What is the difference between thinning and weeding

One of the biggest components of tending any garden is weeding. Most people cringe when they think of weeding, but in the right conditions, weeding can be a favorite activity in the garden. Weeding is one of the only gardening activities that is instantly gratifying.

It might seem difficult to keep a weed-free garden over the summer, but these few tips can help. Having a workday every Monday and Wednesday from will create a time to plant, water, harvest, mulch, and weed. Having that set time means that if you are done at with planting, you have 45 minutes dedicated to weeding. Ask for help.

Weeding is easy for community members to help with, no tools or significant amount of guidance is necessary. Thick layers of woodchip mulch in paths and straw mulch around plants will offer a lot of relief with weeding. If there are any open beds waiting for fall crops or already harvested from, it is really helpful to cover the bed in a very thick layer of straw mulch to keep weeds under control and prevent soil erosion. If you have sown seeds directly into the soil, they will likley grow more plants than you need.

If left un-tended, seedlings may begin to crowd and compete for water, light, and nutrients. Direct seeded crops such as greens, carrots, radishes, and beets need to be thinned weeks after germination. On Dry Sites , usually with sandy or shallow soils, pines usually dominate over other species.

Preferred species: White Pine, Red Pine. Moist Sites usually contain deeper topsoil and loam. Those sites with moderately to well drained soils are suitable for growing a greater variety of preferred species than either dry or wet soils. However, as all species tend to thrive in these, additional weedings or thinnings will probably also be needed. Acceptable species: Red Maple, Beech. Wet or Poorly Drained Sites are not generally suited for commercial tree production.

These groupings are only general tendencies, and should be considered in context. Examples of exceptions that will occur are:. Acceptable species should be favored when preferred species are not present. A good straight stem in an acceptable species should take precedence over a poor quality stem though in a preferred species.

Crooked or divided stems should be thinned out to improve the stand quality. Undesirable species may be retained as "trainers" but should be eliminated when they are cramping or outgrowing preferred or acceptable trees. Of course, species unsuitable for timber, might be valued for other aims.

Red Maple and Shagbark Hickory, for example, yield an exceptionally nutritious leaf litter, which makes them a valuable for the health of river ecosystem, when they grow near streams.

Pure stands of either conifers or hardwoods, because of their more uniform growth rate, may need little or no weeding.

The need for weeding is usually greatest in mixed stands of conifers and hardwoods. To assure that they maintain a dominant position in the stand, where conifers are the crop trees, several weedings may be required.

In mixed stands where hardwoods are to be favored instead of conifers, the need for weeding is less. When weeding in mixed stands of conifers and hardwood, work toward smaller patches of pure hardwoods or conifers by favoring one or the other. By doing so, rates of height growth are more uniform within the group, response to treatment is more effective and the need for future weeding is reduced. Trees removed in weeding or thinning may be cut or girdled with an ax, hatchet, machete or similar tool.

Herbicides may be applied in frills or used as a basal spray, but must be federally, state, and locally registered and applied according to authorized uses, directions on the label and other federal or state requirements.

Weeding and Thinning Young Forest Stands. From the perspective of timber production, forest stands may be considered as composed of: 1.