RoundUp. Make sure you spray small amounts and do not spray it on the trunk or leaves. RoundUp breaks down quickly in soil, but you don't want to drench the roots in that glyphosate stuff!

I spray similarly for my friend nearby all the time. He and I walk the grounds and he holds cardboard up to block any potential overspray. Light sprays of RoundUp will likely take multiple applications to fully kill the weeds - especially pesky weeds that have gone to seed.

I also suggest that you expand the brick circle a bit if you can.

BTW: if you do not wish to spray, you can always apply it with a paint brush or roller...

good luck - George

Thanks, I will get some and try it. I'll probably change out the mulch at the end of the summer so I'll widen the brick as well.

I don't have citrus in ground due to winter zone temps, but my other trees in ground, I put down a layer of thick cardboard (usually an appliance box from HD with holes in from a pitchfork stabbing spree) then put mulch on top of that. Every other year I have to put down a new layer because it has decomposed. Works great. During the second year, the some greenery will start making its way in, but easily pulled.

I spray RoundUp frequently around all kinds of trees. As George wrote you can use cardboard to keep any spray from reaching the trunk. I have never used cardboard or any other type of trunk protection, and have never had a problem, with any of the varieties of trees. I don't spray directly on the trunk, but the little that might drift on the trunk is not a problem. I am careful not to spray any of the green material, such as foliage. In all the years that I have used RoundUP I have never had a single death. Works great on grass and other weeds. Takes several days to a week after spraying to get a complete kill. In our area we purchase RoundUp in 2.5 gallon drums, from the local Weed Control district.

A herbicide free alternative: a hoe or hula hoe

great advice Jim and healthier too

I use mulch around my trees and for garden path use cardboard and mulch. Sheep wool works fantastic too but I realize that not everybody has access to it.

How are you using the sheeps wool, Susanne? Instead of the cardboard and with mulch on top, or by itself?

robin the sheeps wool goes first and then mulch. Overtime it is felting and does not let anything come through. Of course it will brake down too and has eventually be renewed.

Thanks, I might have to look into that...

I pull my grass and weeds by hand. I have 20 fruit tree that I maintain a 5 foot radius around. I also have 4 in ground citrus trees that I keep weed free. They are in a 30 foot by 6 foot sunken bed growing antibox. It is really easier than you think once you get at it.

6b Steve

sheep's wool sounds nice but I would have no idea about where to get that. I'm going to try round up. I've tried hands weeding. It's just a bit much with a small child full time work and vey free hours a day for such tasks. If I go outside to garden weeknights I have to abandon dinner and my daughter gets to bed too late. I also weed by hand my two long raised beds of veggies, squash and peppers. Not excuses, just tradeoffs. I think roundup might be the excellent option for me here. Can't wait to get it! Thank you all for the advice. After a year I give up the hand weeding!

Just read a lot about round up (banned in lots of countries around the world) before using it especially with a little daughter. I know takes time but worth it. In the meantime you can mix one gallon vinegar, one cup table salt, one tbl dishwashing soap. Mix well and spray on the weed/grass. Best time when sun is out. Late evening you will see weeds are all wilted. You might need to repeat a couple of times until gon and them put mulch around the tree.

Thanks for the idea and warning Susanne. I have those ingredients on hand. I'm willing to give it a go, see how it goes. I like pesticide free options I just wish they'd work better sometimes. I have a lime tree thoroughly invested with clm. I'm at a loss there as well. My citrus was free of clm for so long. Oh well.

Please let us know the result? Picture before and after??? No idea about the CLM as I do not have them on my citrus. In a small setting like yours I probably would squish them every time I see them and don't let any leave accumulate under the tree. Making sure the fertilizing is on top and trees not stressed.

I'm a little nervous about the addition of the salt. Did some googling and it could affect the tree. I tested vinegar and soap. Fingers crossed!

You are only spraying the weeds' leaves and not drenching the ground. It should be safe

6b Steve

I'm anti-Roundup. My neighbor uses it and it kills bunnies. Have had her come by with perishing bunnies over the years for me to "save" them. (She persists in using Roundup.) I've used the vinegar, salt and dishsoap method consistently with no damage to other adjacent plants for years, but admittedly not tried close to citrus. Please don't use Roundup :-(

fertilizer is salt ;). There is a reason other countries banned it. It might not harm your tree what tou can see but it weakens their imune system. A reason to see a lot of CLM for example or fungus.

I'll try the vinegar and salt before I try anything else. Right now the vinegar and soap are on. I used a watering can instead of sprayer. I'll post a before and after once I have an after. I like our bees and other outdoor life(though the spiders, coyotes, and gophers could go elsewhere and I'd be happy) so if I can do this safely all the better. Plus I do have 2 cats that eat grass, even though they subsequently vomit.

Happy to hear it Kelly :-)

Btw, Susanne, I have clm on my peppers also and powder mold on my pumpkins. The peppers aren't invaded as bad as my poor lime tree but the powdery mold is decimating my pumpkins. I'm glad citrus doesn't catch that mold... or at least that I can see.

