Father: “No, don’t bother digging the dandelions out. The roots go too deep, and if you don’t get it all, the dandelions will only grow back again. Better to buy yourself a systemic weedkiller, and spray them with that.”
Me: “First power tools, and now poison. No wonder they say owning a home is something best left to adults.”
The problem with using weedkiller to get rid of dandelions is that dandelions are smart. They snuggle in amidst the rest of the plants that you don’t want to kill, and then spread their leaves and take over the garden. I think I may have lost my mint shrub in last night’s spray-skirmish. And possibly the lavender, too.
Did you know that thistles can grow to the point where they look like miniature prickly palm trees? The thistle beside the pond now has a stalk which has a circumference of — and I kid you not — nine centimetres. Nine centimetres! Forget the weedkiller; what I really need is a hacksaw.
Main lesson learned from last night’s little adventure: Trying to spray a giant mutant thistle (thizilla?) is problematic in that there is no way to aim the spray nozzle that will not result in significant collateral damage elsewhere in the garden and surrounding environs. I think I may have accidentally squirted some weedkiller into the fish-pond, so I’m waiting with baited breath to see if the fish survive. Please, little goldfish, be hardy and strong. “Yes, yes, this is a fertile land pond, and we will thrive.” **
Leave a Reply