The weeds. They’re back!
And Lucy the trouble Puggle and I are on a mission to get them all pulled over the next week and to sprinkle our yearly dose of Casoron around the hedges before they really start coming in. I know a lot of people don’t like to use the stuff, but in my 20+ years of gardening it’s the only chemical I’ve found that truly works at getting rid of weeds for an entire year at a time. All you’ve got to do is pull up ALL the weeds you can spy in the spring, lay down the Caseron and you’re set.
We don’t use it anywhere near where we’ve planted vegetables, so I feel fine using it in the backyard around the hedges and on the hillside.
Yesterday we cleaned up the lower border. Today and tomorrow, with a little luck we’ll get all the weeds pulled in the upper border and then my weeding for the year is done.
In other news, the daylilies are starting to poke through the soil.
And the slug babies are back as well.
Spring. It’s right around the corner. I guess that means I need to get out there and clean the yard up. 😉 What’s the weather like in your neck of the woods these days? Do you have snow on the ground, are you diggin in the dirt yet? I don’t know about you, but I am itching’ to plant something.
~Mavis
Andrea says
I love seeing my spring bulbs and rhubarb poking through the ground. I can’t wait to get out and clean up the yard and get ready for seeds to go out, but i just had surgery the begining of Jan so i still have to wait a few more weeks.
Mavis Butterfield says
I spotted our little rhubarb nub the other day too. 🙂 Hope your surgery went well.
Donna in VA says
Thank you, I had no idea what slug eggs look like, need to be on the lookout. Today I started pepper and jalapeno seeds on my buffet warming tray. I did not soak the seeds first, would that help? I can soak some and add to the pots if that would be better.
Mavis Butterfield says
No, I don’t think you need to soak pepper seeds. 🙂
Rebecca in MD says
Here is the Northeast we have a track record of getting a big snow around Valentine’s Day. Don’t know why, but that is when we usually get the biggest snow. So, I am not out in the yard yet, but will be starting some seeds soon.
My DIL gave me a packet of seeds that are annuals and perennials to attract bees. However, they are all mixed in one packet, so who knows what I’ll get?
I’ve already got my flower and vegetable seeds, so I can get them started anytime I want. With our last frost date around Mother’s Day, I don’t want to get them started toooooo soon.
Farmer Phyl says
Be careful with mixed seeds. They could be invasive. I’m always tempted, but what is a lovely flower somewhere else could be an invasive plant here.
Kristi says
My garden is under about 3 feet of snow (ah, winter in North Dakota). I was going to try winter gardening this year with plastic row covers, maybe next year. I spent the last week cleaning up my tender herbs that spend the winter indoors and going through my seeds before ordering more.
Rose says
I’m in Southern California due to the rains our backyard was taken over by a ton of weeds. Luckily, the kids helped me and it was almost all done in one day.
I found under all the weeds, that I have chives, green onions, and some parsley sprouting in pots. Tomorrow, I will be going to the nursery for seeds. So happy its dry enough to get some other seeds planted in my garden beds.
Angela D. says
I live in zone 4 (4b, to be exact). So no thoughts of gardening until April/May.
Green Jean says
Mavis, you are making me jealous….we still have 2 foot of snow here!
Be careful with the herbicides, it seems like chem. companies tell you they are safe, then ten yeats later we find out they cause cancer in humans or pets or kill pollinators. 🙁
Have you tried using alfalfa meal as an organic weed seed growth inhibitor?
Mavis Butterfield says
Where would one get alfalfa meal?
lori eckert says
Not judging…a bit surprised you would use Casoron. Live in PA, no weeding going on here!! Enjoy your tea.
Clarice says
Can you tell me more about this Casoron? It sounds like a promising product. I’m moving toward edible/ornamental landscaping intermixed. Would you feel comfortable planting edibles in a location where you had applied Casoron the previous year, or would you wait longer than that? (I seem to change up my vegetable locations on a yearly basis!)
Mavis Butterfield says
No. I would not feel comfortable planting edibles in an area where I had spread Caseron the year before. I lay it down every year in the areas I will not be growing food that I don’t want to pull weeds from. It works wonders for snuffing out weeds.
Renay Bennett says
I used to work at a nursery and I spent every day talking people out of buying Caseron. It is nasty and toxic and I wouldn’t use it for anything. Not good for us, animals or the planet.