Next season try to mulch between the punpkin rows, plant with a bit more space inbetween and thin them out so air can get through. Try to avoid watering in the evening so the wet leaves have a chance to dry up bevor night. You can also try copper spray as last resort and that should help with the fungus. Hope that helps for next year ;)

Thank you for the tips. I will try them!

Here's before, yesterday

Today

I only put it on that front area. I need more vinegar. Not sure about it. That was the vinegar and salt.

That's about how mine looks the day after Kelly. Btw, I use 1 gallon of vinegar, 1 cup of salt and a Tbsp of dishwashing soap. Spray it all well with a couple extra passes to any broadleafed weeds. If things aren't dead after a week I'd spray again. But haven't ever had to.

Ok I'll pick up some more vinegar today. Then I'll hand weed the dead soon. Thanks. I'm going to get another tree in the ground today.

Looking good so far. Did you add the soap too?

I did. I can't recall the brand though. Wasn't dawn.

Here's what it looks like now.

awesome :) I would remove the brigs until you gained control, remove all the grass with root, mulch around (stay away from the trunk) and then decide if you want the brigs back. Do they have a purpose? Might be easier to leave them as it might be easier to keep the edge clean.

400!!! I wish. I think I will still weed this dead stuff out, re- mulch and see how it goes. I like the bricks because it tends to block the lawn mower. I'll try some up keep after the vinegar and see how it goes. Our Meyer that was here before we got here tends to have grass around it too. I never mulched that one, they already had a water rim(the big folded vinyl) around it. It has yet to keep up with our lemon demands but since we've moved in I've fed it, weeded around it, and my husband keeps it watered. It has a TON of lemons growing.

John, great Meyer!!! I hope that I can get my Meyer on Mac (in Napa) to that size and shape some day. The freezes keep beating it down - but it is making progress..

Just to chime in on the grass removal conversation - - the drip zone is a NO HO zone in my yards. I have a friend not too far away that refuses to take my advice and spray. He pulls the grass and weeds and aggressively uses a hoe. The orange tree is in terrible condition and he is asking me "why". Well, "duh". He continues to tear out the feeder roots and on top of that, pull out / dispose of the topsoil. If he does not change the habits it will not make it through the winter.

Molewacker, you mean with round up? I think the vinegar and salt are working. I just need to remove the dead. We'll see how long it works. I've only done half of the surrounding area.

We had a ponderosa that had a ton of grass and seemed to be fine but it was large and established. My lime and lemon(pictured) are only at best 3 years old. I just planted them early last year. I appreciate all the advice. I would love to not worry about it. They certainly get enough water for all vegetation but food.... I'll have to check that.

Molewacker if he only hack the weeds everytime they come out and don't use any prevention for recurrence like putting weed protection in form of mulch or cloth, Of course the tree will suffer and eventually die. Weed protection can be done without chemicals.

Kelly, I think your vinegar salt solution for killing what looks to be bermuda grass will work similar to what I saw as a kid growing up in orange groves in southern CA. To control bermuda in them they would spray fuel oil on the plants. After a few days it would turn brown then yellow and look completely dead. After a few months it would grow back. Spraying fuel oil on weeds was common and done several times a year, groves would have 50 gallon drums of it on their property. It didn't kill them but it controlled them. I suspect that in a few months you will have to respray and continue that indefinitely.

Kentc - yes, I do recall hearing about the fuel / oil spray - could have been before RoundUp. ?

In my post above, I meant to say, advise to spray RoundUp. My friend has large spaces between his trees over 1/2 acre - and its all become weeds (its an on-going argument between us). So for that large acreage, RU is an efficient approach, but he refuses to spray.

His wife does not like the way mulch looks and refuse to change their methods - with NO - prevention. So weed-wacking and pulling, and ho-ing they go. Its a mess with billions of seeds ready to go next season. But, I think I am realizing that he likes using his weedwacker (and other power tools) and so nothing will change - except that the trees are struggling / dying.

Is the dying 'cause of the week wacking and injuring or destroying the roots? It's not the weeds taking over, right?

kentc - fuel oil, gasoline? I don't know what fuel oil is.

It was probably diesel oil or some variant, not volatile like gasoline or kerosene. The oil coats the leaves and kills them but doesn't kill the roots.

molewacker, this was in the 60s. My father bought several acres of what had been a larger orange grove to build a house on, we kept the remaining trees alive with the help of a neighbor who had worked in the groves his whole life and was then in his 70s or 80s. He showed my father the oil trick and he bought a drum so that his sons could maintain our mini orchard. The trees were watered by rainbirds on 20' risers that would spray the ground. We used ammonium nitrate once a year to fertilize. Eating those tree ripened Washington navels growing up has made store bought oranges taste insipid even now, 50 years later.

Kent, yes - tree matured fruit is amazing... the commercial growers harvest as early as they are able - to get the product to market. I get that!

My W. navels are much sweeter when left on the tree until late January, February and March... !

Kelly, - yes - the ho-ing and weed pulling is damaging the feeder roots... the trees can't get nutrition and so are starving, and struggling / dying.