The Pest Advice

Kiwicare recently launched a new member of its highly successful Weed Weapon herbicide range. Weed Weapon Direct Hit is convenient, safer, and as fast acting as the Weed Weapon ready to use spray; weeds will fall over with a few hours.

I have found it the handiest weed killer to have with me when I take a walk around the garden. It will fit in my jacket pocket. If I see a weed popping it’s leaves up through a crevice in the path I can give it a short burst of the highly directional foam and the weed will be dead the next time I pass by.

When spot spraying weeds it can be difficult to accurately hit the weed without accidentally hitting surrounding plants, or allowing spray drift to be blown onto nearby desirable plants. The foam of Direct Hit means there is no spray drift. It would have to be a very stormy day to cause the foam to blow onto other plants.

The foam is visible for about 5 minutes so that you won’t waste herbicide spraying weeds twice. And it requires only a small blob of the foam in the centre of weeds such as dandelions or thistles for them to die. It is not necessary to spray the whole weed. Even though it is convenient in the aerosol can, which usually means paying a higher price, because of the reduced waste of spray drift it is economical to use. I have found a single can of Direct hit is sufficient for over 300 weeds of the rosette type and I have used it for spot spraying such weeds in a lawn.



Applying Direct hit to weeds in a ‘lawn’

It is recommended to wear impervious gloves when applying all herbicides and there is no exception with Direct Hit but as there is no spray drifting onto hands, or any other parts of the body, or if the foam did hit any part it is easily seen and washed off making it safer to use.

I did some testing on how accurate and effective Direct is and as you can see below I had some fun.

A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows.

In October 2010 Kiwicare launched the new BioGro Certified Organic NO Weeds (now call Organic Weedfree Rapid) ready to use trigger spray and I blogged about how it works. Since then sales of this product have soared and it is available in hardware stores, garden centres and supermarkets across New Zealand.

I have been contacted many times since the launch of the product by organic farmers, horticulturalists and gardeners asking when the concentrate version would be available. Well, I am happy to tell you that NO Weeds Concentrate is now available in 5L and 20L sizes. The concentrate is also certified by BioGro the main New Zealand organic certification agency.

The concentrate is diluted 1 part concentrate to 14 parts water or 10 parts water for tougher weeds. Like the ready to use spray it combines fatty acid and pine oil in a product that strips the waxy cuticle and cell wall from weeds so that they rapidly dehydrate and die. You can almost watch the weeds fall over within minutes.

What’s the strongest weedkiller?
The one that lifts the earth. Naturally!

There is growing interest in using natural and organic methods and products to control pests and diseases in the home and garden. However, the definition of natural and organic can be difficult to pin down. There is an argument that everything is natural; even petrochemicals are products made from oil which is formed in a natural process from decaying forests over millions of years. But such arguments miss the point of what it is that users want. They want products of natural origin that are subsequently less damaging to the environment.


There are a growing number of products that have the words natural or organic on the label but that does not necessarily mean that the entire product is natural or organic. An insecticide label may say “contains 100% natural pyrethrum” but that does not tell you whether there are other non-natural contents. For example the synergist piperonyl butoxide is often added to pyrethroid insecticides to increase the effectiveness of the product, this is a synthetic chemical and not natural or organic.

One way of telling whether a product is really organic is to check for certification from one of the recognised organic certification bodies. There are two such bodies in New Zealand, the independent not for profit incorporated society BioGro® and the government owned AsureQuality. Products that display the logos of these organisations have been shown comply with the relevant organic standards.

Some companies in New Zealand have embraced the public movement towards organic products and have developed ranges of certified organic products. Kiwicare has recently added a BioGro certified organic weed killer to its range. The range already includes certified organic fertiliser, caterpillar control, fungicides, insecticides, rodent bait, ant barrier and insect repellent.

Watch your weeds wilt and die within hours with the new organic weed killer. Kiwicare Organic NO Weeds is certified organic by BioGro® and uses a combination of natural technologies to achieve spectacular results. With a combination of both natural pine oils and plant fatty acids in the formulation the product strips the waxy cuticles from weeds and disrupts plant cell walls dehydrating the weed and killing it. The product works fast, particularly on warm dry days.

Prepare your garden for spring

• Clean up dead leaves and twigs which could harbour disease.
• Remove moss, mould and slime from paths, drives, fences walls and the bark of trees with NO Moss Mould Mildew.
• Paint, stain and seal fences, trellis and walls while climbing plants are dormant.

Pruning

• Roses
• I wrote earlier in the month about pruning your roses (check out that blog here) so if you haven’t done that yet it is worth getting it done now. You fruit trees should also be given the ‘once over’ following these simple rules:
• Apple, Pear and Cherry Trees
• Consider pruning to give the tree a good shape where the tree gets good light throughout and fruit is evenly distributed and easily collected.
• Remove excess or weak twiggy growth.
• Apples, pears and cherries grow on spurs (short stubby growths coming from main branches) and these will continue to produce fruit for several years.
• Spray the trees with preventative fungicide such as NO Fungus Super Sulphur or Copper Oxychloride.
• Plum Trees
• Carry out a similar tidy up of plum trees but take care not to over prune as this will promote vigorous growth at the expense of fruit production.
• Peach and Nectarine Trees
• Flowers and fruit are produced on the new growth of the previous summer.
• Prune hard to encourage new growth to prevent fruit being produced too far out along branches.
• But don’t remove too many flower buds or the current season’s crop will be reduced. Flower buds are round and plump while growth buds are flat.

