Lucy Chamberlain’s Fruit and Veg

Do you want to prevent the chaos and destruction of weeds in the most organic way? Lucy Chamberlain looks at the kindest controls for maintaining order in your plot…

THEY steal root space, light, water and nutrients from your fruit and vegetables. They can also harbour pests, diseases and viruses – it’s no wonder we’re constantly waging a war on weeds! But more of us want to ditch chemicals in favour of environmentally sound control methods. So how do we get results?

First, get to know your enemy – there are two main types of weed: those that attack from above ground, and those that strike from beneath the earth.

Annual weeds

These fecund plants thrive due to the ability to produce masses of seeds, and their short life cycles. Just one fat hen plant can yield 60,000 seeds, and these can remain dormant in the soil for 20 years. Annual weeds are often termed ‘ephemeral’, meaning they can complete more than one life cycle (germinate, grow, set seed and die) in a year. Good examples of these ‘life fast, die young’ plants are hairy bittercress and chickweed.

Explosive (oxalis) or feathery (sow thistle) seed capsules that help disperse seeds over a wide area are key traits, as is the ability to quickly germinate in cooler soils. Common annual weeds are chickweed, fat hen, groundsel, hairy bittercress, shepherd’s purse, annual meadowgrass, annual nettle, opium poppy, yellow oxalis, prickly sow thistle.

Perennial weeds

This weed type has incredible powers of rejuvenation. If you’ve rotavated a couch grass-ridden plot in an attempt to clear it, you’ll understand. Their creeping roots and stems contain numerous buds that burst into rampant growth, even when broken into fragments. Deep roots make the most of soil moisture reserves, and can lay dormant in droughts and freezes.

Field bindweed roots dive deeper as the plant ages (3ft/1m in the first year, 13ft/4m in the third). Hoeing the tops off perennial weeds makes them worse, as side buds that were laying dormant will be encouraged into growth. Common perennial weeds are horsetail, ground elder, field bindweed, Japanese knotweed, dock, dandelion, creeping thistle, stinging nettle, couch grass and creeping buttercup.

Don’t worry, these weeds can be thwarted. Read on for my tried and tested methods: no chemicals needed!

“Weeds can harbour pests and diseases”

Certain weeds seem harmless and some, like this yellow oxalis, even look pretty, but don’t be fooled – they can be tenacious and spread rapidly if unchecked

The roots of perennial weeds like dock can survive even if broken into fragments

Hairy bittercress ( Cardamine hirsuta), a ‘live fast, die young’ type of weed

A single fat hen plant can yield 60,000 seeds