Weeds to cut now

By Marigay Black Grayson County Master Gardener

One morning last fall, I looked out in my yard and saw a sea of little white flowers with yellow centers growing in an area which, I admit, rarely received supplemental watering. I’ve seen this plant before and not been too concerned by it. The bees were drawn to it, and I like supporting our bees with nectar plants, so we just mowed the grass and let nature take its course. This fall, the plant has returned en masse and I have declared war on it – and it’s one tough plant! It is unpleasant to walk on the woody stems and puts down a taproot to ensure its place in the soil. It is roadside aster (Aster exilis), an annual that will reseed with a passion if those blooms are allowed to go to seed (again).

It sneaks into your bermudagrass because the tiny new plants that come up in the Spring blend in perfectly with the stems of the grass. By the time you realize how much is there, it is a roughstemmed plant intertwining with your bermuda. It’s getting ready to bloom now!

My online research has directed me to three different approaches to wage my war. The first, and most labor intensive, is to pull it by hand or with a good weedpulling tool. By watering the area first, the plants will come up fairly easily and it’s a goner for good. So far, I’ve filled three 5-gallon buckets, and there will be several more to fill. The drawback is that, once pulled, it leaves a pretty good sized bald spot where the bermuda will have to fill in and we’re getting close to the end of growing season for bermuda.

The second front to launch on the mature plant is the use of a broadleaf and woody weed killer containing the chemical 2,4-d. There are several name-brand products in liquid, dust or granular form that you apply accordingly. 2,4-d is labeled to kill many different types of broadleaf weeds such as crabgrass, for one, but it also listed many desirable plants such as goldenrod. The labels also warned the user that the product should not be allowed to enter water streams and don’t allow it to overspray or drift onto other plants or outside of your property. I prefer to avoid the use of chemicals with a warning label as serious as the ones I read standing in the aisle of the gardening center.

The third front to wage my battle is to apply a cool season preemergent NOW. There are several brand names to choose from which come in liquid and granular form containing the active ingredient dithiopyr. There are warnings outlined on these product labels which must be considered carefully. A pre-emergent acts to stop the seed of various labeled plants from germinating so they don’t get a chance to invade your lawn.

The last piece of advice to win this war is to take better care of the bermudagrass during its growing season, and the roadside aster won’t have such an easy time making its way into my lawn. The grass needs to be fertilized according to its season, watered on a regular basis, and mowed to its recommended height to fill in all the spaces that weed seeds would like to fill.

T.J. Storment, on offensive lineman for the Texas Christian University (TCU) Horned Frogs was traveling with his father Jeff along US Highway 75 Monday night when they drove passed the Howe 5th and 6th grade football practice.

“We just decided to stop and support the little guys,” said Storment.

His parents run an inner-city youth sports ministry full-time and Storment says that kind of thing has always been a goal of their family.

The 6’-7”, 325 pound Statesville, North Carolinian discussed offensive line techniques with the coaches. Then they asked if they could stay and speak to the team after practice.

T.J. Storment, a senior lineman for TCU. Photo credit: Josh Murphy.

ment. “I realize that when I was younger, meeting college and professional athletes was always a great time. We had a good time.”

“I offered encouragement and discipleship for their athletics and spiritual journeys, then we closed with a prayer,” said Storment.

The Storments stayed afterward and took photos with players before getting back on US Highway 75 for their final destination of the evening.

“As a believer, we are called to serve and give back,” said StorStorment was first-team AllConference at Fullerton College in 2018 before transferring to Colorado State University (CSU) a year ago where he started all 12 games at left tackle. He now has transferred to TCU where he’ll play his senior year as a Horned Frog. Having graduated from CSU, he opted for a new home for his final year of eligibility. Initially committing to Purdue, he then chose Forth Worth.

HHS Drum Major Erin Catching. Photo by Michelle Carney.

The cheerleaders join the Pride of Howe at halftime. Photo by Michelle Carney.