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Reed, which for a long time believed useful plant and from whose root system flour was produced, finally acquired its true status. In fact, it is a weed that can cause a lot of harm to a summer resident, gardener or just the owner personal plot, on which an artificial reservoir is provided. Reed is in second place among weeds in terms of spread. It was only surpassed by hogweed, a giant weed that today all the botanical forces of the world are fighting against. Let's find out what to do if you are faced with a reed invader on your own property, and how to get rid of the dominance of this grass.
Why are reeds harmful?
But before delving headlong into methods of combating reeds, it would not hurt to find out why this representative of the flora is actually terrible. Reeds are most often found on moist soils that are located in close proximity to water bodies. Some gardeners themselves “infect” land plot reeds, using it as mulch, and also planting it between rows of garden crops to supposedly fertilize the soil.
There is, of course, some truth in all this. Reed is capable of:
- expel everyone from the area weeds, filling the territory;
- turn the top layer of soil into humus.
In this case, you need to understand that, out of ignorance, summer residents often confuse reeds with reeds, planting the latter to control weeds and fertilize the soil. The land in which reed grows quickly becomes swamped and turns into a piece of land unsuitable for growing garden and vegetable crops. In addition, you need to take into account that the pond located on the territory of the site, with the dominance of reeds, will very quickly become shallow, and then dry up completely. And you will not be able to save him from this fate.
The main disadvantage of the reed is its greed: this representative of the swampy flora sucks out all the nutrients and minerals from the soil, leaving nothing useful for garden and vegetable crops and making the soil absolutely poor.
Reed control methods
There are not many preventive measures to control weeds, and they are all intuitive. In order not to have to fight with reeds for your own summer cottage, in rainy summers you need to completely stop watering. Or at least don't water the soil too much. In addition, you should dig up the garden every year, removing any roots from the ground. Who knows, perhaps one of these rhizomes is the reed. Therefore, all accidentally encountered root systems should be collected in one pile and burned along with the withered foliage.
If the dacha plot is located in a pit, it makes sense to surround it with ditches, and fill the central part with earth from dug ditches in order to raise the garden and drain excess water from it.
Reed mowing
Remember the old one folk saying“Mow your hair while there’s dew”? You need to do approximately the same with the reeds that have occupied your garden or dacha. Mowing a weed is perhaps the easiest method to implement to combat an instantly growing representative of aquatic flora. The method consists of two main stages.
- First stage. The first mowing occurs at the end of March or beginning of April, when the first sprouts of reeds will already make themselves felt. As soon as you discover that part of the soil in your dacha is covered with a reed carpet, mow the plant using an electric scythe.
- Second phase. The second mowing should be planned for the fall. As a rule, it is carried out in the second half of October - right before the first autumn frosts.
You need to mow the reeds before the plant blooms. It starts differently in all regions. If you miss this moment, the wind will carry the seeds to nearby areas.
If reeds have occupied the banks of an artificial reservoir that you have long and painstakingly built on your site, try to get rid of it by mowing directly in the water. The plant should be mowed in such a way that the upper tips of the weed end up 10 cm deep into the water. As soon as this happens and the plant is deprived of air, the stems and root system of the reeds will begin to rot. When the weed can be completely eradicated, the time will come for the second stage - cleansing the reservoir of plant remains. If you neglect cleaning, the water in the pond will soon begin to bloom, and stopping this process will be even more difficult than expelling reeds from the pond.
To prevent the access of oxygen to the root system of the reeds after secondary mowing, the affected area of the ground is covered with a tarpaulin and the airtight covering is fixed with large stones or other oppression.
Burning reeds
Unlike mowing, this method is the most extreme of all possible. Of course, it cannot be called universal. This method of dealing with reeds is relevant only if the garden has not yet been planted with anything other than a weed. It makes sense to try to implement an extreme method of control on the banks of a reservoir. But again, only if there are no crops growing nearby that fire could cause irreparable harm. Below are the main points you should know when going on the warpath with reeds.
- When setting a plant on fire, follow safety precautions: in windy weather, the fire can instantly spread to a neighboring garden or areas adjacent to your site.
- Before setting fire, the plant stems should be doused with gasoline or another similar flammable mixture.
