Weed Control
Full-Service Weed Control
Having a property with few to no weeds is an essential goal for landscaping service. Whether your property is a custom home, rental home, retail center, apartment complex or industrial building, you know the challenges with unsightly weeds. Weed control involves many elements, including consulting for proper groundcover, reducing irrigation overspray, application of pre-emergent, spot and mass spraying, hand-pulling, ground scraping and more. YOu need a landscaping partner who knows our local area, and what are weeds and what is not.
What are some top weeds in the Reno-area?
Because of our high, dry, cool mountain desert environment, Northern Nevada and Reno have unique weed species that thrive here, because there are few other species to compete with. Unlike other areas of the country, that have higher humidity, and a blending of mass density of weeds throughout the season, our region’s weed growth is more noticeable. It contrasts with the barren soil, making it more unsightly. This is why planned and routine weed control in our area is important. A weed is defined more by cultural impressions than anything else. There is no governing body that declares that one type of plant is a weed, and another is not. Typically, weeds are simply unwanted plants. In fact, plants that were cultivated by farmers and people who settled in our region a century ago, are sometimes considered weeds now. Names and types of weeds in Reno Some of the commonly unwanted plant species (weeds) in the Reno-Sparks area include (popular names):
- 1 Siberian elms
- 2 Cottonwoods of nearly all types
- 3 Poplar cottonwood
- 4 Yellow weed mustard
- 5 Goatheads
- 6 Cheatgrass
- 7 Russian olives
- 8 Russian thistle (tumbleweeds)
In addition, some plants, if not maintained well, can become unwanted, like purple sage, rabbit brush, exotic grasses, and more. Many of the exotic introduced species that thrive in our area, were originally from areas that have a similar climate to Northern Nevada. Places like Mongolia, Western China, many areas of Russia, Western Asia and other high, dry, variable climates.
Weed Cleanups
For starters, one of the tasks we recommend is a spring cleaning, also called a season start weed cleanup. While weeds start to sprout in late March and early April, it is best to wait until late April to do a full initial cleanup. And do it again in mid to late June. This is because the cool spring, with its higher period of precipitation, is a time of thriving for weeds. This may include weed trimming, then spraying, spot spraying with herbicide, ground scraping with hoes, and occasionally hand pulling in areas that are most visible and delicate.
Weeding Your Property
When it comes to weeding your property, Smartscapes can create a customized plan to cost-effectively control weeds. This would include multiple weed cleanups, and keeping weeds trimmed before they turn to seed. This reduces the exposure to seeds that would likely germinate. In addition, we can help you match your landscaping maintenance budget by allocating time and resources to focus on the right wedding task. For example, hand pulling is the most costly method, but often the most effective for small focussed areas. Certain front-and-center planter beds, and entry ways, may be worth having some hand pulling. Then massive open areas are sometimes best done through cut down pre-seed growth, using string trimmers. Over time, weed density will reduce, due to a lack of new seed germination. And then parking lots, occasional small weeds, ground cover cracks, can all have spot spraying.
Weed Control and the Environment
Smartscapes is environmentally-focussed and looks for the best way to control weeds for your property and the environment. Chemical overspray, and use of unnecessary harsh chemicals, can not only affect water runoff, drainage and local groundwater, but can also negatively affect your property if not done properly. We work with a balance of labor-based weed removal, along with trimming and mass removal, with only focussed, occasionally chemical spraying. We can also make long term recommendations to reduce weeds without harmful chemicals and polluting methods. Smartscapes can offer commercial properties and homeowners a better way to perform weed removal, weed wacking, herbicide and weed spraying, through alternating services that over time reduce and nearly eliminate most weeds from your property. Have a clean, weed-free property with smart weed-control from Smartscapes.
