{"id":7118,"date":"2019-11-29T18:06:08","date_gmt":"2019-11-30T02:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/?p=7118"},"modified":"2019-11-29T18:06:09","modified_gmt":"2019-11-30T02:06:09","slug":"easy-weeding-after-first-rain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/easy-weeding-after-first-rain\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy weeding after first rain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>There\u2019s this slice of time a few days to a few weeks after the year\u2019s first rain in Southern California when you can knock out thousands of weeds in minutes with a simple tool and little effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first rain falls &#8212; and by rain, I mean at least a half-inch, which we have all just now received &#8212; and it triggers the germination of the seeds of certain weeds that are commonly called \u201cwinter annuals.\u201d These are grasses like <a href=\"http:\/\/ipm.ucanr.edu\/PMG\/WEEDS\/ripgut_brome.html\">brome<\/a>, and others like <a href=\"http:\/\/ipm.ucanr.edu\/PMG\/WEEDS\/filarees.html\">filaree<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/ipm.ucanr.edu\/PMG\/WEEDS\/little_mallow.html\">mallow<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is full-grown brome:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/brome-weeds-in-February-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7120\" width=\"508\" height=\"381\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The weed seeds soak up the rain, start growing, and if you attack them as soon as they show their tiny green heads . . . it\u2019s just too easy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Reeve-weeding-with-stirrup-hoe-1024x769.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7124\" width=\"476\" height=\"357\"\/><figcaption>She can weed and hold Pooh Bear in her shirt at the same time!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>All you have to do is scrape their heads off. Kids can easily do this with a stirrup hoe or even a stick. You can also use a rake or spade or knife &#8212; anything that will scrape. You\u2019re not digging, just disturbing the uppermost surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contrast this with what would be needed to kill these same weeds in a month. The grasses would be tall and with extensive root systems. Mallow (also called cheeseweed) would have a tap root as tough as a rope. Removing these buggers would require different methods each, and it would require tons more work; it would tempt one to go for the herbicide option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a stitch in time saves nine, take a second tomorrow to have a close look for sprouts emerging from the dirt around the garden and quickly swipe them away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Miles-hoeing-844x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7123\" width=\"342\" height=\"414\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Miles-weedlings-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7122\" width=\"335\" height=\"446\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>My son picked up some of the weedlings he had hoed and asked if he should throw them in the trash. No need. They have no seeds, and they will shrivel in the sun over the next few days. Just leave them in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:76px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>You might also like to read my posts:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/how-to-outsmart-garden-weeds\/\">How to outsmart garden weeds<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/before-killing-it-name-that-weed\/\">Before killing it, name that weed<\/a><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There\u2019s this slice of time a few days to a few weeks after the year\u2019s first rain in Southern California when you can knock out thousands of weeds in minutes with a simple tool and little effort. The first rain falls &#8212; and by rain, I mean at least a half-inch, which we have all [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[54],"class_list":["post-7118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-weeds"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Easy weeding after first rain - Greg Alder&#039;s Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A timely session of weeding the garden a few days to a few weeks after the year\u2019s first rain in Southern California saves a lot of time.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/easy-weeding-after-first-rain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Easy weeding after first rain - Greg Alder&#039;s Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A timely session of weeding the garden a few days to a few weeks after the year\u2019s first rain in Southern California saves a lot of time.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/easy-weeding-after-first-rain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Greg Alder&#039;s Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-30T02:06:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-30T02:06:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/easy-weed-after-first-rain.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Greg Alder\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Greg Alder\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/easy-weeding-after-first-rain\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/easy-weeding-after-first-rain\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Greg Alder\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/#\/schema\/person\/7c17362732023b01ed23dc69d6fa703a\"},\"headline\":\"Easy weeding after first rain\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-30T02:06:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-30T02:06:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/easy-weeding-after-first-rain\/\"},\"wordCount\":345,\"commentCount\":5,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/#\/schema\/person\/7c17362732023b01ed23dc69d6fa703a\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/easy-weeding-after-first-rain\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/easy-weed-after-first-rain.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"weeds\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Misc\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/easy-weeding-after-first-rain\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/easy-weeding-after-first-rain\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/easy-weeding-after-first-rain\/\",\"name\":\"Easy weeding after first rain - 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