Spring cleaning is not just for rugs and rooms. Planting beds need attention early in March. Many weed seeds will have already germinated on warm winter days. But, you ask, “is it a weed, or a plant?” Weeds of the Northeast by Richard H. Uva et al., and the University of Maryland Extension’s Weed Identification Photos are excellent identification sources. Note that many of these annual weeds have poetic names—chickweed, speedwell, henbit or dead nettle, gill-over-the-ground or ground ivy, mulberry weed, hairy bittercress—but they are not at all poetic when they take over your garden. In fact, they need to be pulled before they set seed… CONTINUE
May your plants enjoy their “spring clean” home.
May you enjoy their growth.
By Judy Funderburk, Extension Master Gardener
