I live in Riverside, California (about 60 miles east of Los Angeles).
My garden is loaded with Senecio vulgaris (common groundsel) and Euphorbia peplus (petty spurge).
When hand-weeding, what's the best way to make sure I pull ALL of the weeds ("ROOTS AND ALL").
After weeding, what can I apply to prevent these weeds from re- emerging? (Preen Weed Preventer doesn't work)
I am no friend of garden chemicals, but -- depending on the size of the garden -- you might want to apply some (shudder) RoundUp.
RU has to be applied TO THE PLANT, as it works down through the leaves, stem, etc. Follow the directions METICULOUSLY, including watering well BEFORE applying RU.
If you choose to go another way, I'm afraid there is no choice but digging, not hand-weeding. The latter almost never gets the roots. Again, if the soil is very dry, you might want to water, then get out the shovel and dig down, down, down.
Somebody else can probably advise you on preventing re-emergence. Some say that not even prayer helps.
HB
If you
I'm not familiar with groundsel.
I weed with a paring knife, which I use to cut the roots of a weed. When I pull a weed, I check to make sure that what I pulled includes at least some root. Very few weeds can resprout from a fragment of a root. This works on spotted spurge (Euphorba maculata), so it should also work on E. peplus.
The problem with spurge is that a new plant sets and drops seeds almost before you can see it. I use a thick mulch of leaves in beds that do not have a vigorous ground cover. This reduces (but does not prevent) the ability of the seeds to sprout and form new plants.
By the time you see enough of spurge to spray it, it has already dropped seeds. RoundUp works only on growing plants, not on seeds.
In message , GARY writes
Groundsel and petty spurge are annuals. Both are relatively easily pulled, though the latter sometimes breaks off at the base of the stem.
Grasp at the base of the stem.
If the beds are clear enough of other plants, the use of a hoe will discourage new seedlings from establishing.
grab them at the base and pull gently until the root lets go, if the stem breaks you are pulling too fast. Practice will tell you how much pressure to use with each plant and your soil.
For heavy soil and plants with taproots, such as Oxalis corniculata, you can loosen the soil with a three pronged hand mattock before trying to pull them. Avoid turning the soil, you will expose more weed seeds.
Try other kinds of pre-emergent read the label for kinds of plants that are controlled or use mulch
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