FREE OF WEEDS
Niva and Yotam Kay of Pakaraka Permaculture on the Cormandel Peninsula, have written the book on weeding strategies. Well, it’s a chapter in The Abundant Garden, nonetheless, they share what they learned here in this extract
Niva and Yotam Kay have a strategy that makes light work of weeds
There are three main strategies we use to establish a weed-free garden. The first is getting rid of the pre-existing weed seeds in the soil, known as the ‘soil’s seed bank’, through short, regular weeding sessions. Seeds can remain dormant until favourable conditions prompt them to grow, so it will take a few seasons to completely exhaust the seed bank, and the wind will continue to blow new seeds onto the beds as well. The trick is to weed little and often; removing weeds when they are small is much easier than when they are established.
The second strategy for a weed-free garden is to avoid soil disturbance using no-till practices. By keeping the soil layers intact, seeds located deep in the soil are not brought to the surface, where the light and warmth will encourage them to germinate.
The final strategy is not to let any weeds get established in the garden. Once weeds are established, they can quickly take over big portions of your cultivated beds, making them even harder to remove. Established weeds develop large quantities of viable seeds, which, once dispersed throughout the garden, will undermine your previous weeding efforts. As the saying goes, ‘one year’s seeds makes seven years of weeds’.
In general, if you think you can see seeds on the plant, those seeds will be viable. Remove these plants carefully, so they don’t drop seeds into the growing bed. These plants should not go directly onto the compost heap. Instead, they can be fed to the chickens or soaked in a bucket of water for a week before being added to the compost pile.
Weeds will always pop up in your garden, but as you work to decrease their number, your workload will also significantly decrease in the years to come.
Weeding basics
When weeding, timing is everything. It’s important to do your weeding when the ground is as dry as possible (without damaging crops of course). When the soil is moist from rain or watering, weeds re-root themselves more easily. Aim to weed on a sunny morning, when the sun is beating down, as even large weeds will dry out. Usually, after a few sunny hours, you can turn the irrigation back on. In winter, you will need to pick up most of the weeds you have cut, because they are likely to re-establish themselves if you leave them on the soil.
If there are a lot of weeds in the area where you are planning your garden, you could space your rows so their
One of the best ways to maintain a productive garden without hours and hours of labour is to keep the garden as weed-free as possible.
Forms
Along with their range of sizes, dahlias come in a dazzling array of forms, most of which fall into one of the following groups. Some are perfectly symmetrical, with tightly spaced petals, while others have a loose, lush look. They may have different petal styles and lengths, with open centres or not. When it comes to choosing varieties, people’s preferences vary widely – some prefer cactus types, while others will grow only informal decoratives. I’m personally drawn to the oddballs, including anemone, stellar, incurved cactus and orchette. Over time you might find yourself gravitating to particular classes and understanding the differences between them will help you when selecting new varieties.
How to grow
Dahlias are relatively easy to grow and need only a few essentials: good soil, adequate water and lots of sun. These beauties are sensitive to the cold, and if you live in an area with cold winters you’ll need to dig up your tubers in autumn and store them until it’s time to replant in the spring.
Sun
Dahlias thrive in warm sunny weather. Plant them in a spot that gets at least six hours of direct sunlight each day.
width matches one of your hoes for efficient weeding. We’ve found this approach hugely helpful when we are establishing a new garden bed.
Weeding doesn’t have to happen only in predetermined weeding sessions. When you are harvesting vegetables and encounter a patch with weeds, it’s worth spending a few minutes to pull them out. If you are already bending down to harvest, take the opportunity to pull out a few weeds as well. Developing a mentality of ‘let’s take care of it’, rather than ‘leave it for later’ goes a long way towards creating a productive garden.
Although weeds will come up throughout the year, you will have spikes of weed pressure at certain times depending on which weeds are predominant in your area. Spring is usually one of these times, as weeds try to grow before the dry weather kicks in. In our garden, there is also a spike in autumn, and we make sure to concentrate our weeding around that time, so we can start the winter with no established weeds.
Repeated shallow cultivation
Weeding with a hoe is more effective when you hit weeds while they are tiny. Once weeds grow larger than about 5cm (2 inches) tall, they don’t die as easily, and it takes significantly more time and effort to weed them. Aim to cut the plants with the hoe, just below the ground so that the leaves are separated from the
“It’s best to avoid pulling weeds as it takes the organic matter from the soil.”
YOTAM AND NIVA KAY
roots. When plants are young, they rarely recover from this trauma.
In addition to cutting them, young, small weeds can be smothered with a thin layer of soil. Both these strategies allow the weeds to be eliminated without causing a significant disturbance to the soil, as well as leaving the roots’ biomass to decompose in the ground and feed the soil’s biological community. Generally, it’s best to avoid pulling weeds, as it takes organic matter from the soil and causes a disturbance that will often give birth to a new flush of weeds.
When weed pressure is high, hoe the paths and beds every two or three weeks to tackle the weeds when they are vulnerable. This will make a big impact and make weeding easier in future years. It usually takes up to two hours to skim through our 1000sqm garden.
When working with a long-handled hoe, hold the hoe with your thumbs facing up. This helps to keep your back straight and your shoulders broad, maintaining good body posture while doing most of the weeding while standing up. Try it; you’ll be amazed to feel the difference between thumbs up and thumbs down, and how your muscles respond to each position. If you get tired or if the weeds are 5–15cm (2–6 inches) tall, switch to thumbs down so you can apply more force. For weeds larger than 15cm (6 inches), it is usually better to skim them off at ground level with a spade.
The stale-bed technique
One of the best weeding practices is to weed before your crops are even in the ground. Do this by tricking the weeds into growing; by preparing the bed and keeping it moist, but not planting anything into it, you will create favourable conditions for weeds to germinate. After 10 days to two weeks, a flush of weeds will pop up; hoe the bed to kill these weeds, then keep it dry for another day. Once the weed pressure has reduced, it’s time to plant or sow the vegetables you want to grow.
Covering beds
When a bed is not in use or not going to be planted or sown in a couple of weeks, it is best to cover it with weedmat, tarps or heavy mulch. This helps to protect the soil biology, prevents soil erosion and compaction by rain, and stops the bed from growing a crop of weeds.
Weeds aren’t evil
We also want to say that weeds are not evil! Most plants we consider weeds are usually the first to colonise bare land after a natural disaster. They have an important ecological function as pioneer plants that protect the soil. While they are growing, they improve the conditions for other long-term plants to flourish, and in the meantime, they also feed the soil’s biology.
Many weeds also have medicinal properties, some are edible, and many will flower and provide food for bees and beneficial insects. However, you really don’t want them in your vegetable gardens, so you should systematically get rid of them... but there is no need to resent them while you’re doing so.