What tolerance do you have for weeds?

This weed pops up daily in one of the Baker gardens.

A gardening expert published in the Quad-City Times Home & Garden section has the right idea when it comes to weeds: "Remove weeds from garden beds and borders as soon as they appear," writes Melinda Myers, author of more than 20 books on gardening and a columnist for "Birds & Blooms" magazine.

"These (weeds) steal water and nutrients from desirable garden plants," she continues. "Plus, they can harbor insects and diseases harmful to your plants. Remove them before they flower and seed and you will have hundreds of less weeds to pull next season."

I have pulled hundreds of weeds, or "plants out of place." As I did this one day, I thought I'd ask some other avid gardeners how they tolerate weeds. Zero? A few? Many?

Those participating in this blog: Marion Meginnis, third ward alderman for City of Davenport; Sarah Hayden, reporter for Moline Dispatch and Quad-City Times and Peggy Dykes, retired employee of the Quad-City Times. Marion gardens in the city; Sarah on an acreage in Bettendorf, Peggy on the west side of Davenport, and I'm in northern Scott County.

Here's what they had to say:

Marion: She and her husband, Jack Haberman, are very involved in the Gateway Redevelopment Group. The have and also manage many garden beds. "All the praise goes to Jack," Marion says. She does some of the "easy" weeding, but Jack does the bulk of it. His major issue is bindweed.

Sarah: There are several gardens on the Hayden's acreage, with species of hostas, phlox, butterfly weed, Russian sage, coneflowers, daisies and more. She doesn't exactly have zero tolerance for the weeds. "The issue I have is making time to do it," she says. "I tend to get focused on one area and weed it until it's done."

Peggy: Her home, in a residential area near Pine Street, has garden beds on all four sides. She pulls weeds, using a Dutch hoe with a two-sided blade. She uses mulch, a lot, and that helps. She also sits down in some areas and uses a garden knife to get all the weed roots. "It's tedious but I like doing it," she says. After she is done weeding she sprinkles a product called Preen (check this out!). She also uses Round-Up, sparingly, for weeds she can't reach by other methods. "So far I'm holding the weeds at bay," she says.

Me: I'm like all those quoted, above. I have a forked edge weeder, which I use religiously. I have Preen. I buy several yards of mulch every spring. My husband sprays Round-Up in hard-to-reach areas. I've also used boiling water in some instances.

That's how "zero tolerance" is defined, at least on this acreage.