Controlling weeds at The Tropical Paradise

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A healthy garden is also a welcoming place for weeds. Weeds are, of course, just plants out of place, so you have to decide what is, and what isn't, a weed. It's your garden, so it's up to you to decide. A garden is, by definition, a piece of trained ground, so while weeds look great out in the wide-open spaces of Arizona, they look terrible, to me, here.

To control weeds, I do several things. The little olive seeds that sprout, I usually just bend over and pull out. The weeds that grow low to the ground and spread, I shoot with RoundUp®. I've tried using the large economy size, but I really prefer using the regular size and just keeping it handy. I walk around the garden like James Bond, or a first-person shooter in a video game, and just give the weeds a blast. Careful aim is important as RoundUp is taken in through the leaves. If you accidentally spray it on a plant that you don't want to die, you have ten (10) minutes to wash it off with plain water. After that, well, 007, you just need to practice your marksmanship!

I will also sprinkle a pre-emergent, such as Amaze, but as well as that works, there will always be weeds. Don't be tempted to use anything that gets into the soil, such as ground clear. Don't even think about that!

Weeds started growing at the base of this Mediterranean Palm, so I clipped a few fronds from the bottom, and shot the weeds. They will be gone by this time tomorrow, and their roots, which are not poisoned, will decay and become more compost, and food, for my garden plants.

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