Question
Hi Charlotte,

We live in the piney woods of NE Texas.  We planted Asian Jasmine on a large slope next to our house.  Our schedules and huge amounts of rain that we have had lately have kept us from weeding.  The jasmine has been completely infiltrated with all kinds of weeds from dewberry to our San Augustine grass to clover etc.  You name it....it's probably in there.  Is there anything I can use to kill the weeds without damaging the jasmine?  If it could just get rid of the bulk so I can get in there...it would take weeks or several people weeding all at once to even put a dent in it right now.  We spent a lot of money on the jasmine.  My husband is considering removing everything and putting down concrete and flagstone.

Any ideas would be great!!

Thanks,

Sandy

Answer
Hi Sandy;
Mine too.
I think the amount of rain we have had drowned my microbes.
I never thought of them drowning, but we have never had this much rain in North Texas, since I moved here in 65.
I have the first weeds I have seen in over 8 years.
There is some johnson grass and another broadleafed weed I used to get, in my asian jasmine and everything.
The organics will take care of except the St.Augustine.
If you are not on an organic program, I recommend going that way.
Since I have been on an organic program, I have spent so much less time maintaining a nice lawn, and so much less money.
The clover will not thrive in a rich soil, but the dewberries might, and it won't phase the St. Augustine.
If you are not on an organic program, and have no intention of going on one, there are chemicals that will kill out grass and not bother the broadleaved plants, so it wouldn't affect the clover and dewberry, but I never used them, so I don't know what they are, to tell you.
The St. Augustine is not hard to rip up. The new shoots will have shallow roots now, and you can just grab the runners and pull them up, and rip all that St. augustine out.
If you sink an edger of some kind ( the metal edgers you can buy would work well) into the ground around the edge of the jasmine, it qwill help kep the St. Augustine from encroaching into the jasmine.
If you haven't used any chemicals this year, or if the rain has washed them all out, you could start with putting down sugar to feed the micro-organisms that enrich the soil.
Introduce some compost to get the micro-organisms started, if you don't have them.
If you have earthworms, then you probably have some beneficial microbes in the soil.
If you don't care to fo on an organic program, you can use WipeOut, by Green Light, on the broadleafed plants.
It will also kill the jasmine if it gets on them, so if you mix 1 part WipeOut and 1 or 2 parts water, and just paiunt a few leaves on the ones you want to get rid of, and don't spray it, or pour it in the soil, it will do minumal damage to the asian jasmine.
That stuff absorbs through the leaves, stems or soil, so if you just get it on a few of the leaves, it will absorb, go to the tap root and kill out the whole plant.
That is how I get rid of the peacn trees the squirrels plant in my climbing roses.
If you would like a copy of my organic program, write me and I will be glad to give it to you.
Charlotte