Your Guide to Weeding

Weeding is an almost year-round job on the veg plot – with spring and summer being the key months – and can end up being quite time consuming, too, if particularly invasive weeds take control. However, there are lots of different methods and equipment you can use, so all growers can find something that suits them.

TECHNIQUES TO USE ON THE PLOT
For those not wanting to do a lot of digging, and those with a large growing space, covering the ground with material such as a thick black plastic weighed down can effectively smother weeds by denying them sunlight. Natural covering such as mulches can also be used successfully to drown out the light to weeds, and have the added benefit of helping your soil retain moisture. This method is ideal if you are time-strapped and can only work on small sections of your plot at a time. This prevents the rest of the area becoming overrun with weeds. It is important to remember that some materials are not suitable for this purpose, so do check. Also, if you garden on an allotment it is always worth checking that your site doesn’t have any restrictions.

Hoeing is one of the best and most effective ways of keeping on top of volunteer plants, with a sharp draw hoe being an invaluable piece of kit to have in your shed. Regular hoeing chops the young weeds off before they have the chance to become established. One thing to keep an eye out for when using this technique is any plants that have set seed heads, as cutting them down can cause the weeds to spread – which is particularly anti-social if you garden on an allotment plot or a communal space.

You can pull weeds out of the ground by hand, or with hand tools, but if these are perennial types it is important not to snap the stem, as the plant will just grow back. Instead, ensure you are lifting as much of the root as possible, which helps minimise the risk of regrowth. Another method that can be useful with certain types of weeds is cutting them down to ground level.

Repeatedly doing this can weaken the plants over time, with them eventually not growing back. This often doesn’t work on the hardier types, though.

On paved areas, flame guns are a great option for burning off the weeds. Make sure the foliage is dry and that appropriate safety measures have been followed
before use.

TOUGH CONTENDERS
There are some volunteer plants that are harder to eradicate than others. Ground elder, bindweed, horse tail, couch grass and the like are all stubborn and can spread, becoming a large problem – particularly on allotment sites where some plots may have been left unattended, allowing them to really take hold. Bindweed can also (as the name would suggest) wind itself around your crops, strangling them and using them to climb. Therefore, getting rid of this plant isn’t always easy if you don’t want to damage your veg.

Ridding a plot of weeds that grow from rhizomes can be a particularly tricky task, as these roots can penetrate veg deep down into the earth, meaning it is often very difficult to remove all of them, and any trace of them left can be enough to re-grow. Regular, thorough digging and hoeing are often the best non-chemical controls, but do need patience.

AN ONGOING TASK
Often the most effective way of dealing with these unwanted plants is using a combination of the above techniques – preparing your ground well, covering any unattended areas, and not leaving weeds until they become too large to be manageable should help you keep on top of things.

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