- The combustion process must continue for at least 60 minutes.
The problem is that reeds have a powerful and persistent root system, which is not as easy to destroy as we would like. And even fire will take time for this.
Chemical attack on reeds
Chemicals are a more acceptable and much less dangerous way to combat reeds. Herbicides - that’s the name of the group chemicals, with the help of which you can expel weeds from the garden. There are several means that you can use to deal with the dominance of reeds. The most effective ones are briefly described below.
- "Roundup". To prepare a solution for treating weeds, dissolve 30 g of a chemical in a liter of water, and then treat the plant with the mixture. If you need more liquid for processing, prepare it in the same proportion. Roundup treatment is usually carried out twice during the spring-autumn season. The first time was in mid-spring, and the second time was in early autumn. The poison penetrates the stem and root system through the leaves and gradually destroys the plant.
- "Tornado". The drug, which is often used to eliminate weeds from the soil immediately before sowing, will also help in the fight against reeds. To prepare a solution for spraying, mix 25 ml of “Tornado” with three liters of running water. Chemical agent has an effect similar to the effect of Roundup on grass.
- "Hurricane". An alternative to the two above-mentioned chemicals is Hurricane. To prepare the solution, 40 ml of the drug is dissolved in a three-liter jar of water.
Soil deoxidation
Another safe but effective way to combat reed thickets is soil deoxidation. It is known that the plant in question loves soil with increased acidity. Therefore, it is logical that in order to destroy it, it is necessary to achieve low or neutral acidity of the earth and significantly drain it.
What we do
- We form drainage ditches where the reeds grow.
- We carry out the excavation in such a way that the water accumulating in the ditch flows towards the reservoir, which is located in the immediate vicinity.
- We treat the area with any effective herbicide.
- We mow the stems that rise above the ground.
After the manipulations have been performed, the soil in which the root system of the reeds is still sitting should be thoroughly dug up. Preferably not by hand, but with the help of special equipment. 21 days after digging, the soil is treated with the herbicide again.
The fight against reeds in the pond and in the garden is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. It can only be effective if it is a set of consistent actions.
Herbicide is different from herbicide
Currently, the chemical method of combating unwanted vegetation, involving the use of herbicides, is considered one of the most effective. Modern herbicides, depending on the nature of their effect on plants, are divided into two groups.
Broad-spectrum herbicides kill all plant species, while selective herbicides kill some plant species and spare others. The former are most often used to clear vegetation from non-agricultural areas.
One of the most effective and popular broad-spectrum herbicides is glyphosate and its derivatives - aqueous solutions containing glyphosate acid at a concentration of 360 g/l. The most common herbicides based on glyphosate are Roundup from Monsanto (USA), Glyphos from Cheminova (Denmark), Glukkor from Calliop (France), domestic “Zero”, “Hurricane”, etc.
Another systemic herbicide, Arsenal (or imazapyr), often used for these purposes, is produced by BASF in the form of a 25% aqueous concentrate. It effectively destroys both above-ground and underground parts of all types of plants.
Despite their high efficiency and relatively low cost on the world market, systemic herbicides are not perfect solution problems: we should not forget that these substances are poisonous. If used incorrectly, they can be extremely dangerous to humans and environment. Therefore, they should not be abused in cases where there is no need to get rid of all vegetation completely.
If it is necessary to destroy certain types of plants, it is advisable to use groups of herbicides with selective action, which can be determined chemical composition, form and doses of the drug, method and timing of plant treatment. The biochemical selectivity of the action of herbicides is based on the drug’s intervention in the plant’s metabolism. At the same time, in sensitive plants, the herbicide inhibits vital biochemical reactions. The topographic selectivity of the action of herbicides is based on differences in the anatomical and morphological structure of plants, and therefore in resistant plants the herbicide cannot penetrate through the vegetative organs, while in susceptible plants it penetrates freely.
Selective herbicides are traditionally used to control weeds in fields. For each agricultural crop, the herbicide is selected in such a way as to destroy weeds and not harm cultivated plants.
Selective herbicides can certainly be useful and more environmentally friendly for vegetation control in non-agricultural areas when we're talking about on the eradication of one species or group of plants.
