“The house always wins” is a reality every patron of casinos and bookie sites must ultimately face. All the stylish advertising aside, the numbers will eventually fall in favor of the gambling establishments.
It is a hard fact to adjust to, especially for younger bettors. Without going into the minutia of statistics and probability analysis, the person who takes these risks will undoubtedly lose unless they quit while they are ahead.
And they very rarely do.
Another consistent winner is nature. Ask anyone who has gardened or farmed for any length of time, and they know what the end result always is.
As panhandle Florida returns to warm weather and growing plants, the evidence is obvious. Digging in a garden or flowerbed will reveal the unseen activity of a variety plants while the human residents were occupied elsewhere.
Virginia creeper is one of the vines with nodes along the length of its roots. Each of those nodes has the potential to sprout and produce another plant. When removing this vine, it is critical to remove all the roots or the plant is almost certain to return.
Despite the unrelenting efforts last year, all the unwanted vines and roots have returned to cultivated parts of the landscape. All the digging, ripping and removing must be done again if there is any hope of maintaining the appearance of civilization.
Even if chemical warfare was employed, its effects only last for a limited time. In the documents which are required to accompany any herbicide, the term control, not eliminate, is frequently used.
Even soil sterilant, those most astringent weed killers, will not last forever. Also, there are always a few weeds which sneak in, regardless of the compound used.
Most worrisome, especially to commercial agricultural interests, is that the weeds have developed a resistance to the herbicide in use. In a Darwinian twist, the susceptible weeds have been killed and those with some natural resistances are producing a tolerant population.
So, what is a gardener or landscape manager to do? The unpleasant answer is to start the effort again and acknowledge that the work is for temporary control, in effect a strategy to hold the line in an unwinnable war.
There are a few practices which will deliver the best possible outcome, transitory as it is.
When hand weeding be sure to remove all the roots of the offending species. Many plants can survive if all the roots are not taken out of the soil and destroyed.
Most vines fall into this category. They will have nodes or nascent sprouts along their subterranean extensions.
If the vine’s roots break off while being removed, the remaining root will produce one or more plants. They will quickly send out shoots which will have nodes and the labor expended will be in vain.
Do not attempt to compost these roots. Some always survive and will return to their troublesome ways as soon as they can.
If applying herbicide, use a different chemical compound on follow up treatments. This will minimize the possibility of developing a resistant weed population.
This will require more that one sprayer as cross contamination of herbicides can lead to problems, but this expense is a relatively small price to pay given the typical homeowner’s investment in the landscape.
And ALWAYS follow the label directions. Twice as much is usually half as good, or worse.
So even though nature always wins, a diligent homeowner/gardener can have a good run in the meantime.
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