Weeds are 4-letter words

There are many types of annual poppies. The breadseed poppy is one of the easiest. It will reseed itself year after year and produces huge lavender blossoms followed by large seedpods. The name comes from how they’re used as a substitute for expensive nuts in making bread.

If your lawn doesn’t have weeds, you must be “growing” AstroTurf. My yard has plenty of weeds even though I’m always digging out those I can kill that way and spot spraying the rest.

Two of the most common annual weeds are crabgrass and something called Hairy Bittercress. This last one is easy to spot as it literally throws seeds when you go to pull it. The plant itself is small and grows like a rosette, close to the ground, then shoots up stalks which bloom and produce a large amount of seeds. Crabgrass plants are easy to identify as they have much coarser leaves than lawn grass. These can either be dug out or sprayed. Applying a pre-emergent in early spring will stop their seeds from germinating. Later in the summer, you’ll need to dig or spray them.

Then there are the common perennial weeds. Most of these require some diligence if you want to win that war. Black Medic looks like a clover with small yellow round flowers. It can get quite tall. Then there are the oxalis weeds. These have small round, clover type leaves. The one with green leaves is called Yellow Wood Sorrel, and has tiny yellow flowers. It is fairly easy to pull out.

And my personal nemesis: Creeping Wood sorrel. The leaves are a burgundy color and it also has small yellow blooms. This plant grows a deep taproot even when the plant is still tiny. You will need to dig down far enough to get the whole root or the plant will regrow. I’m sure none of you need help identifying dandelions.

There are others, but these seem to be the most common, at least for me. Keep in mind that weeds have many ways to spread their seeds. Most common are wind, birds, shoes and mowers. No wonder it’s so hard to keep ahead of them.

Mid-July is the cut off date for fertilizing things such as trees, shrubs, perennials and roses. Any feeding done now will produce new succulent growth which may not get a chance to harden off before winter. As for lawns, they only need one more application of fertilizer and that should be in September. Continue feeding annuals.

After those two hot spells in June, we have had a cooler than normal July. Most plants have enjoyed the cooler weather and have grown and bloomed better than ever. Hydrangeas have been especially nice this year with more blossoms than usual thanks to our mild winter.

For trees infested with aphids, remember the best plan is to pour a good dose of systemic around their bases in the spring. It’s too late to do that now, so if you have this problem just attack them with a nozzle shooting a strong spray of water. That will knock them out of the tree and they’ll be done for.

Continue dead heading those blooming perennials such as coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, gaillardia and coreopsis. These will bloom all summer for you as long as you don’t let them go to seed. In case you need further incentive, remember that most of these are very attractive to butterflies.

Now for some advice from a Ladybug: “An aphid a day keeps the bug spray away.”

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Elaine Cerny has gardened most of her life, starting in 4-H. She has belonged to garden clubs in three states and is currently serving as secretary for the River City Gardeners Club in Post Falls. Her column appears in The Press every other Sunday from early March until late October.