They are stopping the sale of glyphosate in France and my local hypermarket now has it in a locked cupboard. But they have started selling pelargonic acid weed killer. I bought a bottle, I wonder if it will work.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
My scientists in Belgium have been telling me for years that glyphosate was being tested and found wanting - present in water courses, present in the human body.......
I had to buy the stuff to kill off the weeds and grass in my future potager from a locked cabinet. I wasn't offered an alternative. It will be a one off project to kill the weeds.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Verdun- Yes I have seen this too. You're all going to think I am mad but I am sure the horizontal runners of bindweed seem to grow in a position in the soil depending on how deeply you cultivate! With mulch it grows up to top as Verdun says. Years ago I was using a very old fork that was not even new when my dad used it. It had become very short pronged and so with some reluctance I bought a new one. I found loads of bindweed roots just a couple of inches below where the old fork would reach! I have seen this difference between single & double digging as well!
When we first started work on our garden in Belgium - former cow pasture so very fertile but riddled with nasties - we had a chap in with a bulldozer to smooth it over and excavate a natural pond for drainage. I then put black plastic down to clear weeds in a huge bed above the pond. One year later, OH goes out all enthusiastic and unsupervised and before I know it he's taken off the plastic and started rotavating.
I came home 3 hours later to find there were bindweed, thistle, nettle, creeping buttercup and couch grass roots running all along the surface and stopped him. Lovely bit of propagating on the rest though. Nightmare.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
The only hope would be that the weeds were weakened by lack of light for the year. This may be why I have read mulch alone takes at least 2 years, and if any can get round the sides & get light & food then it still won't die.
I thunk what I'll take away from this is a dual approach.
Try to suffocate the damned weeds by covering and mulching, and spot treat where it pushes through.
As I want to plant edibles in raised beds anyway I'll need to import good soil to do so. But I'll stick to shallow rooted varieties this year.
I'm a firm believer in organic methods, so will have to strike a balance between what the heart wants and what limits me, such as frustration and lack of funds. Yes it will take time but I'm sure even some aesthetic improvement will increase both the value and satisfaction.
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That was an interesting post Iain.
They are stopping the sale of glyphosate in France and my local hypermarket now has it in a locked cupboard. But they have started selling pelargonic acid weed killer. I bought a bottle, I wonder if it will work.
My scientists in Belgium have been telling me for years that glyphosate was being tested and found wanting - present in water courses, present in the human body.......
I had to buy the stuff to kill off the weeds and grass in my future potager from a locked cabinet. I wasn't offered an alternative. It will be a one off project to kill the weeds.
Verdun- Yes I have seen this too. You're all going to think I am mad but I am sure the horizontal runners of bindweed seem to grow in a position in the soil depending on how deeply you cultivate! With mulch it grows up to top as Verdun says. Years ago I was using a very old fork that was not even new when my dad used it. It had become very short pronged and so with some reluctance I bought a new one. I found loads of bindweed roots just a couple of inches below where the old fork would reach! I have seen this difference between single & double digging as well!
When we first started work on our garden in Belgium - former cow pasture so very fertile but riddled with nasties - we had a chap in with a bulldozer to smooth it over and excavate a natural pond for drainage. I then put black plastic down to clear weeds in a huge bed above the pond. One year later, OH goes out all enthusiastic and unsupervised and before I know it he's taken off the plastic and started rotavating.
I came home 3 hours later to find there were bindweed, thistle, nettle, creeping buttercup and couch grass roots running all along the surface and stopped him. Lovely bit of propagating on the rest though. Nightmare.
The only hope would be that the weeds were weakened by lack of light for the year. This may be why I have read mulch alone takes at least 2 years, and if any can get round the sides & get light & food then it still won't die.
Oh gosh.
I thunk what I'll take away from this is a dual approach.
Try to suffocate the damned weeds by covering and mulching, and spot treat where it pushes through.
As I want to plant edibles in raised beds anyway I'll need to import good soil to do so. But I'll stick to shallow rooted varieties this year.
I'm a firm believer in organic methods, so will have to strike a balance between what the heart wants and what limits me, such as frustration and lack of funds. Yes it will take time but I'm sure even some aesthetic improvement will increase both the value and satisfaction.