Weeds
Weed Control in Weston Super Mare
Weeds
Meet the weeds
'know your enemy' is the watchword in war, and it works in the battle against weeds
Seasons of growth
Weeding is a three-season occupation because weed seeds sprout at various times of the year. It's interesting but not essential to know which weeds tailor their growing cycles to which season. Some experts classify weeds into two broad categories: 'warm season', for weeds which sprout in spring and summer and flower summer to autumn; and 'cool seasons', for weeds which germinate from autumn to early spring, then grow and flower quickly in spring.
Other sources save these categories to apply only to annual weeds, calling them 'cool-season annuals' or 'warm-season annuals', since biennial and perennial weeds are usually evident at least three seasons of the year. The terminology isn't nearly as important as a basic awareness that there are two main seasons when weeds appear: autumn to early spring and spring to summer. As always, the most important anti-weed rule is to get them out before they set seed or spread rampant roots.
The flush of green seedlings that arise in autumn through late winter are the start of the cool-season weeds, which sprout when the soil is chillier than 15deg-C. when the air warms up, cool-season annual weeds like henbit, purple dead nettle and chickweed take off like a rocket, hurrying to bloom and set seed before heat does them in. dandelions, clover and other perennials whose blooms peaks in spring may also be considered cool-season weeds, of the perennial persuasion.
In late spring through summer, the warm-season weeds come into their own. Now the soil is filled with seedlings of crabgrass, bristle-grass and purslane, which germinate when the soil warms to above 15deg-C. Because garden plants are sprouting or growing at the same time.