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I know that this is off topic for the weed control blog but it needs to be said:

My wife and I were having her wedding ring fixed again the other day. The nice young lady at the store asked: “How long have you two been married?” We answered “7 years”. The young lady then responded: “I just got engaged and I hope that I can be married for 7 years too!”. About that time my wife and I both bit our tongues not wanting to get in an argument with the nice lady that had my wife’s ring.

Why would anyone hope to be married for only 7 years. In the ceremony doesn’t the priest say: “Till death due you part.” When we marry our spouse are we making a life long bond that no man can take apart because we were sealed by God. Do you think that the problem with the divorce rate is that people have their hopes set to low. I remember when I told my friends that I was marring my beautiful wife they all joked that my life was over, no more fun and the big ball and chain around my ankle. My really close friends and those that enjoyed spending times with their families all congratulated me. Some even joked, about time. Julie and I dated for 4 years before I proposed, we knew after three and a half years that we would get married but we kept that low key. She was still in college and I did not have much money, heck, I didnt have any money. I had to put her engagement ring on layaway at the outlet jewelry store in the bad part of town.

After the announcement was made the advice came in from all the family members, “Divorce is not an option”, “Never go to bed mad at each other” and “Have a weekly date night.” were just some examples. No one told us that those things were really hard to do but we never gave up. Young couples need to know that being happily married can be hard at times, we are tested everyday. The stuff we watch on tv, read in books and see in the movies all say that divorce is okay and that it is an option when the road gets rough. My wife and I work everyday on our relationship. We never take a day off or go on vacation when working on our marriage. Do we get into arguments? Yes, and we have had some dandies. But we never give up on each other. Never going to bed mad at each other. That is some great advice! Try it, its the hardest. We have stayed up past midnight with this one, usually trying to figure out why she was mad at me. (Guys will understand this, ladies just give us a hint or a time frame on why you are mad at us. You really dont want us to list everything that we could have done to upset you.) Stay up late and talk it over and dont lie to each other and say that everything is okay when it is not just so that you can go to bed. Have a weekly date night. We struggle with this one all the time. Lately for us this one has been catching up on tv. We have no kids so this should be easy, but it is not. She works hard, three, 12 hour shifts a week and doesn’t have the same night off 2 weeks in a row. Date night doesn’t have to be expensive, dollar menu and a local park, cook dinner together, go play putt putt. Exchange baby sitting with a neighbor couple that also wants a night without kids. You can have Family Night, Julie and I were invited to a friend’s house about a year ago for this. It was wonderful, we all ate dinner together, sang, said prayers and played games. They do this every week, so I know that it can be done. They have 4 kids and are one of the happiest couples I know. And that brings us to “Divorce is not an option.” I tell you what, if you do the above things, and you really do it, don’t fake it, it wont be an option. It will never even be brought up. You may notice a trend, Faith. As much as some dont want to admit it, Faith of some kind must be present in a marriage. I was proud of my sister when she sent me a text a few years ago, How do you go about finding a Church when your beliefs are different? She is now happily married.

You may ask, well Bill, how long do you want to be married for? I don’t know, my wife and I joke sometimes, “We will be married well into our 100’s!” But why sell our selves short, I want to be married forever to the same woman I met in 1997 or 98. I cannot believe it had been that long, it seems that just yesterday that we bought our home together and that was in 2004.

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This question is asked by many in the Valley of the Sun. On one side we are tired of pushing the mower, but on the other side we want to one up our neighbor and have a green lawn all winter. Others might look at it differently. I myself would like to save the money from not having to water the grass, the maintenance on the lawn mower or having to fertilize the grass. For those that dont want a winter lawn I would suggest putting down a pre emergence weed control. This will keep the winter annuals from germinating. As the temps drop below 100 lower your watering by 10%-15%. As the temps continue to drop lower your watering. During the winter you can lower your watering to as little once every 10-14 days. When you put the pre emergence on the turf it would be a good idea to also put another pre emergence on the desert area of your property. Coming in the next few weeks I will give you advice to seed that winter lawn that you want.

