbaby Jul 2018 #6
It's hard to manage the deer problem, especially when it frequently rains. Nitram Jul 2018 #2

The Velveteen Ocelot

(120,836 posts)
1. I have been fighting off infestations of creeping bellflower,
Tue Jul 10, 2018, 09:45 AM
Jul 2018

Asiatic dayflower and nutsedge. This year has produced a bounty of invasive weeds that I can't get rid of (I won't use Round-Up) but can only try to discourage. At least I don't have a lot of Japanese beetles.

Mr.Bill

(24,790 posts)
3. Because of my dogs, I won't use Roundup
Tue Jul 10, 2018, 01:26 PM
Jul 2018

or other poisonous weed killers. I spray weeds with a mixture of vinegar and salt. It kills whatever I spray with it. Doesn't last as long as commercial weed killers, but it won't harm my pets. I just use a pump spray bottle and spray it right at the base of any weed that pops up.

I'm only working with a mobile home space, but if I stay on top of it, I can easily keep the place weed free with a gallon of vinegar for many weeks.

spinbaby

(15,198 posts)
4. I pull them
Wed Jul 11, 2018, 02:37 PM
Jul 2018

The only thing I’ll use Roundup on is poison ivy from a distance. My landscaper used it last year and I still have trouble growing plants in some of those areas. The stuff is nasty.

Mr.Bill

(24,790 posts)
5. In our dry summer climate and hard soil,
Wed Jul 11, 2018, 05:35 PM
Jul 2018

pulling most of them isn't really an option. They just snap off and leave the roots in the ground where they grow right back. The vinegar and salt kills them and doesn't do any long term damage to the soil.

Nitram

(24,604 posts)
2. It's hard to manage the deer problem, especially when it frequently rains.
Tue Jul 10, 2018, 10:05 AM
Jul 2018

We have had to put up a lot of wire fencing to protect certain plantings and plots with bulbs.

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