Spring weed control

[Laura Hillier]

Hi all,

How do you keep on top of weeds on your plots and in your gardens in the spring between sowing, planting and other preparations?

Answers may be edited and published in the April 2015 issue of Grow Your Own magazine.

Laura

[lottie dolly]

Keep the ground covered until needed,soil around growing plants,either hand weed or hoe,dependent on the ground conditions

[skeggijon]

I like to remove the weeds and then cover with weed suppressant until ready to use the plot.

[alldigging]

The important thing about weeds is to know which ones need the root getting out and which ones you can just hoe off and not worry about. You should get rid of the thick rooted ones before you sow seeds though!

Little and often and never let anything seed. You can slowly extinguish the weed seed bank in the soil by hoeing so don't ever add to it!

[Stan79]

Fit weed suppressant membrane in the winter before the weather warms up then plant through it as required so you don't end to weed all year!

[WPG]

I leave my green manures in the ground over the winter, and only fork them in a couple of weeks before the bed is needed. Phacelia in particular is really good at crowding out most weeds.

[21up]

Dig deep in dry weather through winter take all deep weeds out
and hopefully you will only have annuals to hoe
(constantly to keep on top of them.
(as long as you hoe they cannot grow)
I never use weed suppressant unless i am putting it on paths or under stones
cheers Peter

[planetologist]

Doing only 4 days a week of paid job :-).

[Penellype]

Mulches do the trick for me in my garden and I find I have very few weeds to worry about (most are seedlings from flowers such as columbine, lobelia and antirrhinum). Different story at my friend's house where the veg garden was riddled with creeping thistle and silverweed. I suspect there will be plenty left when the weeds start to grow again, and digging them out will be the priority.

That reminds me - I need some more cocoashell, so a trip to the garden centre is due

[cheapskate chaz]

Most of the replys are to the hoe and cover variety, for those who cannot get to the allotments that often, there is a home weed killer doing the rounds on facebook, this involves a gallon of white vinegar, a half cup of salt and some liguid soap. there are differing results being put out, as to what effect compared to the nursery sold stuff is i cannot vouch, but I will give it a go, as I need to watch my health, weeding is very much a liquid affair.

[Alison]

Most of the replys are to the hoe and cover variety, for those who cannot get to the allotments that often, there is a home weed killer doing the rounds on facebook, this involves a gallon of white vinegar, a half cup of salt and some liguid soap. there are differing results being put out, as to what effect compared to the nursery sold stuff is i cannot vouch, but I will give it a go, as I need to watch my health, weeding is very much a liquid affair.

Not sure I like the sound of that on my soil and to be honest anything chemical that kills weeds will also have an effect on the plants you want to grow. I too can't get to my plot every day but mulches and covers really do suppress weeds without any potentially negative effects.

[Aberdeenplotter]

Keep the soil moving and in that respect my hoe is my best friend. If too wet too hoe, a supply of cardboard to keep the ground covered is a good alternative as depriving weeds of light prevents them growing.

[Bigmallly]

There is only one winner where weeds are concerned so in the immortal words of The Queen Of Hearts it's "Off With Their Heads"..................with a hoe of course.........

[Aberdeenplotter]

too wet too hoe

apologies about my mis-spell of the second too which of course should be to. I wasn't impersonating an owl

[Bigmallly]

You Tooowit AP.................