WEED ALL ABOUT IT
Fess up, which garden task do you detest? Surveys suggest most gardeners hate weeding. I don’t want to sound smug but I usually enjoy weeding although at times it can seem like a never-ending chore.
I was feeling on top of the weeds until I hit the jackpot. Checking part of our fence to see where the dog had got through into the adjacent paddock, I pushed through the back of the hedge and bingo, there were weeds everywhere. I found thickets of sticky weed laden with seeds, brambles, grasses and much more. You know where I’ll be for the next few days. Who am I kidding, weeks.
Benefits of weeding
Removing weeds, whether weedy plants or unwanted garden plants, is a fundamental part of gardening. On the “nurturing your garden” scale it is up there with the more preferred tasks of watering, fertilising and planting.
Removing weeds and unwanted plants tidies a garden and removes future weeds (if you remove the parts that multiply), reduces habitat for pests and makes room for more desirable plants. It also improves growing conditions for nearby plants as weeds take food, water and often sunlight away from their neighbours.
The question is how to turn weeding from a task we detest into something that feels more rewarding. The key is to plan your campaign. Often weeding is a knee-jerk reaction. You see unwanted weeds and head into the middle of them ripping them out regardless of the heat of the day, lack of proper tools or clothing, forgetting other chores or not even knowing what to replace them with.
If possible, plan your attack. Select a time when it’s comfortable to work, gather the right tools and have the wheelbarrow or a large groundsheet handy to cart away the weeds. Importantly, limit the area you work in so you can complete the job by cleaning up and replacing the weed cover with a layer of mulch.
Stopping regrowth
Weeds can grow back as fast as you pull them out. To reduce the number that return remove all parts that regrow. That means removing the weeds before they set seed (or better, before they flower) and also removing all bits that can regrow such as bulbs and runners.
Many gardeners no longer use herbicides. Without chemical assistance weeding is down to physical work. Hand weed garden beds, but deal with large areas choked with annual weeds by mowing or brushcutting before weeds seed. If they are perennial, grub out the roots and runners and gather up everything to avoid leaving bits to regrow. Cover the weeded area with mulch. Where the weeds are persistent, cover the area with newspaper or cardboard topped with mulch. To reclaim the area as garden, plant through the mulch layer with trees, shrubs and ground covers. And revisit that spot regularly.