Don’t let the WEEDS WIN!
S
pring is a great time of year. It’s when all the misery of winter and the “will it ever end” feeling starts to change to optimism about the season to come, and the hassles and triumphs that it will bring. I would have said challenges but, let’s be honest, that’s just a word that someone who was frightened of telling the truth used once in a meeting with a flip chart to get around a tricky subject he didn’t want to be too specific about. “Challenge” comes in the same category as other useless phrases that are banded about such as “moving forward” and “let’s run that one up the flagpole and see if it flies”. What does that actually mean? Who actually thought of those phrases? In the real world they have very little meaning. My guess is that they were conceived to give the vague impression that the person who uses them has a great use of vocabulary, and ended up using too many words, and getting over very little meaning. And what has this to do with weed control? Everything. If we cast our minds back to April 2007, all was well with the grass. The fertiliser was on,
topdressings had gone down, the weather was a little dry, but not enough to complain about. And then it all went wrong! Or, as our friend with the flip chart would have said “we were presented with precipitation related challenges due to continued climate unpredictability”. Or another way - we had the wettest summer months on record.
The wet conditions meant, in many cases, that travelling on fairways was not possible without causing rutting. This meant that treating weeds was simply not possible without causing damage to the turf surface. And this was if you weren’t submerged! Contrast this with the drought threats to irrigation put in place in the summer of 2006.
So, this year we have a problem saved
up from last year due to the never ending rain. The weeds that didn’t get treated will have thrived in the warm, moist conditions, especially the perennials such as daisies, dandelions, and plantains which will have stored up a tremendous supply of resources and, from which, they can emerge in early May. The old farming phrase “one year seeding seven years weeding” still applies but, at least with the help
of effective herbicides, we can chip a few years off the seven. Due to last year’s great growing conditions, many of the weeds coming through - the tough to control perennials - will be in good condition. To get good control of them more attention will need to be paid to the key aspects of selective weed control that contribute to the best overall result.
Planning
The process of successful weed control starts here. Make the conscious decision that you are going to do it and then commit to it. Dithering and debating whether to “go” or not will only favour the weeds, and give them longer to establish. If you didn’t get on and spray last year you can stake your mortgage on the fact that they will be coming up again this year, but in greater numbers. What to spray? When to spray? Who will do the spraying? Unless you are confident in your weed identification, and can match the weeds you have with the weeds controlled on a product label, you need to seek advice. Only BASIS qualified advisors that are on the professional register (
www.basisregistration.org.uk) can give advice on what products to use, so make sure you are getting the correct advice from a professional. Walk the course /
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