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Soils Alive Blog
The Perfect Storm for Spring Weeds
Posted by Michael Bosco on Thursday, May 15, 2008
2008 was the without a doubt the worst weed year Soils Alive has experienced. It all started with a very dry winter, which lead to little to no germination of our usual crop of weeds that starts early and ends early. Normal condition for North Texas brings us good rains in the late fall and early winter which will germinate most winter weeds from September to December. Since we did not receive sufficient rain to sprout them they were laying and waiting for the deluge we received in February. This brought on a late weed germination that we have not seen before.
Another factor that 'normally' helps minimize weeds in the late spring is the grass greening-up, and competing with them as well as being mowed on a regular basis. We had an extremely cool spring therefore the grass did not come out of dormancy, and begin to grow as expected because of the exceptionally cool soil temperatures. We estimate that the grass is about 3 weeks to 4 weeks behind its 'normal' schedule. This created a wonderful situation for the weeds that germinated only a few months before. The weeds had little competition from the grass for water, light and nutrients because of their slow start. And since the grass was not growing most mowing was delayed, allowing weeds to grow uninhibited.
We can speed up the grass green-up process by mowing/mulching down most of the thatch material from last year, which will allow the soil to receive more heat. By increasing soil temperature we get quicker spring green-up of our summer grasses, and increased competition for the winter weeds. By mowing low, and often in the early spring it physically reduces competition, and gives the advantage back to the desirable grasses. Also by starting off mowing low in the early spring it forces the grass to grow horizontally for a thicker, denser turf rather than a tall and thin.
Category: Monthly Entries | Comments (0)
About this blog
Welcome! Soils Alive's blog was conceived as a method for Soils Alive to provide the latest and most up-to-date information for those who are curious or are seeking answers to common Organic Lawn Care issues.
Within this blog you will find anecdotes, issues and answers from Soils Alive's founder, Michael Bosco. Please comment on any entry or ask an organic lawn & landscape care related question.
