Weed control and fertilizer

[Beachsider]

I have palms in my front yard beds with ixora. The palm fertilizer I have recommends use across all these acid loving plants. How do you manage weeds? Are weeds sucking up on the fertilizer too? Am I making my weeds happier when I fertilize my palms and shrubs? Feels like an endless battle that I seem to always be losing. Any advise? 

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 9/18/2024 at 4:14 AM, Beachsider said:

I have palms in my front yard beds with ixora. The palm fertilizer I have recommends use across all these acid loving plants. How do you manage weeds? Are weeds sucking up on the fertilizer too? Am I making my weeds happier when I fertilize my palms and shrubs? Feels like an endless battle that I seem to always be losing. Any advise? 

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Nutrients in fertilizer will be used by -any- plant ..not just the targets ..so yes, weeds are enjoying some each time you feed.

There in FL.,. weeds are a never ending battle, no matter what you do since for every plant you pull, there are likely loads of seeds waiting to sprout in the soil.. Some stuff is reasonably easy to keep in check, while other stuff will be tougher.

Applying weed control is a double edged sword since ..while it might knock down the growing weeds, more will pop up later.  Some weedy things can become immune to weedkillers over time as well, which may  require using stuff that is even more toxic so that it can kill the same weed later.  Constant application of herbicides can kill the microbes in the soil too.. Don't want that. 

 Thank the year round mild temps / rain / humidity for that " wonderful " ( said sarcastically )..  aspect of gardening there.

Lived there twice, worked in nurseries / doing landscaping maintenance  both times as well ..Impossible  to keep planting beds ..let alone 100's of rows of plants awaiting new homes completely weed -free for very long.

[mnorell]

Very much in agreement with Nathan that you should stay away from chemical herbicides like Roundup (glyphosate) et al., very dangerous to your ecosystem (and ultimately to you, too) and may cause damage to your valued plantings and also causes tolerance in succeeding generations of weedy volunteers.

I would proffer that this is almost always a problem while a landscape is in an immature, sparsely planted condition under full sun. You can solve this by either shading out (with canopy trees or large shrubs) or by crowding with other planting materials between your Ixoras. Weedy plants in general are sun-loving opportunists and they want lots of open ground under sun with lots of moisture to help them grow...and will thrive under those conditions, crowding out your other small shrubs/plants. Consider, at a most basic level, planting a nice canopy tree (or two) above these beds and something like Philodendron selloum or similar (even larger things like bananas if you have the room) between your Ixoras and palms. Avoid trying this technique using fast-growing ground covers like Wedelia because this can exacerbate the original problem due to rank, invasive growth characteristics best avoided in a residential bed.

The shading/crowding strategy has worked for me in all my gardens, in Los Angeles; Natchez, Mississippi; the Florida Keys; and presently in the Palm Springs area of the Sonoran Desert. It is very frustrating for the first year or two because they seem impossible to keep on top of...but after a while with sufficient shading/crowding you will notice fewer and fewer weeds, since they just can't thrive or find the room to exist in crowded, shady conditions. Here in the desert I actually use the weeds initially to my advantage, as they offer quick, hot-season shade to small, unestablished plants until they can get their mojo, in the furnace known here as summer. And also...when you do weed, make sure you don't just chop the tops with a weed-whacker or similar (which only gets them to establish more deeply)...water in advance to moisten the soil, then get each weed out fully with the roots and definitely do it before they go to seed!

[Harry’s Palms]

Pulling weeds is a year round chore here in Southern California . My palms are watered frequently and by hand ,I only use sprinklers on my hill. The last two years have been above average rainfall so the weeds have been relentless , especially in Spring. I have pebbles for ground cover and wood chips around my palms . My ritual is to water thoroughly the evening prior to weed pulling . I try to get them before they flower and mostly able to get the roots. I’m in the garden a lot so I pull the odd weed whenever I see it . I carry a bucket with me when I’m gardening to put the weeds in , then dump in the yard waste can. It is a constant part of my garden ritual . I get down on my hands and knees and reach around looking for baby weeds and sometimes a tool to help so I get the roots . To me it is meditative . Just be respectful of the wee folks as Mum would say . They like their privacy. Harry

[Pankaj Rajpali]

You’re right—fertilizing your palms and ixora can also feed the weeds, which can make it feel like a never-ending battle! Here are a few tips to help manage weeds while keeping your plants healthy:

1. Mulching: A good layer of organic mulch (about 2-3 inches thick) can help suppress weed growth by blocking sunlight and making it harder for weeds to take root. Mulch also helps retain moisture and maintain soil temperature, benefiting your palms and ixora. Just be sure to keep the mulch a few inches away from the base of your plants to prevent rot.

2. Pre-emergent Herbicides: Using a pre-emergent herbicide in early spring can prevent weed seeds from germinating without affecting your established plants. Look for products that are safe for use around palms and acid-loving plants like ixora.

3. Manual Removal: Hand-pulling weeds before they flower and set seeds can prevent them from spreading. It’s best to pull weeds after watering or rain when the soil is soft.

4. Targeted Fertilization: You can try applying fertilizer more directly to the base of your plants, avoiding the surrounding areas where weeds might benefit from it. Slow-release fertilizers can also reduce the risk of feeding weeds too much.

