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Linda...I would not even open the newspaper if it did not contain your articles. Thank you for all your information and advice! Earlier this year you posted an article on Knotweed and I agree completely. This is horrible stuff. I've literally spent weeks manually digging up each individual one, on 1-1/2 acres. The Knotweed just takes over and kills everything in its path. But, progress was achieved after all that labor! To remove Knotweed, I use a big, flat-blade screwdriver for individual scattered ones. For groups/clusters, I use a pitch fork to loosen the entire group and they pull out easily - then tamp the ground with my boot. After I removed the Knotweed, in the late spring after we had gotten some rain, I used a weed and feed product. The combination of removing Knotweed and adding the fertilizer has shown remarkable results. I know you don't approve of weed and feed, but it worked for me. To remove Knotweed, it required me to be on my hands and knees and the one danger is catching Lyme Disease. I recommend using a spray, like Deep Woods Off, on footwear, pant legs, and arms. Ray A., Salem

Answer

Linda...I would not even open the newspaper if it did not contain your articles. Thank you for all your information and advice! Earlier this year you posted an article on Knotweed and I agree completely. This is horrible stuff. I've literally spent weeks manually digging up each individual one, on 1-1/2 acres. The Knotweed just takes over and kills everything in its path. But, progress was achieved after all that labor! To remove Knotweed, I use a big, flat-blade screwdriver for individual scattered ones. For groups/clusters, I use a pitch fork to loosen the entire group and they pull out easily - then tamp the ground with my boot. After I removed the Knotweed, in the late spring after we had gotten some rain, I used a weed and feed product. The combination of removing Knotweed and adding the fertilizer has shown remarkable results. I know you don't approve of weed and feed, but it worked for me. To remove Knotweed, it required me to be on my hands and knees and the one danger is catching Lyme Disease. I recommend using a spray, like Deep Woods Off, on footwear, pant legs, and arms. Ray A., Salem Ray - thank you so much for the feedback and congratulations on your success with the Knotweed removal. Regarding weed and feed products, there are several reasons that I don't recommend using any of them. They are a combination of herbicides and fertilizers which are intended to kill both weeds and fertilize grass in one "easy" application. There are many on the market, but they all contain toxic chemicals that are poisonous to a wide range of living things, including you! In addition to the toxins listed on the label, the "inert" or "inactive" ingredients in the bag can often be worse. Children and pets that play or crawl on lawns treated with weed and feed products can easily absorb the toxins through their skin or by licking their fingers (or paws). Both pets and people track them into the house. In Canada, all combination weed and feed products have been banned. When you use weed and feed products you are applying herbicides and toxins over the entire lawn where they are not needed. The combination of fertilizer and herbicides in one bag puts two incompatible products together. Fertilizer is intended for the entire lawn and herbicides are intended to kill weeds that may only be on 5% of the lawn, but get spread on the entire lawn anyway, spreading completely unnecessary toxic chemicals. A good organic fertilizer is the way to go.

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About Linda Lillie

Linda K. Lillie is the President of Sprigs & Twigs, Inc, the premier landscape design and maintenance, tree care, lawn care, stonework, and carpentry service provider in southeastern Connecticut since 1997. She is a graduate of Connecticut College in Botany, a Connecticut Master Gardener and a national award winning landscape designer for her landscape design and landscape installation work.

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