Susan with her Black Eyes

            The Black-eyed-Susan’s are out; lots of yellow with big black dots looking at as from out in the landscaping.

            Many people like to see them spread; many of those same people thought they did, but then changed their minds while on their hands and knees pulling them out of where they didn’t want them to be.

            There is a way to keep them in check.

            First off, know that you will be spending time in the Black-eyed-Susan’s patch; but how much time, that’s up to you.

            Yes, you could wait until things get bad; kill a whole Saturday working them down to a manageable horde. Or you could just clip off the flower heads after the last of the yellow pedals drop off.

            The seeds grow in the big black dots; cut off the big black dots and you remove the seeds, no seeds, no new Black-eyed-Susan’s sprouting everywhere. Now all you have left is the original crown (or crowns, depending how many you planted).

            These crowns do grow out and get wider, but at a tremendously slower pace than the scattering seeds. It seems that every seed that gets blown in the wind, or gets deposited through a bird, sprouts where it lands. Sometimes it’s a wanted plant, most times it’s not; and when it’s not there’s grunt work to be done.

            Be a snipper not a puller.

 If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me at NiemeyerLandscaping@Gmail.com or post a comment on this Blog. Like us on Facebook at Niemeyer Landscaping.