BDN interviews Garland about combating garden weeds, pests without chemicals
The Bangor Daily News spoke with Kate Garland, a horticulturist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, for an article about how to tackle garden weeds and pests without using chemicals. While there is still some time left before planting can begin in late spring, Garland said now is the time to be planning for weed management. More Maine farmers and gardeners are looking for organic ways to remediate weed and pest problems rather than using chemical herbicides and pesticides, according to the article. While annual weeds die at the end of each season, they produce a large amount of seeds that remain in the soil’s seed bank and can germinate each spring, the article states. “There are some weeds that produce hundreds of thousands of seeds per plant,” Garland said. “If you do see a weed that is about to go to seed, grab it.” Other advice from Garland included using newspaper as a ground cover and avoiding homemade solutions for herbicides, as they have not been tested.