Garden almanac, Garden Pests

Pesky Broadleaf Weeds

Hey there, fellow gardeners! It’s that time of year again – time to tackle those pesky broadleaf weeds invading your lawn and garden. I’ve been out there myself, and here’s what I’ve been up to:

Before the rain rolled in, I decided to take on the field bindweed, which was absolutely thriving this year. I gave it a good dose of Weed B Gon to keep it in check. And you know what? It did the trick!

Now, as for the garden, I cleared it out and spotted those troublesome Canada thistles. They had quite the spotted spurge, so I hit them with some herbicide as well. We don’t want those guys taking over.

The good news is, that it looks like we have a few more weeks to keep up with our weed-fighting mission. The magic number is around 28 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. When the temperature drops, the weeds are in for a world of hurt.

Fall is the perfect time for weed control because the plants are busy sending nutrients from the leaves down to their roots for the winter. In the spring, it’s the other way around, which makes herbicides less effective. So, let’s make the most of this window of opportunity!

Now, when it comes to choosing suitable herbicides, most of them contain active ingredients like 2, 4-D, MCPP, Triclopyr, Dicamba, or a combination of these. The ones that work best typically have two or more of these compounds. They’re like the heavy artillery of weed control!

Another handy tip: go for sprays rather than granules. Sprays provide better coverage and are more effective at targeting those troublesome weeds.

One last thing – hold off on mowing your lawn just before you spray, and avoid mowing when rain is in the forecast within the next 24 hours. Let’s give those herbicides the best chance to work their magic.

Happy weeding, and here’s to a weed-free lawn and garden! 🌱🌼🌿

Vines

Vines in the Landscape

A lot of people overlook planting vines in the landscape. They provide height to an otherwise flat area, create a private area, hide a cover for unsightly views like around garbage cans, and create shade by growing over an arbor. They also provide pollen for bees and fruit for birds and other wildlife.

Vines need something to grow on for support. Plants with tendrils will need something to twine on like a fence or wire. The ones with suckers will need to grow on something solid like brick or rough wood. Vines can also flow down areas.

Annual moonflower vine

Annual vines are interesting grown in pots and the vines are trained on a chicken wire or string trellis.

Perennial vines that are easy to grow in South Dakota include clematis. This plant has many, many varieties with all sorts of different colored blooms. They like their heads in the sun and feet in the shade. This means mulching the root area to keep moisture levels even.

Climbing honeysuckle has white, orange, and red blooms depending on the variety. Like clematis, they wind around a fence growing to 6 to 8 feet tall.

Trumpet Vine is good for more of a shady area. Growing at 8 feet tall with orange flowers. A good plant for hummingbirds.

Porcelain Vine has beautiful multicolored berries in blue, cream, and purple. This perennial vine grows up to 6 feet.

Bittersweet

American bittersweet vine is prized for its showy-colored fruits. The fruit is bright orange with a yellow top. Plants are either male or female, so make sure you get both plants.

Virginia Creeper is a highly vigorous vine with a fall leaf color of red and purple. Be careful with this vine for it does grow rampant, so heavy pruning is required. It makes a great creeping plant in an area where other plants do not grow. The vine has suckers making it a great plant to climb on a concrete or brick wall.

Boston ivy is a popular vine used as a ground cover. The autumn foliage color is yellow, orange to red depending on the variety.

Common hop vine is a twining vine dying back each year but coming back each year climbing to 15 feet. It produces paper-like fruits in late summer for fall interest. The hops are used for making beer.

A good native vine is a wild cucumber growing up to 20 feet tall. It is a fast-growing vine producing large white flowers followed by spiky cucumber-like fruit. Being a native, it will self-seed so cut off the seed pods.

Garden almanac, Garden Pests

In the Garden this Week (Sept 21)

In the garden this week, get ready to start spraying the perennial weeds like thistle, bindweed, and dandelions in the lawn and garden. In the lawn use a selective herbicide like a mix with 2,4-D. In the garden after harvesting, you can use a nonselective herbicide with glyphosate like Roundup. You can spray the weeds up to a hard freeze of below 28 degrees.

While on the lawn, you can place a fall application of fertilizer on the grass. Do this before the second week in October. A fertilizer of nitrogen and phosphorus helps the grass go into winter healthier.

Assassin Bug

I received a picture of an assassin bug in the garden. These true bugs are very beneficial in eating a lot of little predators. Do not handle them because they cause a very painful bite. Just let them do their thing.

Boxelder bug

The bug of the week is the boxelder bug, a true soft-bellied orange and black insect. They feed by sucking the plant juices out of mainly maples (which the boxelder is one of) and ash trees. When touched they will give off an unpleasant order (they are sometimes called stinkbugs) which in turn prevents spiders and birds from eating them. When the temperature cools these bugs will swarm, finding the south side of trees and your house or garage for warmth. Also, they will leave a brown stain if squished. If you have a swarm of these bugs, you can use a soapy insecticide sprayed directly onto them.

Large, hard cores in tomatoes

If you have had tomatoes that ripen poorly with hard centers, this was due to the excessive heat earlier.

Dig your summer bulbs like glads, tuberous begonias, cannas, etc. after a hard freeze or when the tops die down. Store in boxes in a cool, dry area where it will not freeze. I leave the soil on the bulbs, place them in boxes, pour on some dry peat moss, and place it in the basement.

It is time to seal the house from mice and bugs. Use steel wool on cracks in the foundation and caulk around outdoor window and door sills. Now is the time to use a perimeter spray around the house to prevent bugs and spiders from coming in. You might have to spray twice depending on how long the fall is.

A new study has found using heavy plastic around plants with mulch in a landscape causes a lot of harm to plants. It prevents the soil from drying out and prevents an exchange of oxygen in the soil which the roots need. Using landscape fabric is much better than plastic. Also, a wood mulch is better than rock because of the heat the rock can give off.