PHOENIX — With all of the rain we experienced last month, you may have noticed more weeds are popping up across the Valley.
Bill Potts with Goodman’s Landscape Maintenance says there is one weed in particular, called Stinknet, that is more invasive than the rest. You’ll recognize it by the small yellow flower on the end. Stinknet originated from South Africa but has made its way to the Valley. He says nothing will eat it, not even goats.
“It replicates itself five-thousand times every 13 days,” Potts said.
But Stinknet is just one of the many kinds of weeds you may see around your yard. In fact, Potts says spring is one of their busiest seasons for weed control.
He recommends getting a licensed professional to come out every six months and use chemicals to kill them. He says buying a bottle of weed killer at the store and trying it on your own can be dangerous, as many people accidentally touch their mouth or eyes while applying it.
While you can pull them on your own, he says you need to get the entire root, or else they will sprout back up the next time it rains.
“You can try to manually use a hula-ho and things like that but when you use a hula-ho, you cut the plant off, and then mother nature has been very helpful for growing weeds because if it gets a water source, it will regrow,” he said.
Potts says now is the time to get the weeds gone, ahead of a dry summer. Dead weeds are fuel for a wildfire.
