Look at nature.
Plants occupy every space that the earth provides, as long as light
and moisture are adequate and soil is present. There are usually
no bare spots. Residential landscapes are often imitations of nature,
with trees and shrubs either artfully arranged or placed to give
privacy.
Sometimes a
border of pretty flowers is added. But the shrub bed is an anomaly,
with bare soil or yards of bark mulch beneath. One of our friends
calls this the scorched earth look.
Where are the
groundcovers, low shrubs and perennials? Leaving earth unplanted
beneath shrubs, equating this with neatness, evolved, we hypothesize,
with the availability of chemical weed killers, which could be applied
between the shrubs to kill weeds before they emerged, without harming
the shrubs.
Some landscape
services preferred this look, our hypothesis continues, because
they could apply herbicides instead of occasionally hand weeding.
They no longer had to hire employees who could tell the weeds from
the flowers. Anyone could spray herbicide in open spaces between
shrubs. So new landscapes, if installed by a company that also did
yard maintenance, became designed, perhaps, not to resemble nature
but to make it easier to apply weed killers.
So what is a
person to do to make the shrub bed look more natural and keep weeds
under control?
Prevention:
First, plant
the beds closely with large shrubs, desireable ground covers, low
shrubs, bulbs, ornamental grasses, herbs, flowers, native roses
or whatever mix of plants you fancy. Plant in layers: tall plants,
medium plants, low plants, ground covers. For the first two or three
years, til the plants fill in, plan to spend some time weeding.
After that, it's easy. Most weeds will find it difficult to survive.
Pulling the occasional one is easy while you are enjoying the beauty
around you.
If you have
no interest in gardening and live out of town, let the native salal
be your groundcover, or dunegrass if you live at the beach. In town
or for a neater look, fill the beds with appropriate, low maintenance
Native Plants. Then read on:
Use Mulches
Properly:
Mulches should
be at least 4 inches thick to effectively supress weeds, depending
on the mulching material. Organic compost is an excellent mulch
because it adds nutrients and improves the soil tilth as it keeps
weeds from growing. Many people use bark or wood chips. Various
commercial mixes are also available.
Crushed stone is not
often thought of as a mulch but it can look good in the right place.
It is usually used with landscape fabric or plastic beneath.
Landscape fabric and
plastic sheeting are also considered mulches because they suppress
weed growth. They can be very useful, but keep in mind that plastic
sheeting eventually breaks down when exposed to sunlight, or can
get torn and therefore become a disposal problem. Several layers
of newspaper or a layer of cardboard can be used instead. They will
break down in time. Avoid using newspaper with colored ink.
Weeding
Tools:
The
National Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP), which
is located in Eugene, Oregon, recommends a variety of tools designed
for removing dandelions and other weeds without backache. Go to
page 9 at http://www.pesticide.org/dandelions.pdf
to see pictures and a brief description of each of these tools.
An example of a smaller
flame weeder can be seen at The Gardener's Supply Company at http://www.gardeners.com.
These flame weeders can be purchased online for about $55.
Both Newport
Rental Service And Alsea Bay Power Products rent out a variety of
gardening tools, ranging from little handheld pruners, to tractor
mowers, to flame weeders. Check out our Coastal
Resources page for their addresses and phone numbers.
