How do you keep weeds under control

Posts

• izzy8 Posts: 147

  November 2022

  I tend to use a hoe as I don't really want to use weedkillers. Having said that Richard Jackson has a spray that is based on geranium leaves, it is supposed to be human and animal friendly. May be worth investigating for more information. 

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• GardenerSuze Posts: 5,692

  November 2022

  @Blues I wonder if you are able to weed in the winter or is it just too wet? Getting weeds before they form first and second generations is best and much easier in the long run. A hoe used weekly when the ground is dry can save hours of weeding. The other and best alternative once an area is clear is to grow ground cover plants hardy geraniums are good. In properly cleared ground there won't be weeds if you have a tapestry of plants.
  I would avoid weed killer at all costs kill the insects no food for the birds. Also a concern for the health of us humans too.

  I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.

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• borgadr Posts: 718

  November 2022

  I'm also weedkiller-free except as a last resort (hands up, I used glyphosate on ground elder last year). I hope this doesn't sound sanctimonious, but from my perspective it's hoeing when I can (when it's dry and they're still small) and, most the time, getting down on my hands and knees and weeding - an endless but pleasantly therapeutic task. And it's one of those jobs that, even if you only have 10 minutes to spare it's always worth just doing a small patch.
  
  This year I was spared the need to weed during the summer, it was so dry for so long that nothing really germinated. They've been back with a vengeance since September though.
  
  
  

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• Busy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043

  November 2022

  I weed either with a hoe or on my knees with a hand fork or trowel - which is more thorough.
  
  I do use weedkiller for the drive. Glyphosate worked well but it is now banned in France. Vinegar and salt with a squirt of washing up liquid worked for a bit on the drive. @izzy8 the weedkiller made from geraniums is now sold in French garden centres so I tried it. It was expensive but it promised good results on the bottle. It hardly worked at all, waste of money.

  Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.

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• punkdoc Posts: 15,039

  November 2022

  I love weeding, especially trying to identify precious gems that have seeded amongst the baddies.

  How can you lie there and think of England
  When you don't even know who's in the team
  
  S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border

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• Liriodendron Posts: 8,328

  November 2022

  Some interesting plants - often sown by birds, I think - have sprung up in my gravel drive.  It's hard on the knees but I'm trying to weed it by hand, so as not to lose any treasures.  (It incidentally gives me an idea for an alternative, free medium for sowing next spring:  a 70:30 mix of pea gravel and soil seems to work remarkably well...)

  Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.

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• robairdmacraignil Posts: 782

  November 2022

  Finger and thumb is the most used weed killer in the garden here with a follow up with a trowel for the ones that have got past seedling stage. If I don't recognise something that has self seeded I let it get a bit bigger and as has already been said these seedlings can sometimes turn out to be something nice like forget-me-not, pot marigold, common daisy, fox gloves......

  
  

  Happy gardening!
  

  https://www.youtube.com/user/sustainableveg/videos
  

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• Fairygirl Posts: 55,117

  November 2022

  I have very few weeds - lots of ground cover is the best solution.
  
  The very mild winter last year meant more than usual though ,so a quick pulling out every time I was out there was the best method. 

  It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
  
  
  
  I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...

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• bédé Posts: 3,095

  November 2022 edited November 2022

  Blues said:

   the best weed killer I've found is the residue left over from using humidifier crystals in my caravan

  Could be Silica Gel (usually called crystals) - good in the garden for moisture holding.  Or Calcium Chloride (usually called flakes) - good for calcium addition without alkalinity.  Try it on clay.
  
  Weeding should be regular and continuous.  But different techniques needed for vegetable plot, flower border, shrubs and vicious roses.

   location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
  "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

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• Loxley Posts: 5,698

  November 2022

  If I use a weedkiller, it will be glyphosate. It affects the plant it is applied to (not others nearby, and not plants planted in the same spot afterward). The trouble is with adding chemicals indiscriminately, is they could build up in the soil and make it toxic for all plants - salt for example.

  "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 

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