When you spend as much time pulling weeds as I do, your mind
begins to wander. Before long, you may discover that it has melded (or maybe
just melted—it does get hot out there) with the very enemy you are laboring to
defeat. This can work in your favor...as long as you don’t let it lure you over
to the dark side. Well, you know what they say: know your enemy. In other
words, learn to think like a weed.
It’s been really dry in Brevard County—over 40 days without
a drop in most of it. In some ways this makes pulling weeds easier, especially
in really sandy soils. The tiny little root hairs that wend their way between
the grains of sand have mostly died, giving the weeds little with which to
resist when they are tugged upon. But of course, it’s never that simple. Many
of them have developed clever survival strategies that continue to thwart me in
the ongoing battles I wage in the gardens of several clients.
“Spurge” is a case in point. The species I was fighting with
on Tuesday is officially Chamaesyce hirta or pillpod sandmat. Pretty much
everyone I know just calls it spurge, or creeping spurge, or that low-growing,
mat-forming spurge. There are over 20 species of Chamaesyce found in Florida
and many look and behave similarly. They’re generally collectively known as
spurges or sandmats. Some are taller and lankier, others are low creepers, but
they seem to all be equally ornery.
In times of normal moisture, they hold together quite well.
The trick to pulling them is to find the center of the plant, grip it just at
the soil line, and pull straight out. It’s very satisfying (hey, you find
satisfaction where you can when you spend hours on your knees yanking plants
out of the ground), as these things can form a mat 18” in diameter. Lots of
bang for your buck, or tug. Other species may be taller and not as wide, but
the strategy and results are similar: the weed bucket fills up quickly.
But when it’s droughty-dry, it’s a whole nuther story. Find
the center, grip at the soil line, pull gently...and the entire above-ground
portion of the plant simply comes off in your hand, leaving the roots safely
underground. And from that root an entire plant can regenerate. You can almost
hear it doing a little planty Arnold imitation from The Terminator: “I’ll be
back,” and snickering. You can dig around, find that main root and try to pull
it. Sometimes you get most of it, sometimes it just continues to break off in
small fragments. Either way, I’ll be back too, to try to yank the little sucker
out next time.
Touche, spurge, very clever survival mechanism you got
there.
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