Show #33/1307. Reeves Reed Arboretum

Noxious Weeds

In addition to invasives there are other unwelcome plants in the garden. Particularly problematic are noxious weeds such as Poison Hemlock and Poison Ivy. A noxious weed is a plant that can cause you physical harm. One should eradicate these from the garden however possible. When it comes to eradicating noxious weeds there are 3 ways ways to eradicate them. 1st is physical control. Simply reaching over and physically pulling the plant out is 1 way. When doing this make sure to get all the root system, or as much of the root system as possible. 2nd is mechanical, use a hoe or a weed wacker. Same thing, make sure to get all or as much of the root system as possible. The 3rd and last line of defense is the use of chemicals. Poison Ivy causes dermatitis and the method of control is the use of a contact herbicide. Simply spray with a little Round Up. It will kill the plant in 3-5 days. There are other plants that are appropriately treated with chemicals. Plants that spread by rhizomes, typically Mugwort and Thistle, need to be controlled this way because if you simply pull them they will continue to spread through rhizomes. Thus they need to be sprayed well with a contact herbicide at a controlled strength. The herbicide is non-selective thus if it gets on anything else it will kill that as well. So, keep it on target and a good time to spray is early in the morning when it's very calm.