Weed Killing and Prevention

• Paths and Drives
• Spray with NO Weeds Long Term to kill emerging weed and prevent germination of seeds.
• Flowerbeds
• Condition and prepare flowerbeds containing established plants, shrubs and trees by digging over, adding organic material and fertiliser and then use Ronstar SG to long term prevention of  germination of weed seeds and bulbs.
• Soil Safe Weed Control
• Weeds emerging from areas where planting is to be done now or later in the season can be sprayed with soil safe herbicide such as Buster.
• Lawns
• As lawns begin to grow the broadleaved weeds can be controlled by the use of selective weedkillers such as NO Lawn Weeds Turfclean and NO Hydrocotyl.
• Moss in lawns should be treated with NO Moss concentrate or granules and then the dead moss scarified (raked out).

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  As new growth starts in spring the plants will need good, easily accessed nutrients. Kiwicare Organic Fertiliser is ideal for drenching the roots of plants of all sorts so that they get the most healthy growth and resistance to disease.

After spending two days last week on a Red Cross First Aid course I now feel qualified to deal with the most severe paper cuts or perhaps cuts and scrapes in the garden.

The course was very good and something I have always thought I should do. I have been lucky enough never to have come across an accident where any first aid was needed. But there has always been the fear in the back of my head that it could happen at any time and I would not know how to give appropriate help. I hope my luck continues, but if I do come across an accident at least now I feel I could be of some use.

I would recommend the first aid course to anyone and everyone, it might be me that has the accident and need your help.

In the garden it is nearly time to think about doing some tidying up and killing or stopping the development of those early weeds. Kiwicare produces a comprehensive range of herbicides for the control of weeds in all situations. The NO Weeds range includes selective weedkiller and non-selective weedkillers. The selective weed killers include NO Weeds Turfclean, NO Moss in Lawns and NO Hydrocotyl for selective control of weeds and moss in lawns.
For general soil safe weed control there is NO Weeds Buster and NO Weeds Glyphosate. Buster is a better product in that it is active against a broader range of weed species.

A convict in jail got a letter from his wife:
“I am going to plant lettuce in the back garden. When is the best time to plant them?”
Knowing that the prison guards read all the mail, he replied:
“Darling, whatever you do, DO NOT do any planting in the back garden!”
A week or so later, he received another letter from his wife:
“On Friday the police came with spades and picks, and dug up the whole back garden.”
The prisoner wrote another letter:
“Darling, NOW is the best time to plant the lettuce!” 

There is something very satisfying about walking barefoot across a lush green lawn. On the other hand, a patchy, browned off, weed filled lawn can be something of an embarrassment and it certainly does not show off your house and garden to the best effect.

There are some simple steps to beautiful attractive lawn.

1. Get rid of the mosses. Mosses, lichens and liverworts may not be growing much at this time of the year but they can be removed by treating with a moss killer such as Mossclear and then raking the dead moss out with a grass rake. Moss is an indication that that area of the lawn is not well drained and is perhaps shaded by over hanging trees. Fork the area to improve drainage and cat away shading trees or shrubs. Don’t cut your grass too short, give the grass a chance to shade out mosses and other low growing weeds.
2. Get rid of broadleaf weeds. Dandelions, daisies, clovers, hydrocotyle, plantains and others can be selectively killed with lawn weedkiller such as NO Lawn Weeds Turfclean. Turfclean is specially formulated by Kiwicare to kill weeds without browning off the grass in the lawn as other lawn weedkillers can.
3. Protect your lawn from damaging soil insects such as grass grub, cluster fly, porina and armyworm by using a slow release insecticide such as NO Insects Lawngard Prills. 
4. Green up your lawn and encourage healthy grass growth by watering well with a liquid fertiliser. Kiwicare’s new Nourish Organic Fertiliser range is BioGro certified and will give excellent results quickly and without using harsh chemicals on the lawn that would stop the use of the lawn by pets or children.
5. Don’t cut your lawn too short

Finally, get out and enjoy your lawn. Anyone for cricket?

I spent a couple of hours yesterday (Sunday) working with a group of volunteers from Weedbusters and NZ Biosecurity Institute Canterbury Branch pulling and cutting broom from the heads between Taylor’s Mistake and Nicholson Park. This is a project to remove the invasive weeds and replant with natives along this part of the coast. The project is run and inspired by the ever energetic Keith Briden of DoC.

The project received funding for the purchase of native plants and more than half of these have already been planted. This has required a lot of hard work on the part of Keith and his volunteers. First weeds have to be cut out or sprayed and patches where natives are to be planted sprayed. Kiwicare has donated and subsidised Glyphosate and Buster for this work. Then holes are dug and selected plants planted. But the work does not stop there. The weeds need to be kept under control around the plantings and because the areas are exposed dry hillsides the plants will need watered over the hot summer months. With about 3000 plants planted so far this is a lot of work.

Yesterday’s two hours of labour were well rewarded. Keith is a keen (as mustard) cray and paua fisherman and put on a bbq of paua patties and heaps of cray at his house to celebrate the work so far and the coming Christmas break. Thank you Keith and all the volunteers that have helped during this project.

If you should wish to help in this project contact me by clicking here and I will put you in touch with Keith or the Weedbusters team.

What is the worst drink to have after working for Weedbusters?
Herby cider.