Weeds are undesirable in water efficient landscapes because they consume moisture needed by landscape plants. As mentioned in the previous section, mulching is a good way to suppress weeds. Hand pulling, hoeing, and tilling may be appropriate for some areas. If you decide to use herbicides for larger areas, be sure to use the correct herbicide for the job and to follow the directions carefully.
To be Water $mart follow the order of these control practices.
Control Practices - Four general practices can provide control of most weed problems in residential landscape plantings. Control practices are measures that limit weed growth in desirable areas.
Control practices usually result in a reduction in the severity of weed problems rather than complete elimination. The use of only a single method of weed control usually results in only partial success. Usually the most successful effort involves the use of two or more practices in a weed control effort.
The four practices are:
-
clean sanitation practices
-
mechanical practices
-
cultural practices
-
herbicide usage.
For explanations of each of these practices, check out this Alabama Cooperative Extension publication on Weed Control in Residential Landscape Plantings (.pdf)
Return to menu