Keeping weeds out of your landscaping is important, but it can be challenging. If you ignore weeds, not only will they spread rapidly, but they will also zap resources from your cultivated plants, including water and soil nutrients. Typically, effective weed management requires a multi-faceted approach. Talk to your landscaping company about how they’ll deal with weeds in your landscape maintenance plan.
Mechanical Removal
The name suggests, mechanical removal of weeds involves physically getting them out of your landscaping. This may involve pulling, mowing, tilling, and digging. With mechanical removal, it is important to ensure you are removing the root of the weeds, or they will simply grow back in the same place. For this method, it is also important to cover the head of the weeds with a plastic bag if they are blooming, or the spores will drop on the soil and encourage new growth.
Chemical Removal
Chemicals called herbicides can be used to kill weeds and help to prevent new growth. Pre-emergent herbicides are used before the weeds have established. They are particularly good for annual species. Post-emergent herbicides are used when the weeds have already started growing. In both cases, chemical removal of weeds is mostly used for large weed populations. Some herbicides are target specific types of weeds, while others kill all the weeds in the area in which they are applied. For safety reasons and to protect the health of the rest of your landscaping, let your landscapers take the lead on chemical weed management.
Prevention
Prevention is also part of weed management. You may not be able to prevent all weed growth but you can work with your landscapers to identify likely sources of weed infestation, so that you can prevent them as much as possible. Solarization, a practice in which clear plastic is placed over tilled soil to prevent weed seeds from growing, may also be helpful.
Let Complete Landscaping help you keep the weeds from overtaking your landscaping and harming your plants. Talk to us about your landscaping needs in Tucson and how we can help. Call (520) 323-8918 to learn more.