Why so many weeds (5352)

Bugs come and bugs go but weeds are always with us. Ask any gardener and they'll tell you that they spend more time and effort managing weeds than insects and diseases combined. So, let's take a look and this class of pests and pay special attention to one group of weeds, the perennials, since late summer and early fall is a good time to control them.

Just as we classify our favorite desirable plants by their life cycle (annual, biennial and perennial), weed scientists do the same for weeds. Perennials, of course, are plants that survive more than two years with the help of some kind of vegetative survival structure….roots, rhizomes, stolons, bulbs, tubers or woody stems. Ok, let's get specific…dandelion has a taproot, Canada thistle and quackgrass have rhizomes, ground ivy has stolons, wild garlic has bulbs, yellow nutsedge has tubers and poison ivy has woody stems. Have we named some plants you are familiar with? Hey, we've even got kudzu in northern Bucks County.

For more information, please see this Penn State Bucks County page

Penn State Horticulture Department

Penn State Weed Management

For more information on this subject, Please visit the College of Agricultural Sciences Publications Web site.

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