A garden is only as good as the ground that it's planted in. Discussion forum for the many ways to improve the soil where we plant our gardens.
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April 4, 2017 | #31 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Texas Coastal Bend
Posts: 3,205
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Quote:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/a...ns/weed12.html Here is a color picture-This stuff is horrible out here. https://images.search.yahoo.com/sear...sigt=10qpf5ken
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In the spring at the end of the day you should smell like dirt ~Margaret Atwood~ |
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April 4, 2017 | #32 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Texas Coastal Bend
Posts: 3,205
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LOL, Worth. I had no idea, but I don't think I want to start eating them.
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In the spring at the end of the day you should smell like dirt ~Margaret Atwood~ |
April 4, 2017 | #33 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Texas Coastal Bend
Posts: 3,205
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Hehehe, I wish that was my only problem, lol.
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In the spring at the end of the day you should smell like dirt ~Margaret Atwood~ |
April 4, 2017 | #34 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Texas Coastal Bend
Posts: 3,205
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Quote:
That's exactly what it is! Ugh, I could yank my hair out from that stuff. You know, if it's so valuable for food we should start bagging those seeds and selling them, lol. At least we could get something for the irritation of it.
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In the spring at the end of the day you should smell like dirt ~Margaret Atwood~ Last edited by Rockporter; April 4, 2017 at 10:31 PM. |
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April 4, 2017 | #35 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin
Posts: 3,149
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You could use a pre-emergent around the kennel in early spring to prevent the grass from sprouting. They also have some kind of spray that is specifically made to kill crabgrass. It can be found a Walmart or any big box store. You could also try to harvest all of the seeds. They are good on tofu and add an element to you salad. Another option is to turn the pile and throw the plants onto the concrete to be dried out by the sun and then toss them back into the compost pile once they are good and dead.
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~ Patti ~ |
April 4, 2017 | #36 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Texas Coastal Bend
Posts: 3,205
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Quote:
We don't compost our grass because of all the weeds out there, and using weed and feed pellets, our neighbors won't treat on either side or the back of us so we get the gift of their weeds all year long. Especially since not one of them will use a bagger on their mowers, which then means I get their leftovers flying through the air into my yard and garden. If we keep up with Scotts Bonus S, we can get a handle on weeds but we cannot get rid of them all. We never water our grass, it just grows like crazy anyway. Sometimes in the summer hubby is out there mowing three times a week.
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In the spring at the end of the day you should smell like dirt ~Margaret Atwood~ |
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April 5, 2017 | #37 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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When I lived on the coast sometimes you had to mow in the rain.
St Augustine sucks. Worth |
April 5, 2017 | #38 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Southeastern PA
Posts: 1,420
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Many of my organic gardening buddies use corn glutein for an organically approved pre emergent. I have not tried it myself but it is said to work on crabgrass. Crabgrass is an annual and comes back the following year from this year's seeds. Crabgrass is really bad here but mostly in our yards. I don't have it in my garden or compost pile.
You will still need to pull the grass this year but it should prevent the seeds from sprouting. I am not familiar with your growing season so I do not know when the seeds sprout there. |
April 5, 2017 | #39 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Lincoln, NE
Posts: 192
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Get some good 'ol fashioned Glyphosate, AKA Roundup and mix it strong. Wait for a bright sunny day and spray the crap out of all the grass/weeds around the compost pile. After 4 hours everything will be wilted. 2 days later it will all be toasted brown. Problem solved.
The great thing about Glyphosate is that it has a half life of 40 days (in the soil), but in TX it's been shown to break down in soil after just 3 days! i.e. microbes in the soil readily break down the chemical thus "inactivating" it. Another plus is that it does not drift, or vaporize like 2,4D. So, even if you hit your compost pile with the Roundup, it will be totally fine to use in your garden as long as you wait a few weeks. Up here on the prairie, the wind is usually 15-30mph daily, and I've never had Roundup drift. Now, you obviously don't want to spray during a 15 mph wind, but usually early in the morning it's calm for an hour, great time for Roundup spraying. Last edited by pecker88; April 5, 2017 at 09:42 AM. |
April 5, 2017 | #40 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SW Ohio
Posts: 1,818
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How often are you turning the pile?
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Barbee |
April 9, 2017 | #41 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Texas Coastal Bend
Posts: 3,205
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Not enough, but it doesn't stink, and it is continually getting smaller in spite of my adding to it. Actually, it's about time to add more straw to it and mix it up, then start again. It's the weeds encroaching from the sides that are deep rooted, and hard to pull. They have to be dug out, and the runners are in my pile.
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In the spring at the end of the day you should smell like dirt ~Margaret Atwood~ |
April 9, 2017 | #42 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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Get a grape hoe the best investment I ever made.
And your husband could fit the handle. Worth |
April 9, 2017 | #43 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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April 9, 2017 | #44 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Texas Coastal Bend
Posts: 3,205
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I'd love to get one of those, but I can't physically use one of them. My injuries and surgeries, and all my arthritis really slow me down. If I used that hoe I wouldn't be able to move for a week.
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In the spring at the end of the day you should smell like dirt ~Margaret Atwood~ |
April 10, 2017 | #45 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: France
Posts: 554
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I'm really surprised by the lenght of the handle of your hoe. Did you choose it for your personal convenience to reach all the parts of the plot from the path or are they all like that ? I know that Texans are said to think big, that handle is maybe just another chapter of the story...
all the best Last edited by loulac; April 11, 2017 at 03:03 AM. |
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