Learn / Ask The Landscape Professional
Linda...I would not even open the newspaper if it did not contain your articles. Thank you for all your information and advice! Earlier this year you posted an article on Knotweed and I agree completely. This is horrible stuff. I've literally spent weeks manually digging up each individual one, on 1-1/2 acres. The Knotweed just takes over and kills everything in its path. But, progress was achieved after all that labor! To remove Knotweed, I use a big, flat-blade screwdriver for individual scattered ones. For groups/clusters, I use a pitch fork to loosen the entire group and they pull out easily - then tamp the ground with my boot. After I removed the Knotweed, in the late spring after we had gotten some rain, I used a weed and feed product. The combination of removing Knotweed and adding the fertilizer has shown remarkable results. I know you don't approve of weed and feed, but it worked for me. To remove Knotweed, it required me to be on my hands and knees and the one danger is catching Lyme Disease. I recommend using a spray, like Deep Woods Off, on footwear, pant legs, and arms. Ray A., Salem
Answer
Ray - thank you so much for the feedback and
congratulations on your success with the Knotweed
removal. Regarding weed and feed products, there are
several reasons that I don't recommend using any of them.
They are a combination of herbicides and fertilizers which
are intended to kill both weeds and fertilize grass in one
"easy" application. There are many on the market, but they
all contain toxic chemicals that are
poisonous to a wide range of living things, including you!
In addition to the toxins listed on the
label, the "inert" or "inactive" ingredients in the bag
can often be worse. Children and pets that
play or crawl on lawns treated with weed and feed
products can easily absorb the toxins through
their skin or by licking their fingers (or paws).
Both pets and people track them into the house. In
Canada, all combination weed and feed products
have been banned. When you use weed and
feed products you are applying herbicides and
toxins over the entire lawn where they are not
needed. The combination of fertilizer and
herbicides in one bag puts two incompatible products
together. Fertilizer is intended for the entire
lawn and herbicides are intended to kill weeds that
may only be on 5% of the lawn, but get
spread on the entire lawn anyway, spreading completely
unnecessary toxic chemicals. A good organic
fertilizer is the way to go.
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About Linda Lillie
Linda K. Lillie is the President of Sprigs & Twigs, Inc, the premier
landscape design and maintenance, tree care, lawn care, stonework, and carpentry
service provider in southeastern Connecticut since 1997. She is a graduate of
Connecticut College in Botany, a Connecticut Master Gardener and a national
award winning landscape designer for her landscape design and landscape installation work.
