Grass turns brown, but weeds may not

The many suburban homeowners who are letting their lawns die to help conserve water may learn what farmers have known for their lifetimes — that weeds aren’t killed that easily.

Besides exemplifying the sheer ugliness of brown lawns, dozens of weed varieties can take up residence in former lawns, grow to unbelievable heights, drop enormous quantities of seed, provide cover for other weed varieties, find moisture where the lawn grasses can not, and spring up when more moisture arrives in a profusion of unwanted and unhealthy growth.

Increasingly air-conscious parents may also learn the hard way that several weed varieties release pollen and seed pods into their family’s breathing space with varying degrees of misery for young and old. Ever hear of rag weed?

Farmers and their research supporters, especially those at the University of California Cooperative Extension service spend huge amounts of time and money learning the characteristics and weaknesses of hundreds of weed varieties. It seems that about the time they develop a sure means of chemically controlling one weed variety, it morphs into a form that resists the chemical compound, and the battle begins anew.

That has been exactly the case with Roundup, a miracle compound developed by Monsanto Chemical Co. several years ago. It was considered a Godsend by many in and out of agriculture. Bermuda grass, which can be a first-class nuisance on and off farms, is one of the plants Roundup controlled. The compound entered the plant’s system and killed from within.

But resistance by some weed varieties to Roundup began showing up three or four years ago. One of those nuisance plants is horseweed, often called mare’s tail. It is common and widespread in practically every California agricultural setting. Losing Roundup’s effectiveness against it was a major disappointment to thousands of farmers.

The use of Roundup was so widespread that scientists bred into some commercial crops, cotton for instance, a resistance. That allowed cotton crops to be sprayed with Roundup, which attacked the weeds sprouting in the fields, without damaging the cotton itself. Cotton and some other beneficial crops with the resistance bred in are called Roundup ready.

Any compound as effective as Roundup, manufactured by a company as prominent as Monsanto was sure to attract the attention and criticism of naysayer pretend-to-be environmentalists. They have campaigned vigorously against the compound and the company. Their loud wailings have become almost as big a nuisance to the farm community as the weeds, which have been Roundup’s target.

That is only one story of a miracle chemical that has saved farmers, and thereby consumers, millions. Scientists are working constantly to find others, which may be badly needed when those brown lawns become green again. Weeds are persistent and tough, and they try to become part of any growth plot that is new or renewed.

By no means do farmers have a lock on weeds, but they know quite a bit about controlling them, chemically or the old fashioned way. As a class of farmers organic growers seem to be the most familiar, partly because several weed control chemicals popular with conventional growers are not allowed if a grower chooses to produce crops that are designated organic.

Some suburbanites accustomed to choosing and consuming organic foods might choose to control their new crop of weeds without using herbicides or other weed control chemicals. They will surely spend a lot of time on hands and knees.

After a while they might want to retain that position and do some praying, because “weed-free” doesn’t come easy, downtown or down on the farm.

• Don Curlee is a freelance writer who specializes in agricultural issues.