Neighbor News
Weeds Everywhere? Kill 'em All or Pick and Choose Your Battles?
Learn about weeds in your lawn and garden. How to identify which are weeds, which do you actually need to control, and how to control them.
Weeds are popping up all over right now, but do you need to do something about all of them, or pick and choose your battles?
Is this actually a weed? Your first step is to identify your mystery plant. You can browse the HGIC weed galleries and find photos, info, and control suggestions for a large collection of weeds common in Maryland. If you are still stumped, send a picture of it into our Ask the Experts consultants and we'll check it out.
Find out what's happening in Columbiafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Herbicides are the nuclear option. Plenty of weeds can be taken care of by picking, pulling, hoeing, and mowing. It's not the end of the world to have a few weeds hanging around. Herbicides should be used as a last resort and as sparingly as possible in order to minimize collateral friendly plant damage, and negative effects on our local environment. View our information on herbicides and weed control.
Definitely do something about invasive species. Invasive plants cause damage by their displacement of more desirable plants. They show up in overwhelming quantities in our lawns, gardens,natural areas, pastures, woodland areas, and agricultural fields. If you let them do their thing too long, you'll have an uphill battle next season. Video series - Invasive Plants of Maryland
