In preparing the raised beds this spring (they are not bordered with wood; just piled high) we've discovered a really awful weed. I'll try to describe the situation well. It appears to be a clover, but its root is very thick and fibrous -- almost woody -- and varies in color from pale yellow to green to brown. It appears to have been quite busy over the fall and winter. I don't till, but I'm not sure that would be helpful anyway, as it roots wherever one of its little root sections (I'm no botanist, but they look like little joints) touches. I have pulled out what I can, but there is no way I'm getting it all. The garden soil is very rich, but not very fine (lots of little roots, twigs, etc.) Is there any hope in a using a heavy mulch like cardboard or just planter's paper (black paper), or in "cooking" the beds under black plastic for three weeks or so? I'm really depressed: this seems like an extremely nasty weed.
Big weed problem, ugh.
Here's a pic of the root. I don't have any of the clover-ish leaf because I pulled yesterday and they're all shriveled.
It is evil.
Oxalis -- either conriculata or stricta. Can't really remember the differences between the two, but they're both commonly found in containers and are pure unadultrated evil in the garden. Not sure if solarization would work, but if you've got the time, it might be worth a shot. I just keep pulling it.
I am going to hunt down the man who sold me this "great mulch straw" and smack him upside the head with a handful of this stuff.
Thanks, MaryMD7. Going by the latin, I'm guessing I've got corniculata.
This message was edited Mar 17, 2006 12:13 PM
This message was edited Mar 17, 2006 12:15 PM
Oh gosh ! Did it come with the straw used for mulch ? I mulched with straw this year too, and I notice I have all these green weeds starting to shoot up in the garden. I hope it's not the same nasty weed you describe.
Oxalis is a real pest. It's in all my growing containers and spotty in the garden itself. It drives me crazy because, as you've found out, when you try to pull it out, it just breaks off at the soil line. It also has the very nasty habit of prolifically reseeding. You might try raking the beds to drag out as many of the roots as you can. Not with a leaf rake but the other kind, don't know what you call those rakes.
Garden rake, right?
From what I've read, oxalis is best smothered or mulched out. It looks like my raised beds aren't the worst place to have them, as the soil's so soft the weeds pull out easily. They just take a lot with them, so it's best to pull before the plants or seeds go in. Most of it I am going to cover with thick wet newspaper and then grass clippings or (oxalis-free) straw, leaving only the seed or plant spot free of mulch.
peggie, you'll know if it's oxalis if it takes ten clumps of soil with it when you pull, and the roots look like the ones above. I sure hope it's not.
For what it's worth, I think it's far more likely that the oxalis hitchhiked in a container with some nursery plant than in a bale of straw.
I often get some sprouting from straw -- odd bits of oats or rye sprouting. No big deal. I just pull it as I go. Hay on the other hand, is a seedy nightmare.
Zeppy--I do the wet newspapers in my "problem child" areas and it works really good. Just wish (sometimes) the newspapers decomposed faster--kind of a fine line with me; enough to smother the weeds but will break down good in a year.
I've thought of shredding the newspaper...ever tried that? As you well know from the other forums--I am the self-annoited mulch queen. LOL I wish all my problems in life could be solved by more bat guano and more mulch!
Debbie
How did you guess I want a paper shredder???
I'm sure you know this, but bat guano is also really good for chucking at annoying people. So maybe it really is the answer to all life's problems. (Well, as soon as it can be used for automobile fuel.)
ok, where can i find bats? the tank in the escort is at the ¼ level, and i have persons needing a coat or two.
Yoo hoo, Batman ! Count me in.
Guys: they sell bat guano in little white tubs with pails at the privately owned garden centers. Its an organic fertilizer. A little bit in a transplanting hole goes a long way. I work usually over 50 hrs a week and definitely don't have time to chase bats or go where they live.
Zeppy-I found a "paper cutter" at a school supply store really a lot more economical than a paper shredder--will handle large quantities at once and, of course its not electric, so you can take it into garden and cleans up easy. Mine was less than $20; check out a teacher supply store.
Debbie
Go to Freecycle.com and sign up for your area and request a shredder.
Watch sales from the discount and office supply stores
Go to a used office furniture dealer - when they clear out offices they get everything
We have a little one at home in the office and 2 trashcans. 1 is for non shreddables and one is for compostable paper. Every once in a while I take it out and put it in the compost pile.
But by far the easist thing to do is drop by any office of a business and ask for their bags of shredded paper. I've hauled out carloads just for the asking. If you go to the janitorial service of an office building they pick them up all night long and might give them to you
Zeppy... u do not need a shredder. take 12 pages of newspaper, lay on the ground. secure with bricks on all 4 corners, wet thoroughly. or use cardboard box.
i did this process on weedy area in the garden. so far, no more weeds showing. good luck
http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p2301.htm
I did that, then our crazy wind came along and dried it all up and blew it all away. I didn't put bricks on it though, I just sparsely covered it with garden soil........thinking that would do the trick. Blew all the soil off, then blew the whole mess away. The wind and grass fire danger has been a real thorn in the side. I'll try again. LOL