5. Weed Barriers: Installing a weed barrier fabric under your mulch can further reduce weed growth, although you’ll need to make sure water and nutrients still penetrate the soil for your palms and ixora.

Unfortunately, some fertilizer will always benefit weeds, but with these strategies, you should be able to reduce their impact and help your palms and shrubs thrive!

Good luck, and don’t give up—it’s all part of the gardening journey!

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 9/18/2024 at 6:46 PM, Pankaj Rajpali said:

You’re right—fertilizing your palms and ixora can also feed the weeds, which can make it feel like a never-ending battle! Here are a few tips to help manage weeds while keeping your plants healthy:

1. Mulching: A good layer of organic mulch (about 2-3 inches thick) can help suppress weed growth by blocking sunlight and making it harder for weeds to take root. Mulch also helps retain moisture and maintain soil temperature, benefiting your palms and ixora. Just be sure to keep the mulch a few inches away from the base of your plants to prevent rot.

2. Pre-emergent Herbicides: Using a pre-emergent herbicide in early spring can prevent weed seeds from germinating without affecting your established plants. Look for products that are safe for use around palms and acid-loving plants like ixora.

3. Manual Removal: Hand-pulling weeds before they flower and set seeds can prevent them from spreading. It’s best to pull weeds after watering or rain when the soil is soft.

4. Targeted Fertilization: You can try applying fertilizer more directly to the base of your plants, avoiding the surrounding areas where weeds might benefit from it. Slow-release fertilizers can also reduce the risk of feeding weeds too much.

5. Weed Barriers: Installing a weed barrier fabric under your mulch can further reduce weed growth, although you’ll need to make sure water and nutrients still penetrate the soil for your palms and ixora.

Unfortunately, some fertilizer will always benefit weeds, but with these strategies, you should be able to reduce their impact and help your palms and shrubs thrive!

Good luck, and don’t give up—it’s all part of the gardening journey!

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A few things with this advise:

** Weeds will grow through applied Mulch ( Is a great place for seeds to settle in ) ..and even gravel / stone..

** Many pre emergent herbicides have a shelf life esp. in areas where it rains a lot -like FL.  Also ruin the microflora in soil.

** Weed fabric / " barrier "  is the biggest waste of time and $$$$$ on the planet ..doesn't stop weeds from growing through it either.. Deterioration results in plastic pollution.

** Roots of plants extend well beyond the " base " of a plant. Have to apply the fertilizer where the roots are  -if you want the plants to access it.

** Dumping fertilizer near the base of some plants can kill them too.  Plants will only utilize whatever they need at a given time.  Once fed, rest of the nutrient content not utilized by the plants is wasted ..Which pollutes groundwater supplies.






Manual pulling, canopy shading, ( though some weeds ..like Yellow, and / or Purple Nutsedge... LOVE shady places too ) ..and accepting that some weeds will always be present are the only things one can do to keep 'em in check.

With the above mentioned Nutsedges, unfortunately, this is one of those buggers where the only guaranteed way to really knock that stuff out is with careful target spraying with a sedge - specific product like SedgeHammer,  ..and only once every 3rd year.  Not advisable to use it yearly.. 

More often than not, trying to remove established clumps of that stuff manually will result in it spreading around more. 

..Next to Bermuda Grass, and Bermuda Buttercup ( Oxalis pes- caprae,  in California )   Nutsedges  are a real PITA to get rid of.

[Merlyn]

Deep mulch definitely helps, but some weeds love to grow on top of it.  Grasses particularly like to grow on the top surface and root through it.  Pulling weeds through the mulch then breaks the "sanitizing layer" and mixes dirt with mulch = weed food!  Artillery fern can only be killed off by stuff like 2,4-D...I have tried doing it manually with no success.  You always miss one little artillery shell, and then 2 weeks later there's a whole new crop.  I had nutsedge pop up in about a 50 square foot mulched but not planted area, and one hit with Glyphosate + Dawn mix and they all died and didn't resprout.  I have about 22,000 square feet of mulched bed area, and gave up on trying to hand weed it all.  If it were just a few small beds around palms....no problem.  I hand weeded the entire yard back in 2020.  It took 4 solid days nonstop, 10 hours per day.  In my log I then went back through with Glyphosate + Dawn exactly 1 month later because there was a whole crop of new weeds that had sprouted up to take their place.  If I had to rely only on hand weeding I would not have a palm forest.  I would have a big wide open grass lawn with 2 or 3 palms in little round beds with a couple of flowers.  A couple of things that help:

• If you see a new weed to your yard, kill it asap by any means necessary.  Don't let a new invader become established.
• Cut your lawn often and relatively short, and kill off weeds in it with your preferred selective herbicide.  I use 2,4-D or generic weed-and-feed.  I found that a *lot* of my problems were along the edge of beds.  That's partially because it is sunny at the edges, but also because weeds would get started near the edge and in the edger blocks, and I'd fling seeds around when weedwhacking the border.
• Get a pre-emptive kill on the first spring round of weeds.  A lot of them show up all at once in April or May.  If you get the fresh sprouts before they get a chance to seed, you'll have a lot less fighting over the summer.

[Beachsider]

Wow! Thank you all so much. My canopy is coming together. But still has a lot of maturing to do. I can’t tell you all how much I appreciate this advice. Thank you for taking the time and providing so much detail and specifics.