Rubbing Out Weeds

Weeds. Any plant that grows where you do not want it to is a weed. Controlling them is an ongoing and never-ending process. Some weeds are hard to kill and difficult to do without damaging the surrounding plants.

Last year we had our back yard re-done. Our property is adjacent to a swamp and the water table is very high. You could dig a hole and it would fill with water at about 6 inches deep. We had trouble growing grass because the ground was always wet and did not drain well. To fix it we had 3 tandem truck loads of dirt brought in, the ground shaped for better drainage, and St. Augustine sod installed. After a few weeks of watering the new sod was doing great...and so were the weeds.

Our sod was infested with a tall thin grass similar to liriope. There were thousands of them spread throughout the lawn. I had to find a way to get rid of the weed without killing the new sod. It does not work to pull them out of the ground. A new one will grow if there is any part of the root left in the soil. I could not spray grass killer or I would have to spray the whole yard and kill all the grass. I had the idea of rubbing grass killer on the tall shoots of the weed grass. I tried it and it worked like a charm!

Rubbing out weeds is easy. All you need is grass/weed killer (I used Roundup concentrate), a small pail, latex or vinyl gloves, and cotton gloves. Pour the grass/weed killer in the pail. You can use the pre-mixed or the concentrate and mix with water as directed. I will use less water in the mix for more stubborn weeds like vines. Put on the latex or vinyl gloves first to protect your hands. Put on the cotton gloves over the latex or vinyl ones. Then all you do is dip your hand in the pail to soak the cotton glove, squeeze your hand a little to keep it from dripping, and then rub the grass/weed killer on the weed.

This method works on all types of weeds, grassy or otherwise. I used it on other grassy weeds in my yard the regular lawn weed killer/herbicide would not control. One was a light yellow/green grass and the other were clumps of very thin bladed grass. I have used this method for vines in and around my shrubs by pulling the vine out and rubbing it with the herbicide at the same time. It works without harming the adjacent plants because there is no overspray.

I also have crepe myrtle weeds. Small crepe myrtle shoots keep growing from the roots of a crepe myrtle tree we cut down years ago. I have tried everything to stop the growth including drilling holes in the stump and pouring in undiluted Roundup concentrate. This method is the only way I have been able to control the new growth from the tree roots.

What stubborn weeds do you have? How do you control them?
Next time try rubbing them out!

Now that you've taken care of your yard, how about your interior floors?  Check out the Battle of the Robot Vacuums!