I think weeding is one of  the most hated garden tasks, but it doesn’t have to be that hard. One of my professors taught me to love weed science. (And yes there is a science behind. You can get doctorates studying weeds. So don’t feel dumb if you have a bad weed problem.) Give me a field full of weeds and I will conqueror. Or at least fight pretty hard.

So, your weeds have gotten away from you, where do you start? For starters, I usually consider starting over. A good weedwhacker can make the first dent, then come back with a tiller or herbicide. Spray it all down, till it under and do something else. If what I had before was weedy, it can easily become weedy again. If I did want to keep some plants the weeds are chocking,  just get rid of what you can see. Don’t worry about roots. If I started to worry about roots I might never get past the first couple of weeds. When the weeds start to come back, they are usually more manageable.

Here are also some good questions to ask:

• Why is the weed there?
• What conditions encourage growth of the weed?
• What will be there if we kill the weed?

I think you can choke out the weeds  or let the weeds choke out your plants. Here are some tips to make weeding a little easier:

• Weed early and hard.
• Use mulch. Any type of mulch helps. (Except low quality weed fabric. Hate that stuff.)
• Herbicides are useful. I’m all for using less chemicals, but herbicides can save hours in a week and they’re not as toxic as other pesticides.
• Use good tools.
• Plant something to take the place of the weed.

And if the battle seems lost, there’s usually two option. One,  accept the weeds. Bindweed will hardly every be eradicated. (50 yr seed life, and 10 feet deep roots, it’s not going anywhere). Tall fescue in kentucky bluegrass really doesn’t look that bad, provided your not a golf course superintendent. I wouldn’t leave five foot tall prickly lettuce, but weeds are always going to be there.

The second option: spray everything with glyphosate (round-up), and hope your weeds aren’t resistant. If they are, spray something else. Sure, it really isn’t the eco-friendly way to go. But I don’t think a large infestation of noxious weeds is either.