If the enemy does not surrender
Reed is a genus of perennial plants of the sedge family that grow in moist places and in water. The most common is lake reed, which forms extensive thickets; it has stems up to 2.5 m high and powerful rhizomes. Here are the selective herbicides that experts recommend using to control plants of the sedge family:
Agritox – 50% aqueous solution of MCPA (a mixture of dimethylamine, potassium and sodium salts), manufacturer - Aventis.
Basagran – 48% aqueous solution of bentazone acid, manufacturer - BASF.
Basagran M – aqueous concentrate of bentazone acid solution 250 g/l + MCPA acid 125 g/l, manufacturer - BASF.
Londax - dry 60% mixture, active ingredient - bensulfuron-methyl, manufacturer - DuPont de Nemours.
"Sirius" - 10% dry powder, active ingredient - pyrazosulfuron-ethyl, manufacturer - Nissan Chemical.
It is enough to use all of the listed herbicides once a year during the growth period of young reed shoots, in the phase of 2-3 leaves, before a large phytomass has formed, which, after using the herbicide, will dry out and can easily ignite.
This way you can not only get rid of the harmful plant and preserve the lines of an expensive fiber-optic cable, but also protect the surrounding flora and fauna from poisoning.
If the garden plot is located in a marshy or undeveloped area, then most likely reeds will grow there.
What to do with it and how to get rid of it?
First, look at the top of the reeds; if there are panicles, then it is really a reed; if there are dark brown tubes-cobs, then it is a cattail; they are often confused.
The reed grows quickly and reproduces by self-sowing every year.
The first thing you need to do in a wetland to get rid of reeds is to drain the soil.
To do this, dig ditches towards the lowest point, remove the reeds with roots and treat the soil with an alkaline-lime solution to deoxidize.
At this time, it is better to refrain from watering.
In addition, the area in the center can be raised with additional soil.
Ways to deal with reeds
It is better to mow the reeds during the full moon, when all the strength of the plant is concentrated at the top.
- Quite a risky way to deal with reeds! The reeds can be burned. Pour gasoline on it and set it on fire. Keep the plants burning for about an hour. Follow safety precautions and make sure that the fire does not spread to other crops.
- The herbicide Roundup will help get rid of reeds, which inhibits the development and reproduction of plants by penetrating through the leaves into the stem. Make a solution of 30 g of the drug per 1 liter of water, depending on the depth of the water, the closer, the more concentrated the solution should be. Treat the required area three times per season, so that the drug remains in the form of dew on the leaves (not sprouts).
Benefits of reeds
What to do if there are a lot of reeds? Maybe then it makes sense not to get rid of it, but to benefit from it?
In September, cut out the reeds and spread them over the entire area in a layer of up to 30 cm. In the spring, you can remove them completely or partially, leaving them only between the rows, or you can not remove them at all, allowing them to turn into humus.
The fact is that the reeds - good fertilizer, enemy, and wonderful mulch at the same time. No weed is able to get through such a thick layer, moisture will be retained, and the composition of the soil will improve. The benefits will not be long in coming; the plants will become stronger, which will undoubtedly affect the quality of the harvest.
Many gardeners use reeds for decorative purposes, growing them specifically. Therefore, before you get rid of it, think about how much it confuses you. Maybe it's worth trying to beat him at landscape design your garden.
Instructions
The chemical method involves the use of herbicides for dicotyledonous weeds, in particular Roundup. This product is applicable both on land and in coastal areas.
To use the herbicide in areas of water bodies, it is necessary to dilute 200 g of Roundup in 7 liters of water, and spray so that dew remains on the leaves of the reeds. You can't use Roundup if you've already crawled out of the ground. Roundup acts on the upper part of the plant, preventing it from developing and...
TO chemical methods The fight against reeds also includes its destruction by fire. The area occupied by the plant is filled with gasoline and set on fire. True, it should burn for at least an hour, because... reed has long branched roots. Yes, and the fire department last years on average, it does not allow one to resort to such a drastic method, although it is quite effective.
Physical methods of destroying reeds include mowing them. After all, reeds also develop on top of the soil. Therefore, mowing reeds is considered an effective way to combat it. in early spring, when its leaves appear, and in the fall when they reappear.
