Welcoming the new year with winter weeding
As the light begins to return and the days get just a little longer and brighter, it’s hard to stay out of the garden. The soil is moist and crumbly, the heaps of autumn leaves are composting nicely, and buds are swelling everywhere we look. (You might have to look pretty closely, but they’re there.) It may be a little nippy out there, but once the soft Chinook starts to blow again, the air smells like spring.
However, underground, plant roots are busily delving and spreading. Soil that’s been frozen and thawed is open and airy and it’s also fragile and easily damaged. If soil gets compacted now, those questing roots won’t be able to do their job of nourishing and supporting your plants. If you’ve been doing your annual garden assessment, don’t start rearranging things quite yet. Give planting and transplanting another month; instead, find places to weed where you won’t be crushing your soil.
January is a terrific time to use flame weeders since it’s quite difficult to set soggy things on fire. They’re great for weeds embedded in gravel since they kill without disturbing the surrounding soil. (Many weed seeds are triggered to germinate by exposure to light and air.) The object is not to incinerate the weeds, merely to bring the water in the plants’ cells to a boil. This takes about 10 seconds, and though you may not see immediate wilting, by the next day most weeds will be toast. Tap-rooted weeds like Canada thistles can require a few flame sessions, but eventually win you will.
Winter weeding is also a lively family activity and a great way to work off excess holiday calories. Assign the less experienced a Personal Weed and give them a sample in a baggie. Their task is to eradicate this weed and this weed only, which saves a lot of tears and recriminations later. Tall teens can strip ivy off tree trunks, reaching as high as possible, and shorter kids can roll the ivy up into artistic balls. Stacked on a hard surface, they make a quite handsome garden art.
To avoid accidents, make sure each person is wearing appropriate clothing (including eye protection) and has the right tool for the job. My personal favorite hand tool is a hori-hori, a Japanese farmer’s knife that can dig, chop, pry, saw or hack as needed. If bending is a bother, try a stand-up step weeder or a well-sharpened stirrup hoe. Don’t let anyone loose with your good bypass pruners, and remember that anvil pruners (in which a blade comes down on a flat cutting surface) are strictly tools of destruction. They’re fine if the plant you use them on isn’t intended to survive, though.
After a hard frost, weeds come up sweetly to the hand, especially the dreaded buttercups. My favorite tool for them is an inexpensive little hand fork with two prongs that slide on either side of a buttercup crown. Lift up the fork and the rosettes pop out: just follow their running strings to find their relatives and neighbors. It’s easy to pull up young holly and Scotch broom in winter, and older plants won’t recover if cut close to the ground now. Stinky Bob (Geranium robertianum) makes big, lacy circles with a weak little taproot, while tansy has wandering roots that must be followed for as long as possible. Morning glory (aka bindweed) also has running roots that seem endless but aren’t, so even if you’re discouraged, do persist!