Bill

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Do you know how much water a lawn needs in the desert?  That question does have more than one answer.  It depends on if you want a green lush lawn or just an alive lawn.  Most recommendations come from the water companies and their watering recommendations are just to keep the turf alive.  Do you really think that all the golf courses just water enough to keep the turf alive?  I dont think so.  I will give my recommendations and I am sure that there will be many that will disagree with me.

Some say that watering Bermuda grass once every three days is good enough.  I use those guidelines when I dont want to have to pay someone to mow my yard when I am out of town.  The turf color suffers and growth is slowed.  I water 6 days a week, skipping Fridays and any day that we get a summer storm.  If you dont want to have to adjust your sprinkler system when it rains you can buy a rain sensor that hooks up to the timer and it automatically skips watering during rain.  This not only saves time it also saves water.  I water before the sun comes out so that the water does not evaporate with the hot summer sun.  I water about 1/3 inch each watering.  You can measure this by using a plastic container placed in the yard during watering.  Set you system to kick on and measure the time it takes to fill the canisters 1/3 inch.  Then set your timer for that time.  Remember each zone can be different, so measure each zone.  For me its 4 min up front and 6 min in the back for each zone.

Mowing and fertilization are both very important to a healthy looking turf. Mowing heights depend on the blend of the Bermuda planted in your turf. A good rule of thumb is that Bermuda grass looks better the shorter it is. Tiff is popular in the Valley and that should be mowed at less than an inch. Most other Bermuda blends should be 1 1/2 – 2 1/4 inches. When mowing never cut off more than a third of the grass blade at a time. I know this means mowing more than once a week, but you want the best looking lawn in the neighborhood dont you?!? The fertilizing is the easy part. Visit a local nursery and get a good quality fertilizer that is made for our desert conditions. Apply it per the directions. Buying from a local nursery instead of a big box store will cost a few extra bucks, but you will notice the difference.

Following these directions in your turf will cut down on the amount of weeds that you gave in your turf. when I get weeds in my turf it is usually purple nutsedge and I just cut the water back by 10% and the nutsedge will die on its own, as long as it has not taken over.

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Russian Thistle – Also known as Tumble weed.

This is an annual herb, not a weed, but most states have this categirized as a weed.  It will grow to be .5-6 feet tall.  These weeds can be found almost year round in the southwest.  It can grow in elevations between 150 – 7,000 feet and ususally flowers May to Oct or Nov.  This weed seeds out to spread.  As the plants dry out they break off at the base and start to blow around spreading it seeds.  They are known as ‘tumble weeds’ after they break off.  Glyphosate is the best product to control this.  To prevent this weed or herb use a premergence.

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Milk Thistle – From the Thistle Family

This weed can be both an annual and biennial weed. It will grow to be 2 to 5 feet tall.  These weeds are common March thru August.  It grows in elevations usually between 1,000 to 3,500 feet elevation.  This weed has many spines in the leaves.  It has flowers that are purple in color.   Some say this weed contains nitrates at a toxic level but it is not common enough to cause issues in Arizona.  It can be prevented by a pre-emergent.  Some selective herbicides and glyphosate will also control it.  Please dont abuse the comment section on this blog or they will be disabled because I dont have time to personally approve every message.

Thanks, The Weed Control Guy.

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Common Mallow – From the Mallow Family. This weed can be both an annual and biennial weed. It will grow to be 1 to 3 feet tall. The weed grows from the base. It has large leaves that alternate and are round in shape. They have a red spot at the base of the leaf. The weed does have small flowers. The flowers are blue or pink. The plant spreads by seeding out. It can grow year round with water but will usually die in areas not watered. It can be prevented by a pre-emergent. Some selective herbicides and glyphosate will also control it.

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London Rocket – From the Mustard family. This weed is a winter annual and usually dies when the temps rise.  It will stay around longer in shady moist areas.  The plant is green and the flowers are yellow.  The plant grows to a height of up to 3 feet.  It can be controlled with some selective herbicides.  No need to use glyphosate for control. To prevent this weed from taking over use a pre emergent two times a year, especially in the south.

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Welcome to Weed Control Guy.com.  We will be posting all kinds of weeds that cover the Phoenix Valley.  Weeds that corrode our neighborhoods.  Noxious thistles that cause HOAs to come knocking.  Got a weed problem?  We’ve got the solution!

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