[APWG] Weed thatch to kill weeds, 99.997% kill in 60 days

[Wayne Tyson]

APWG:

How many people on this list consider a figure of 99.997 percent valid in any vegetation survey?

WT

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: craig at astreet.com 
  To: apwg at lists.plantconservation.org ; craig at astreet.com 
  Sent: Friday, July 26, 2013 9:51 AM
  Subject: [APWG] Weed thatch to kill weeds, 99.997% kill in 60 days




  Dear All,

  Update on the Arastradero poppy project, that you can see at http://www.ecoseeds.com/arastradero.html happening here in the Palo Alto, California  hills.

  Starting Phase 2, and found that about one pound of weed straw per square foot, harvested after the seeds have shed, will kill all of the annual weed seedlings between October and December 31.    Then you have a clean spot to plant the natives from January 1 to February.  

  A few dormant straggler weed seedlings will come up periodically, but it is a lot better than the 2,000 weed seedlings per square foot that were coming up before the weed straw treatment.

  In California, instead of cutting and removing the weed straw from a site, which is how weeding has been done for decades, I am suggesting that you wait for the seeds to drop, and then use the straw to kill the next generation of seedlings.  I look at hillsides of wild oats and thistles as 24K gold now, free weed killers.

  It is about a 5 to 1 ratio in terms of area of straw that needs to be cut, to cover an area to kill the seedlings.  Hope this is useful to those of us who have wall-to-wall annual weed seedlings to manage, like California, the Great Basin, etc.

  Since my project is in a city preserve, and located right next to the parking lot, everyone is invited to come and view the results, if you are ever in the area. 

  Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333



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