5 stars
A fair and open-minded look at the various methods for
controlling weeds and pests in the garden.
I found this to be a very clear-eyed look at what we’re
putting on our soil and plants. From the title, you might think this book is
some sort of expose on organic gardening practices. That is not the case.
Gillman is a big proponent of organic methods. However, not all organic
practices a) actually work, or b) are harmless to the environment. While many
of the synthetic products work very well, there are generally big drawbacks
when it comes to how they effect the ecosystems in which we live.
Gillman is (or was—it’s 11 years old) an associate professor
of horticultural science at the University of Minnesota. All of that to say
that he has had experience either using or studying all of the products and
methods he covers in this book. In the book, he goes through several types of
weed and pest control methods, and as the subtitle suggests, comes up with
benefits, drawbacks, and a bottom line for each. He discusses what each is made
of, how effective they are at what they claim to do, and the effect they might
have on beneficial plants, bugs, and the health of the soil. He backs up what
he says with research. He even includes several methods that would fall into
the realm of “old wives tales.”
I would call myself MOSTLY an organic gardener. As a general
rule, I reach first for my weeding fork and gloves when confronted with
problems in my flowerbeds. I am a fan of compost and mulch. I don’t want to
worry about my kiddos getting poisoned from playing on the lawn or eating
unwashed vegetables out of our garden.
However, there are some situations where I am ready to admit
defeat! My back corner flowerbed is so full of bindweed that it’s about to
choke out everything else. I weeded that bed so many times last summer!
(Bindweed laughs at weeding. It THRIVES on weeding!) Every time I planted
something back there, I sifted through the dirt to get out every tiny scrap of
bindweed root I could find. It helped—in that one spot—for about 3 weeks. Then
the bindweed was back, bigger and bushier than ever.
In other situations, I have removed everything I wanted to
save from a flowerbed, dug out all the weeds, and then put all my good stuff
back in. That’s not going to work with bindweed. It’s roots can go down 10
feet. ANY piece of root that gets left in the ground can grow a new vine.
If you let it flower and go to seed, good luck to you. I admit, I’m feeling
rather desperate. Letting the bindweed win is not an option! I don’t have the
time in the summer to weed that flowerbed on a bi-weekly basis to stay on top
of it.
So what’s a mostly organic gardener to do? If I go over to
the Dark Side and pick up that RoundUp bottle, how bad is it going to be? This
is such a hot-button issue these days, that it’s difficult to get advice from
other people without stirring up a big argument. It can be hard to sift through
passionate opinions to get to facts.
This is the point where I got out this book. Gillman spells
it out. You have to be very careful in its application (I knew that), because
it kills ANY plant it touches. However, used sparingly and in accordance with
the directions, it’s a lesser evil in the world of weed killers. It is very
effective. Residues stay in the soil for about 3 weeks.
Really, I think I can live with that. I plan to either put
it on a sponge (wearing gloves, of course), and give each weed the swipe of
death, or pull the bindweed up into a cut-off milk jug to spray it, in hopes of
limiting the overspray.
While I had the book out, I also looked up neem oil (helpful
for aphids on fruit trees) and the entire section on keeping out deer. Reading
those chapters helped me remember to add “dormant oil” to my business shopping
list, so there you go. Winner.
This is one I’m glad I have on my shelf at home as a
reference.
No comments:
Post a Comment