|
|
|
Posted 7 July 2008. Applied Turfgrass Science. Is This Plant a Weed? University of Minnesota. www.cfans.umn.edu St. Paul, Minnesota (July 7, 2008)--The Horticulture team at University of Minnesota Extension has launched a new weed identification and management tool. The website can be accessed from University of Minnesota Extension’s Gardening Info page, or directly at www.extension.umn.edu.
One of the first steps in managing a landscape pest is proper diagnosis of the problem. Identifying the pest allows the garden manager to learn more about the biology of the pest and the management practices that will be most effective in controlling it. Although many publications about the biology and management of common landscape weeds and invasive weed species are available on the University of Minnesota Extension web page, there were no tools available to help identify an unknown plant. Without assistance in identifying that plant, gardeners have a hard time managing it. This may result in unnecessary application of herbicides, application of incorrect herbicides, poor timing of control strategies, wasted time, and wasted money and effort. The website is designed to provide a user friendly web-based weed identification tool titled ‘Is this Plant a Weed?’ for use by home gardeners, Master Gardener volunteers, landscape managers, Extension educators and staff, and members of the green industry in the North Central region. The website focuses on identifying pest plant species in the yard and garden including common lawn and landscape weeds, invasive and noxious herbaceous plants, and invasive and noxious woody plants. Links are made to relevant publications describing management options for each pest plant. The 56 weeds highlighted in the website are common to this area, thereby eliminating the often extraneous weeds encountered in guides published for national distribution. The website allows gardeners to follow several simple steps to identify the weed. The pest plant identification pages contain key descriptive phrases about each weed with accompanying photographs. A link from the website leads users to a new publication that discusses different weed control strategies including cultural control practices and appropriate, safe herbicide use. Contact: Catherine Dehdashti |
