I have about 20 Liatris spicata planted along a fence in a rock garden. many7 or 8 years ago, when my father owned the home, he dumped rock salt in the rock area because he was tired of all the weeds. i had forgotten all about that and planted them there anyways. this is the third year since they've been in and are doing great, but the weeds are starting to get nasty again. dad says i should salt them, i don't wanna hurt them. any advice?
2007-06-09 08:38:00 · 4 answers · asked by trish o 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
Don't even think about it!!! Sodium is toxic to the soil, it ruins the soil structure thru deflocculation.......which is a fancy word that means the soil particles that should clump together so the soil drains suddenly stop clumping. The result is a soil that won't drain.
Maybe, just maybe if your soil is acidic you wouldn't see such disaster......but in clay alkaline soils, phew!!
Finally, the liatris would croak instantly.
Either pull the weeds, cut the weeds or use Roundup...just on the weeds.
2007-06-09 08:45:39 · answer #1 · answered by fluffernut 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I salt the weeds on my patio...and Im sure that would kill any plants in the area....I have a "rock" garden too...and I just pine mulched around the rocks and plants...and its worked great...there are a few weeds but they are easy to pulll...like they are not even really trying to grow there...I mulched it 3 years ago and I added some this year for good measure.
2007-06-09 19:13:57 · answer #2 · answered by Tam 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
so why not bring in some top soil and make that part of your yard , plant more grass or a mounded garden.
or you could remove the plants you have there now spray the entire area with round up , wait a couple of weeks and if anything starts to turn green again spray it some more. take a hard rake and rake it into a pile and burn it right on the spot.then add some top soil and you can have a bigger area to plant !
2007-06-09 16:45:23 · answer #3 · answered by gands4ever 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why do Americans throw rock salt ( bleach, diesel !!) on their gardens ? Surely you have SELECTIVE WEEDKILLERS ? I have never heard of anyone in UK using rock salt (damaging to many plants) and yet we produce the Worlds finest gardens , any professional throwing salt around would be sacked !
2007-06-09 18:21:20 · answer #4 · answered by ED SNOW 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