Pulling weeds seems to be a job that never ends. And it might be that way, but an unweeded landscape looks out of control and unmaintained. Fall weeding is a good project to help to lessen the weed pressure for the coming spring season.
Now you are probably thinking that why don’t I wait until the first frost, the weeds will die and my landscape will be weed free. It seems simple enough. And it is true to some extent; your landscape for the fall will be less weed filled. However, next spring those weeds that you thought died will come back and take over your landscape the first chance that they get.
There are three type of plants, including weeds:
- Annuals: annuals live for one year or less. There are summer annuals and winter annuals. Summer annuals sprout in the spring and die by the winter. Winter annuals sprout in the fall and die by the next summer. The tops to winter annuals will die back over the winter and regenerate in the spring on their established root system.
- Biennials: biennials live for more than a year, but not more than two years. Biennials take two growing seasons to complete their life cycle, including the top dieing off over the winter, but leaving the roots intact.
- Perennials: perennials live for more than two years.
The weeds that we are looking to maintain for the coming spring are all three, winter annuals, biennials, and perennials. They will all come back in the spring on their already established root system and take over your landscape at a very quick pace. Now if some fall weeding is done, this can help to lessen the weed pressure in the spring, and make your entire landscape look its best with less effort next year.