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www.thelandonline.com — “Where Farm and Family Meet”
THE LAND — JUNE 12/JUNE 19, 2020
Keeping plant pests out of lawns requires care, patience Creeping Charlie is a low growing When our lawns green up, weeds also plant with little round leaves and tiny appear. purple flowers in the spring and likes Dandelions feed pollinators, meaning moist shaded areas. Some gardeners tolbees and butterflies, because these plants erate it and others intensely dislike it. It are rich in pollen and nectar, so some does not contain much nectar or pollen to gardeners allow them to grow. However, feed pollinators. one website stated that dandelions are GREEN AND Creeping bellflower is a plant that will the second choice for pollinators to visit. GROWING grow a foot or more tall with lilac colored In other words, pollinators will land on blooms that hang downward. At first dandelions only if better sources of food By Linda G. Tenneson glance it appears to be nice to look at. are not available. The dandelion’s bright However, I made the mistake of letting it grow and yellow color and serrated leaves stick out on our lawns and most of us prefer to grow other flowers to now regret it. Creeping bellflower spreads by underground rhizomes. Even if it is mowed regularly and feed pollinators. Digging dandelions up with a garnot allowed to bloom, it still spreads. Its wide leaves den knife will remove their tops and slow these are very noticeable in a lawn. There are other kinds plants down, but unless their long tap roots are of bellflowers from the Campanula family that removed, they will return. behave better, such as Canterbury Bells. White clover spreads by above ground runners and is sometimes grown to feed livestock. It does provide some food for pollinators, blooming all summer long. White clover While white clover can be removed by hand pulling the plants, the seeds will survive, so new plants must be removed each year. Maintaining a healthy, wellfertilized lawn will help the desired grass to crowd out white clover. Creeping bellflower
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apply a pre-emergent chemical in the spring to prevent it from getting started in the first place. Quack grass is another pest that spreads by underground rhizomes that can grow six to eight feet long. Quack grass Neither crabgrass nor quack grass have noticeable blooms in the lawn; but because the width of their leaves are so different from the usual lawn grasses, they are considered unsightly. All these plants are difficult to remove by hand means and any tiny bit of root left in the ground may grow to produce a new plant. Repeated hand digging, covering the ground with a tarp for several weeks to kill all vegetation or a chemical application are required to eradicate these irritants. If herbicides are used to eradicate them, gardeners must by law read the chemical container labels for both the correct application method and the Crabgrass safety directions. Gloves, long sleeves and pants; Individual crabgrass plants were apparently plus closed heel and toe shoes will help keep these named because of their resemblance to crabs. While chemicals from becoming skin irritants. Sprayed it technically has a flowering stalk, it is the wide chemicals should be applied on days with no wind spreading green leaves that are most noticeable and to prevent damage to desired plants. objectionable in a lawn. Like other weeds, it may be Linda G. Tenneson is a University of Minnesota removed by hand and as an annual will not return master gardener and tree care advisor. v in the same year, but it is less labor-intensive to
www.TheLandOnline.com Nothing so peaceful as a barn and cattle DEEP ROOTS, from pg. 5 waited to be milked. I would be armed with a stiff long-bristled broom, whose handle would tower above me as I swept feed into the mangers. Time had worn the manger with a mixture of acidic silage and licking by sandpaper-like tongues. Repairs were attempted with a smooth green epoxy liner. In 1991, my aunt and uncle sold their herd. I was only six years old; and still, the memories are as if it were yesterday. As an adult, raising my own feeder cattle, I find there is nothing quite as peaceful as a barn full of cattle in the mid-afternoon. The chores are done,
the cattle have eaten, and an afternoon of ruminating is the only thing on the agenda. The barn is quiet and all is at rest. I usually find myself lingering in the barn during those hours, watching my cattle. As I watch the cattle calmly lying in their deep bed of cornstalks, chewing their cud, eyes only half opened, I breathe deeply — soaking in the peaceful atmosphere. I don’t believe there is a more pure form of peace than the peace which is given by the Creator to the caretaker in these quiet moments. Whitney Nesse is a sixth-generation livestock farmer who is deeply rooted in her faith and family. She writes from her central Minnesota farm. v