Another method of dealing with reeds on garden plots is the drying and deoxidation of the soil, since reeds thrive in damp and acidic soil. To do this, drainage ditches are dug along the entire site, the reeds are selected from the soil manually along with the roots, and the soil is not watered for a long time and is treated with alkali-lime solutions.
To destroy reeds in a pond, they are also mowed in spring and autumn 10 cm below the water level. Water gets into the stem of the reed, and it rots at the root. The disadvantage of this method is the clogging of the coastal area with remnants of reeds, which is inconvenient for swimming or fishing.
If the reservoir is large enough, then dredgers are used to clean it, which erode the root system of the reeds to a depth of 30-50 cm and remove the weed from the bottom along with silt deposits. In this way, the reservoir deepens, the springs are cleaned, and its ecosystem is renewed.
note
Reed is a coastal plant from the sedge family. It should not be confused with cattail. Reeds have panicles at the tops, and cattails have dark brown ears.
Previously, reeds were considered quite useful. Flour was made from its rhizomes, because... they contain a lot of starch. Today, reeds are used only for decorative purposes. Bags, baskets, and mats are woven from reed leaves. Some advocates environmental methods construction, they add reeds to concrete, creating an environmentally friendly construction material reed concrete.
However, all this does not solve the problem of getting rid of reeds from the coastal zone of reservoirs and garden plots, since the expenditure for the above-described needs is small, and the reeds grow quickly and multiply annually.
Very often, in the struggle to keep the garden plot clean, a summer resident encounters unusual phenomena. It would seem that the reservoir is located far away, but reeds suddenly appear in the garden and begin to actively grow.
To be more precise, what grows in the garden is mainly reed, a representative of the Cereal family, and less often reed, a representative of the Sedge family. But outwardly they are very similar, and the methods of controlling these plants in the garden are the same, so in what follows we will call reeds with the caveat that here we also mean reeds.
Reeds can greatly damage the garden. Even the most fertile soils after the reeds settle on them, they systematically but certainly turn into wetlands. If the design of a homestead landscape assumes the presence of a pond or small lake, then with the appearance of reeds the pond can become very shallow or dry out completely.
Reed control methods
1. Mowing
One of the safest and most affordable ways to deal with reeds is mowing. To achieve the effect, you should perform the procedure for removing unwanted growth twice a year. In spring - after the first shoots appear, and in autumn, before the onset of cold weather. Additional measures can also be taken. For example, after mowing, cover the area with a piece of thick fabric or a tarp. Press down the material on top with something heavy (for example, stones). Deprived of oxygen, the root system of the reed will die over time.
If the reeds have grown along the banks of an artificial reservoir located on the site, then you can mow it right in the water. The main thing is that the mowed plant is five to ten centimeters below the water level. Once in the pond, the reeds will begin to rot. After the weed is completely destroyed, you must remember to thoroughly clean the pond, otherwise the water will bloom.
2. Burning
This method of getting rid of reeds on a site is one of the most dangerous and extreme. Here it is important to clearly control your actions so that the flame in no case spreads to other plantings or a neighboring garden. It is worth pouring gasoline into the reeds and then setting the plantings on fire. It should be remembered that the reeds should burn for at least one hour. This is explained by the fact that the plant has a very powerful root system, which will not be so easy to destroy.
3. Chemicals
It is possible and necessary to combat reed thickets with the help of herbicides. A universal remedy against many weeds is Roundup. To destroy reeds, dilute thirty grams of the drug in one liter of distilled water. The plant should be processed at least two, and preferably three times per season. The herbicide will systematically affect the entire plant through the leaves, leading to the death of the weed.
4. Drainage and deoxidation of the soil
Reeds that have taken root in the area can be dealt with by draining the soil. This is quite simple to do: along the entire area (where the weed thickets are located), the gardener digs drainage ditches. The direction of the slope of the drainage ditch should be towards the nearest body of water (river, pond) or the place where the water will flow.
Next you should mow the reeds. Experienced gardeners They do this in late spring - early summer, when the garden weed is in the active growth stage. After mowing, you should dig up the soil, and after two to three weeks treat the area where the reeds were recently mowed down with herbicide. “Roundup”, “Hurricane”, and “Buran” are suitable here.
