Weeds 101: know them, beat them
Annuals, perennials and how to keep weeds in check
What makes a weed
A weed is simply a plant out of place. Weeds compete with your plants for water, nutrients and sunlight, and some spread fast or are harmful to touch.
Identify a weed before you fight it, because how it lives decides what works.
Annuals vs perennials
Knowing how a weed lives tells you how to beat it.
- Annual weeds, like crabgrass, chickweed, henbit and purslane, live one season and spread by seed.
- Destroy annuals while they're small, before they flower and drop thousands of seeds.
- Perennial weeds, like dandelion, thistle, plantain and creeping Charlie, regrow from roots.
- Persistent pulling and digging eventually wears perennials out.
Prevention beats pulling
Weed seeds can survive in soil for decades, so keep new ones from landing and old ones from sprouting.
- Never let weeds flower and go to seed.
- Cover bare soil in beds with about 3 inches (7.5 cm) of mulch, which blocks most annual weeds.
- Plant closely: when most of the soil is shaded, weeds rarely take hold.
- Keep lawns thick with good mowing, feeding and watering.
Pulling and hoeing
Pull or dig weeds when the soil is moist, such as after a soaking rain, so the roots come out whole. Hoe while weeds are tiny, a few days after rain, just skimming the surface; deep digging brings up more weed seeds.
Weeds can hint at problems. Moss often points to shade or wet, compacted soil, and lots of clover can mean a lawn short of nitrogen.
Weed killers and safety
No weed killer is safe for every plant, so identify the weed and read the label first. Strong vinegar-based weed killers can burn skin and badly injure eyes, and they damage any plant they touch, so keep kids and pets away while you spray.
Never touch poison ivy or giant hogweed with bare skin, and never burn poison ivy, since the smoke carries its oil. Wash your tools, gloves and clothes afterward.
Related plant problems
Sources
- NC State Extension: Extension Gardener Handbook, 6: Weeds
- Iowa State University Extension: How to Manage Annual Weeds
- University of Maryland Extension: Vinegar: An Alternative to Glyphosate?
- Iowa State University Extension: How to Control Poison Ivy
General guidance, not a diagnosis. Written by PlantWiz in our own words from the sources above.