How to Eradicate Weeds from Garden Organically?

Flowers, Trees, Lawns, Infrastructures, Maintenance & anything else!
Post Reply
User avatar
Mo
Legendary Laner
Posts: 15368
Joined: 30 Apr 2007, 09:39
Location: Cheshire (nr Chester)

Re: How to Eradicate Weeds from Garden Organically?

Post by Mo »

What is it like now - borders? lawns? Shrubs? paths? How big.

What do you want it to be - decorative or productive? Do you want to keep what is there or start from scratch?

(Just written a rambling answer tha assumes thing you haven't told us)

Try not to let the weeds seed. Munching or mowing are good

Good luck.
Dance caller. http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html
Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
Gwenoakes
Legendary Laner
Posts: 7325
Joined: 11 Aug 2007, 19:58

Re: How to Eradicate Weeds from Garden Organically?

Post by Gwenoakes »

You can use ordinary household salt for dandelions, just sprinkle on and it also works for Ragwort too.
User avatar
lancashire lass
Legendary Laner
Posts: 6528
Joined: 28 Jun 2007, 15:17

Re: How to Eradicate Weeds from Garden Organically?

Post by lancashire lass »

I presume the original question has been deleted for some reason?

My experience with the allotment was to simply cover the bed with a weed suppressant material as you can cover large areas at the same time - something like sheets of cardboard or a heavy black plastic weighted down with bricks will prevent light from reaching the plants and they will eventually die off. It is a slow process - well established weeds with deep roots will have food stores and will simply grow again when the cover is lifted. A cover may need to be down for a year or more and even then, as soon as the cover is lifted, weed seeds on the soil surface will benefit from cleared ground and germinate quickly - the trick is to hoe them off while they are still seedlings (chopping the growing tip off will mean they cannot photosynthesize and grow)

On the same theme of light exclusion - heavy mulching (grass cuttings, leaf mould / compost) on cleared beds will prevent the seeds from germinating but those that have already germinated and growing are likely to just push through the mulch.

There are different types of weeds - annual and perennial. Annual weeds tend to germinate in late winter/spring and grow rapidly in the first half of the year then burst into flower and set a lot of seed by late summer / early autumn. Most annual weeds have shallow roots and generally easy to hand weed. Perennial weeds on the other hand tend to have deeper roots and usually survive heavy cropping (example - mowing the lawn, trying to pull up and unable to lift the entire plant up such as dandelions and dock) Other examples of perennial weeds include couch grass and horsetail - their roots spread out and send shoots away from the main plant .... when using something like a weed suppressant material to cover ground, if some of the outer plants are still able to grow in the light, they will be able to keep the entire root system sustained. When the cover is lifted, they will simply grow again. Most established perennial weeds will push through even a heavy mulch. And because the roots already have a food store, perennial weeds usually flower in early spring (think of dandelions in April) allowing their seed to spread and germinate quickly so that they can get established over the summer months.
User avatar
lancashire lass
Legendary Laner
Posts: 6528
Joined: 28 Jun 2007, 15:17

Re: How to Eradicate Weeds from Garden Organically?

Post by lancashire lass »

lancashire lass wrote:Perennial weeds on the other hand tend to have deeper roots and usually survive heavy cropping (example - mowing the lawn, trying to pull up and unable to lift the entire plant up such as dandelions and dock)


I meant to follow this up with:

As the roots are a food store, plants that have been heavily cropped will try to grow quickly again so that photosynthesis can take place as soon as possible. Growing uses up the food store, and photosynthesis replenishes it. So if you can keep removing the top of the plants before the leaves can grow, eventually the food store in the roots will become exhausted and the plant will weaken. This may be possible if you only have a small bed to care for, but when considering a larger plot, it does become a lot like the Forth Bridge .... no sooner have you finished, you should be starting over again to keep on top of it. A plant that has been defoliated will try to bounce back a lot more quickly than normal growth.
User avatar
Mo
Legendary Laner
Posts: 15368
Joined: 30 Apr 2007, 09:39
Location: Cheshire (nr Chester)

Re: How to Eradicate Weeds from Garden Organically?

Post by Mo »

lancashire lass wrote:I presume the original question has been deleted for some reason?


I seem to remember it was a badly phrased question from a new member which I answered then got suspicious about - the mods must have agreed with me.
Dance caller. http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html
Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
Post Reply