Wipe out those wicked weeds
IT DOESN’T matter whether it’s long and narrow, short and wide, rectangular, round or an irregular shape – a well-tended lawn will make a big difference to your garden. For many, they make up the largest part of the garden and are essential for setting beds, borders and other features off to perfection.
Yet all too often our lawns are let down by weeds. Daisies, dandelions, buttercups, clover, plantain, chickweed and many more pesky plants will spoil the appearance. Worse still, weeds left to their own devices will self-seed or spread at a furious rate, smothering the grass.
Fortunately, it’s possible to improve the look of lawns by dealing with weeds this spring. A patch of grass with a few pest plants dotted here and there can be tackled by careful hand weeding, while lawns that are overrun with unwanted wild flowers are best treated with a ‘weed and feed’-style product. Shallow-rooted weeds, such as daisies, are easy to remove with a trowel or a specialist daisygrubber – a hand tool with a long, two-pronged blade. Start by loosening soil around the leaves with a hand fork and then use your chosen tool to lever clumps out of the ground.
Dandelions require a little more effort as they use long taproots to anchor themselves deep in the ground. The root is fairly brittle and breaks easily, and new plants can regenerate from any bits that remain. To remove it successfully, use a narrow, long-bladed dandelion trowel or Japanese garden knife.
Another option is to buy a weed-puller device, such as Fiskars Xact (€59.95, lenehans. ie). Push the four claws over a weed, put your foot on the lever, pull back and out pops the weed.