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Bulbils produced along the stem |
THOUGH THERE IS no such
Plants will, however, respond with vigor when the gardener gives them reasons to do so. Basic among those reasons is freedom from competition. Amazingly, desirable plants do not seem to mind the presence of other desirable plants, while they will react with displeasure to competition from undesirables.
For "undesirables," read "weeds," which do not provide pleasant companions, either for the gardener or for plants one wants in the garden. Weeds are survivors and, by their very nature, not fair competitors. They will take what they need, with no idea of fairness. We may think of them as interlopers that the garden looks better without, but the basic reason for eliminating them is that they take far more than their fair share of nutrients, light and moisture. Weeds are garden gluttons that will take any advantage offered them. I have railed in this column before about preparation, about ridding any site one wants to plant of weeds prior to planting. It is particularly important that perennial weeds be banished, for they cannot be easily handled with the hoe and mulch once a garden is established.
Poke may be an attractive plant in the right environment, but that environment is not the ornamental garden. Poke's fibrous root must be dug out and relegated to the trash as part of the making of a garden. The same is true of dandelions, and of wire grass. Anything that has a root which will regenerate itself needs to be eliminated. Violets, as handsome as these may be in the right place, are among the most noxious of weeds if left to run at will in the garden. I have no objection to them in the lawn, but in the garden their roots must be dug out. Some of the perennials, such as plantain, are surface growers and can be controlled without much effort, but deep-rooted weeds are best removed in garden-making or, if spotted later, removed as soon as they are seen.
Wire grass, which runs underground and renews itself at will, is one of the most difficult to deal with, but, with the right tools, one can come close to controlling it. In preparation, soil can be sifted to be certain all weeds are removed, often turning up treasures the gardener would not otherwise discover. The kind of screen an archaeologist might use is easily constructed from two-by-fours and hardware cloth, and never outlives its usefulness in the garden. It will allow one to not only remove noxious weeds while at the same time aerating and mixing garden soil, but, in our area will turn up enough minie balls, pipestems and other treasures to make the process of soil sifting interesting.
Once a garden is established, the garden fork is a necessity, easily the most useful tool for removing deep-rooted weeds. This is particularly true of wire grass, which will run for many feet beneath plastic and emerge healthy and vigorous either through even the tiniest slit or outside the area that's covered. Digging wire grass with a spading fork is the only safe way to lift it. Using a spade, shovel, hoe or any other garden tool may invigorate it by dividing it into multiple root sources that will vie with one another for garden space. The spading fork allows one to dig underneath the roots, tug gently and remove only when they come out of the ground with ease. Until that point, one continues loosening soil with the spading fork. One wants to leave nothing to chance, but to get all the roots.
Weeds will grow happily almost anywhere, even through cracks in a concrete driveway, but desirable plants need good soil. Giving your garden the right soil amendments is the only way to ensure healthy growth of the plants one wants to grow. Shredded leaves, composted manure and compost are obvious choices for amendments. Worked into the soil when one is making a garden, they will ensure what seems to be miraculous growth, but they may be worked into the soil at any time or used as mulch. Compost can always be used as a top dressing around plants already growing, or as mulch.
In selecting a mulch, one wants materials that will not mat. Matting seals the soil, cutting access to air, nutrients and moisture. One wants a mulch that water will always penetrate, not one that mats, causing water to run off. It doesn't hurt any that a non-matting mulch is also a friendly environment for earthworms, making it easy for them to begin their work of changing organic amendments into healthy soil. I test mulches occasionally with a rake or spading fork to discover any matting, and use the same tools to break up matting when discovered, but only the use of non-matting mulch will solve the problem. What one wants is a mulch that will break down slowly, but is fine enough to discourage the growth of annual weeds. Any such combination will normally contain pine bark, which not only looks good in the garden but is good for it.
Attention and continuous care are always needed, but it should come as no great secret to anyone that preparation is probably the most important ingredient in gardening, as it is in other endeavors. Any amount of time so spent will be more than compensated for in time saved later.
TONY P. WRENN of Fredericksburg is a lifelong gardener. He welcomes questions from readers and will try to answer them in his column. Contact him by mail at The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401; by fax at 373-8455; or by e-mail to his attention at
Email: gwoolf@freelancestar.com.
Larkspur has finished blooming in my garden, and seed-gathering has begun. Given the weather recently, I haven't had to worry about it being dry enough to save seed, though that is always a consideration. When seeds are ripe, it is easy to walk through the garden with a large paper bag, bend the larkspur down over the bag, and shake. The sound of seeds falling into the paper bag will let you know you are doing it right. Seeds can also be easily gathered from hollyhock, bleeding heart, columbine and many others. Labeled, kept dry and stored, they can be reintroduced into the garden this fall, or saved in a frost-free environment for planting next spring. |
