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

Dave,
	You are quite right about the dangers of chemicals and I applaud you for
mentioning them.  However, like Betty, there are times when I can't get it
all done.  I have been off this year and worked 6-10 hours a day every day
in the gardens since January 30th and still I can't keep up with it.  I have
permanent brown spots on my knees from crawling up and down the beds pulling
weeds.  I'm not much of a hand with a hoe, so I pull, and pull, and pull.
<G>
In an effort to keep everything up we very carefully use a pre-emergent in
the fall.  After the iris have been planted, and given time to get rooted,
we go through and do a quick weeding then put down the pre-emergent to get
us through the winter wheat / rye season.  Once the bindweed starts to grow
in the spring there is no sense in using a pre-emergent again because it has
no control over bindweed at all and pulling the bindweed breaks the barrier
of pre-emergent.  We spray our beds for grass with one of the selective
herbicides.  The bermuda grows like wildfire in my beds, I only wish it grew
so well in the lawn.  We also edge our beds with roundup in an attempt to
stop the bermuda from growing into them.  I am meticulous with my measuring
and am usually done with my spraying before most people have had a cup of
coffee in the morning, in an effort to spray while it is calm.
Chemicals in the hands of a careless person are a real hazard.  We lost 4
pine trees one year when the county sprayed around the telephone poles in
our area.  I replanted roses on the fence and they got those about 2 years
later.  Bottom line for me...chemicals, like everything else, should be used
with intelligence and care.

Dana

Dana Brown
AIS Region 17 Judges Training Chairperson
Director TBIS, ASI
AIS, ASI, MIS, RIS, SPIS, TBIS
Malevil Gardens
www.malevil-iris.com
Lubbock, TX
Zone 7 USDA, Zone 10 Sunset
DanaBrown@peoplepc.com



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-iris@hort.net [o*@hort.net]On Behalf Of
DFerguson@cabq.gov
Sent: Friday, July 09, 2004 1:56 PM
To: iris@hort.net
Subject: Re: [iris] 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

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