Some grassy weeds can be pulled up by the roots. Unfortunately, it is only when they are full grown and have set seeds. Also, the soil has to be in the exact right condition, neither too wet nor too dry. This ideal state lasts sometimes for an entire afternoon. The tall grasses relinquish the stage graciously at that point, smug in the knowledge that their progeny will carry on.
Then there is Bermuda grass, which never lets itself be pulled under any circumstance. Also called devil's grass, it grows along an underground rhizome, then shoots up with spiky green spears that can poke through any mulch. There is no recourse but to dig up the perennials harboring this enemy, spray the invaders with Roundup and start all over again.
Dandelions' yellow blossoms carpeted the area this spring. The huge-rooted plants seemed to not mind last summer's drought and came back even stronger. I have learned that it is pure folly to try and dig them up. That is, I finally learned it, after I tried to do it for too many years. The fact that dandelion weeders are even manufactured is a great joke. You can never get the entire root.
In the iris bed, dandelions get in among the iris rhizomes, where the weeder can't go. It's best to grab the leaves and gone-to-seed head and yank to the breaking point, of the weed, that is. It only sets them back briefly, but the beds appreciate the effort and makes them look nice while in bloom, which lasts a very short time.
Square Yard Gardening
The only way for me to begin weeding my vast plantings is to keep my efforts focused on the immediate square yard of ground. "Don't look up!" is my motto when working.
Last fall, I dug up the entire lily bed, carefully removed every bit of grass root, tilled it and the surrounding ground where I relocated the lilies. This spring, I tilled the spot again and planted Bonfire Salvias that I'd started indoors from seed. One of my most successful starts, I had high hopes for them. They didn't have a chance to appreciate all my efforts, because they were killed by an unusually late frost a few days later, on Mother's Day, yet.
"Bummer!" I said, replanting with butterfly weed plants. Later, some of them were dug up by the cats, who always appreciate freshly-turned earth. So it goes with gardening.
