George Abernathy, Sun Lakes resident

Not only do my neighbors and I enjoy my weedless yard, my plants absolutely love it. I accomplish this by spending an average of 15 minutes of non-physical labor per month, year round and its real simple! I know a lot of people have huge gardens that need some serious weed removal Phoenix every month but my garden is easy to manage and I have the technique down to an art!

My back starts to hurt every time I see a Sun Lakes resident physically bending over and pulling weeds by hand or by using some type of weed pulling contraption that’s rarely proficient. Eliminating weeds with these methods is time consuming and physically demanding because you’re always bending over or kneeling down on one knee. Since these methods are also just a temporary fix, you’re back out in the yard within a few days pulling weeds from different locations, year round. Alternatively you could hire services that improve and maintain gardens like Alabama Trugreen, they offer their services to the majority of the states across the US, not just Alabama.

I have successfully used Preen Weed Preventer on my yards for years. A 4.24 lb. container is sold at Home Depot for $13.97 and comes in a granular form and will cover approximate 1000 s/f. Although one Preen model has a useless built-in spreader and cost more, I prefer to use an Ortho seed/fertilizer spreader which spreads the granules at a faster pace. Preen is a pre-emergent and it’s guaranteed to block weeds for four months; however I find it last around six months. After initially applying Preen throughout my yard, (don’t worry about over spreading existing plants, it won’t hurt them) I use a gas blower (or use a broom) to clean the driveway, streets and sidewalks of excess granules and then thoroughly water down the entire treated area. This activates the granules and will prevent any new weeds from growing.

In order to kill existing weeds and the occasional weed that might pop up, I use concentrated Round-Up Weed and Grass Killer at the cost of $13.98 at Home Depot for a 16 oz. container; it will last two to three years. I use a plastic spray bottle which I clearly mark Round-Up and dilute the chemical with water per instructions. After making sure the nozzle is set for stream (not spray), I simply walk around and spray individual weeds. After three to four days, I walk around again and spray all the weeds once more. This also insures that I’ve sprayed the ones that I initially missed. Every couple of weeks thereafter, I leisurely stroll around my yard and spray the occasional weed that somehow pops up. Round Up doesn’t discriminate and it will kill any living plant, so use it cautiously. I prefer to do the spraying early in the day or late in the evening when the wind isn’t blowing which will help protect plants from over-spray. When I find weeds too close to other plants for spraying, I use whatever works to pull them. Because I own two pet Schnauzers, regardless of what I’m spraying, I always keep my dogs away until the areas are totally dry. So far I’ve never had any issues with any of my pets.