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grow actively throughout the entire growing season providing a wide treatment window. <br />Chemical treatments often contain strict application windows pertaining to the target <br />species stage of growth. Mechanical treatment also requires proper timing to prevent seed <br />formation and obtain optimal results. Biological control methods will require proper timing <br />for optimal results as well. <br />The final preparatory step is to determine the priority for areas to be treated. Due to certain <br />constraints it may not be possible to treat all infested areas every year. Therefore, a priority <br />list should be utilized. Prioritization ensures that the most important azeas are dealt with at <br />the most effective times. One of the major areas of concern is topsoil, both prior to <br />stripping and stockpiling and prior to redistributing on reclamation areas. When noxious <br />weeds are stripped with topsoil and stockpiled it is highly likely that weeds will infest the <br />topsoil stockpile. When a topsoil stockpile is heavily infested with weeds and is <br />redistributed, what originally was a small localized problem becomes a more widespread <br />problem. Treatment of topsoil will be addressed in more detail later in this section. <br />Other high priority areas to be considered are major traffic areas, road cuts and <br />embankments, and non-use areas around buildings. Ditches and pond embankments should <br />be considered priority treatment areas to prevent offsite contamination by water transported <br />seeds. Lazge monoculture patches are of concern wherever they occur and should always <br />be prime targets. Also, small patches of weeds should always be treated to prevent <br />expansion of the infested area. It takes less input in labor, time, and materials and can <br />prevent a small problem from becoming a major infestation in a very short time. <br />The final step is to implement your plan. Experiment with different control plans to find <br />out what works best for your situation. Keep good records of these treatments to measure <br />success and failure, and to eliminate unsuccessful treatments. To quickly recap the major <br />points; identify, map, reseazch control measures, secure equipment, setup treatment <br />windows, prioritize and implement. <br />B. Methods of Weed Control <br />When determining which weed control strategies to employ it is appropriate to learn about <br />the different types of weed control. There are basically four different types of weed control: <br />mechanical, biological, chemical, and cultural. As previously mentioned, a combination of <br />these controls usually gives better and longer lasting results. Once it is determined why <br />weeds aze occurring in the first place, strategies can be developed not only to eliminate the <br />existing problem, but also to prevent future problems. The following is a brief description <br />and some examples of each weed control type. <br />1. Mechanical control is the physical removal of weeds from the soil medium and <br />includes tilling, mowing, cutting, or burning undesirable plant species (weeds). <br />Tillage is most effective prior to seeding and establishment of desirable vegetation. <br />The tillage method of weed control can be effective in eliminating noxious perennial <br />weeds when repeated at short intervals (every 1-2 weeks} throughout the growing <br />season. <br />-g- <br />