Battling weeds

What is the difference between a weed eater and a flame thrower? Apparently not much if you watch the activity in The Neighbor’s yard.

I tried to think of a bunch of smart answers to the above question: considering visits to the emergency room with an ankle gash versus third degree burns, wearing long pants and boots versus an asbestos suit; well, you get the idea. And then I began to wonder where that wonderful invention of the weed eater originated and mainly, why I didn’t think of it first.

When you’re my age and you think back to 1972 it doesn’t seem that long ago, but in reality 41 years is a bit of a while. That’s when George Ballas invented the weed eater down in Houston, Texas. Seems ol’ George had time to do a little thinking while he was running his car through the automated car wash one day and he became intrigued with the spinning brushes that could clean your car from stem to stern with nary a scratch. That phenomenon, paired with his total dislike of getting down on his hands and knees to hand trim the weeds in his yard, gave birth to a little invention that would eventually become a household name and set George up with a nice, tidy retirement fund.

The prototype for our modern weed eater was made by adhering the bottom of a tin popcorn can with radio wire attached to a wheeled edge trimmer. An experienced machinist George had working for him helped finalize the design of the new implement and the rest is history.

Thanks to George, we no longer have to worry about attacks from snakes or rodents or other assorted wildlife when we trim the weeds in the yard. ‘Course, if you live next door to The Neighbor, you might want to keep the number to the fire department handy. I will say, though, that the trees in his yard are completely weed, ivy and poison oak-free around the bottom.

Basically, here are the rules. A weed is any plant – even a pretty one – that grows where it is unwanted. They can be annuals or biennials, reproduce by seeds or roots and stems. There are lots of ways to prevent them in the first place, if you are devoted and persistent enough:

Shade them out. Weed seeds, just like desirable plant seeds, need light germinate. To shade the soil around the good plants, keep it covered with organic mulch, black plastic or paper mulch, or layers of wet newspapers.

Don’t let soil remain bare for any length of time. Weeds will move right in if you do.

Don’t mow too short. Letting grass grow to the recommended height will shade out the weeds.

Take it all. When you have to resort to digging up a weed with a dandelion digger or a hoe or other such tool, be sure to remove any part of the weed that can regenerate. They are like little aliens, that way. If there’s any part left in the ground, it seems it has the capacity to regrow a whole new plant.

Here’s a caution to bear in mind when working around trees and, in the process, give reluctant approval of The Neighbor’s tactics. A tree’s roots are concentrated underneath its canopy and it is unsafe to use herbicides there to kill weeds. Instead, remove the weeds manually and cover the soil with an organic mulch. Or just burn them out and call it a job well done.