laurierobey

Okay, I've just discovered that we have a weed in our yard that Buddha is pretty allergic to. I've also got, for the first time in my life, a poison ivy/oak/sumac rash. Obviously, I need to do some weed elimination in our yard. But we have Buddha, and our next door neighbor's cat, Sheena, and all the birds and beneficial insects and birdfood insects to think about. Bayer has some herbicides http://www.bayeradvanced.com/productFamily/lawn-weed-control.html and http://www.bayeradvanced.com/product/Brush-Killer-Plus/ that look hopeful, but I want to make sure the only thing they'll kill is the weeds they're supposed to kill.

Corn gluten meal isn't really an option because it doesn't work against established weeds, and our backyard is pretty much all established weeds.

I definitely have to do something though, otherwise we won't be able to go out into our yard.

Still got lots to unpack and arrange and weed out, but it was so nice today that I went outside and started to cut back the dead chrysanthemums so they'd start growing again. I also ended up pulling up a bunch of ivy that was encroaching on a couple of trees and making inroads toward the house. Then I cleared the weeds out of this little circle of bulb flowers that just out in the middle of the yard with no border around it. There's a pile of bricks in the side yard that we're going to have to do something about, because it makes far too ideal an environment for rats and snakes. In Herndon, we're supposed to use this 50 gallon paper bags for yard refuse, so I got out one of those to hold the dead chrysanthemum branches, thinking I'd just fill up maybe 25% of it and use it later for more yard waste. The thing is 75% full now.

Now the question is, do I dispose of this stuff with the rest of the trash, or do I try to start composting?