Re: Re: CULT: mulch/alfalfa and weed preventer

First I want to say, I'm not trying to criticize anyone here.  Just a
little steam coming out my ears, so I wanted to vent a bit.

I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to herbicides (even pre-emergents)
through years of having had many bad experiences.  I don't use any, ever,
for any reason.  I find that the labor it saves is not worth the headaches
I get later on.  I am perhaps on a bit of a high horse here, but it's sort
of a pet peeve of mine.

I have a crew at the botanic garden that wants to spray everything.  They
never want to just chop it out and be done with it.  The argument that they
are going to have to chop it out anyway, after they spend all that time
killing it, seems to fly right over their heads.

When used properly, herbicides can be a great labor saver.  However, the
unexpected side effects are frequent and often very bad.  Just a few things
that have happened (I'm not going to list all the product names, but they
are several, highest on the list are probably Roundup, 2-4D, and Preen).

A dead valuable Oak tree because an anti-weed freak living over 100 yards
away moved in and sterilized his property with massive repeat spraying.
Drift over a the botanic garden of pre-emergent being sprayed along a
nearby bicycle path - ditch right of way (disastrous to say the least, plus
it drifted over people visiting during operating hours and several got
sick). Weeds most wanted to be controlled rarely are (i.e. Bindweed,
Thistle, Elm, Salt Cedar, etc.).  Disgruntled employees "accidentally"
spraying valuable plant material (vandalism).  All bees in the area killed
for an entire season.  All butterflies in the area killed for several
seasons.  Butterflies in a free-flight butterfly exhibit killed (that
didn't go over well at all).  Floating tadpoles; floating fish; floating
ducks (not all at the same time, nor with the same chemical).  "Where are
all the Dragonflies?"  Dead Waterlilies and Lotus.  [The pond was never
sprayed, just weeds nearby.]  Dead yards, and even worse - rare native
plants, along sprayed highway right of ways (they used to mow - much better
- and cheaper!).  And so on, into the hundreds of examples.

So, I use a hoe and a shovel - it works just as well, but it is more time
consuming.

On the other hand - some would say I'm a hypocrite - I do use insecticides
(sparingly and only when "necessary").

Dave

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index