Use a pre-emergent herbicide, and cultivate at least once before sunflowersare 12 inches tall. Twice is better. Sunflowers are drought tolerant, and watering encourages weeds. Sunflowers are among the few crops that make seed when planted late, even without cultivation. Weed control is essential if you plan to hunt doves on your sunflower field.
Weeds eliminate open ground, which doves require for feeding.
Click here to view more Habitat Hints . If you have never visited Shaw Arboretum, you never will. Instead you'll have to visit the Shaw Nature Reserve. The Missouri Botanical Garden, which owns the 2,500-acre tract near Gray Summit, recently changed the area's name to better reflect its purpose of maintaining a rich diversity of indigenous plants and animals. With its restored prairies, wildflower garden, wetlands and other natural landscapes, the area doesn't really fit the description of an arboretum.