Coping with the Weeds, Managing the Beans

If the weeds have gotten ahead of you, the best thing to do is admit it. Then take a grass shears and chop off the flowers – or seedheads, as the case may be. Pile the cuttings in deep shade, where they can decay – or sprout and THEN decay – without causing further problems. The living weeds will rebloom before long, but this does give you some breathing room – and it’s far and away the most efficient use of limited weeding time. The results don’t LOOK as tidy as getting some small corner nicely weed-free, but the payoff in future weed prevention is far larger.

Early bush beans should be slacking off soon. You can just let them peter out, but after all the work it took to prepare the bed, it’s nice to do something else with it. If you have pole beans coming along, might as well cut off the bean plants at ground level and plant some greens (try to leave the bean roots in place to nourish the soil).

If you don’t have more beans on the way, cut the plants down to about 5 inches tall. Water well, then feed with a mixture of fish emulsion and liquid seaweed. In about 2 weeks they’ll be back to full size and ready to make a second crop.