Garden Pests

Field Bindweed

All of us know what field bindweed is and this is the time of year it shows its white to pinkish flowers all over. I planted the garden on a field bindweed & thistle patch ten years ago and with mulch, carpet, and hoeing it out when I see it, I am slowly starving the weeds out. WINNING!

The problem this time of year is the dry lawns. You noticed the spring green lawns have given way to the white-flowered weeds. This shows especially this year being dry and hot, and the water costs are high so many have let the lawn go dormant.

What to do now? Seeds of bindweed are viable in the soil for 30 years and their roots go down over 20 feet so digging is not an option. In the garden and flowerbed, keep hoeing them out, do not let them flower. On the lawn, spot spray on a cool, windless day to prevent flowers from setting seed. In the fall hit the lawn with a liquid lawn weed killer with a 2,4-D based herbicide sometime in October for the best kill.

We all know the other common name of bindweed is creeping jenny. This gets confused with the trailing greenhouse annual plant called creeping jenny. Bindweed is in the morning glory family.

Home Improvement

Resin Surfacing has Become Popular Recently

Resin surfacing has become popular recently after coming over from England and Ireland. This is a process of mixed colored gravel with epoxy for driveways, paths, and patio surfaces. They provide good traction when wet, the water through (depending on the technique), and weed growth is curtailed.

You must have a good base like concrete to start with. There is resin-coated colored gravel that is placed on the base. The gravel will bind with the base and to each other. This method is called scattercoat.

Or you can mix the colored pea gravel with the epoxy and spread and smooth onto the base. Then smooth out with a concrete trowel. This method is called resin bound.

There are resin panels (like stepping stones) that can fit together on a base of compacted sand.

Shrubs

Honeysuckle Shrub

It is a honeysuckle shrub. There have been a lot of questions last week about a shrub being found in areas that were not noticed before. This time of year you can tell by the “choke cherry” sized seed capsules. Birds can carry the seeds for miles.

The new varieties produce a nice compact shrub with reddish flowers while the old “shelterbelt” kinds are leggy with white flowers, however, I think the flowers have more of a honey-like fragrance. The berries are mildly toxic so leave them for the robins and waxwings.