I am just north of Philadelphia and our county extension agent just gave a class on Weeds. He said that solarization doesn't work well for weed control except possibly in a few southern area states.

Also, my opinion is that you may be killing good soil microbes by heating the soil that way. I love the results I get with laying down a few sheets thick of newspaper and covering it with shredded leaves. It stops weeds and is good for the soil.

My mom tried newspaper too but it always didn't do jack for weed control. The only thing that kind of works for me is weed fabric. But it's not so great when you'd like your plants to spread so you can propagate and divide for more plants.

Some weeds will push through newspaper and others will grow in the spaces where you can't put it. Also it may need to be replaced during the growing season as it will break down. So there is always maintenence. As you say, weed fabric works for awhile for weed control but makes dividing more difficult. It allows for liquids and air to pass but blocks solid organic matter from incorporating into the soil.

Our extention agent (I am a volunteer master gardener) commented that the colleges have departments for entomologly and plant diseases but nothing for weeds. And what do we spend most of our time doing? WEED CONTROL! We all laughed because it is so true. Hope you find a good solution.

I hope so too. Even though I would rather not, I have resorted to chemicals. But even they aren't 100% but I find that they are the most effective.

I have a whole area that I need to clear of Rosa multiflora rose (not any cultivers!), Japanese honeysuckle, Asian bittersweet, etc.

The only problem is that there are rabbit warrens (spelling? You know, their burrows) there.

But I really want plant some service berries, elderberries, blue berries, ect. for the wildlife. And us too!

So I'm kind of at a loss of what to do. Those roots are too tenacious for any kind of pulling or tilling.

I was also wondering, I have sooooo many trees in our woods that I would love to find out what they are. Do you guys ever make house calls for plant identification?

I would have to bring a car full of plant samples if I wanted to bring them to an office.

The url I have attached is for a company that provides laminated folding brochures for identification of birds, plants, trees etc. You can look for them locally or order on line. I originally found these at a bookstore while traveling but the Missouri Discovery centers have them in there bookstore. They are some what expensive but provide pictures of the leaves and other parts of plants. You can stand in the rain and use to help identify ducks and other birds or in your case during a nice misty walk in the woods.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant and animal guides

Newspaper works for weed seeds but now you mention multiflora rose and japanese honeysuckle! I have those too in my woods. Digging them out is almost impossible as there are so many and all the tree roots. I go around and cut the rose off at the base (reach in with longer clippers). A giant plant usually has 5 or so canes but they take up a lot of space. The next step I should do is paint the cut ends with brush killer chemical. The best time to do this is when the roots are actively taking in energy in the fall. It may not be too late for you depending on where you live. In the spring and summer they are putting on top growth and not pulling so much down to the roots. But then would be better than winter where they lie dormant and probably could not be killed by chemicals.

The county extension office does not come to you but you generally can leave off samples and they can try to identify it. Call your county office to see if they can do this for you. Or try to find regional plant identification guide books at your local library. I keep meaning to get Eastern Trees-I don't which kind I have but they have nice color:)

Yes but I'm lazy! I want them to come to me!

But seriously, I spoke to a person at the agricultural extention office and he told me to bring them in for free.

Master Gardeners charge money for I.D.s.

Fall is the perfect for me b/c the roses are mostly naked canes now. It stinks thugh that I can't chop down the whole hedge while now is the time to do it. I have to do bit by bit so that the animals still have the bramble until I can replace all of it with native bramble.

Master Gardeners charge money? I would have thought that that would be against their rules and regs.

If you can ever get all of that invasive bramble under control you'll be doing much better than me! Start with a few and see what happens. I just leave the cut rose canes in place, they are too mean! They break down after a year or two but still provide some cover in the mean time.

Master Gardener is just a honorary title given to us by the sponsoring college, in my case Penn State. They train us through the extension office and then we represent Penn State as volunteers to educate the public in gardening issues. We are not paid and cannot accept money for ourselves while representing the university. Now someone who happens to be a master gardener could charge for services (just like anyone else could). But, we cannot advertise that we are master gardeners nor wear the badge to get paid.