Alan’s organic guide to tackling weeds
Alan shares his most effective organic techniques for removing and preventing unwanted weeds
Look for alternative means of keeping on-top of plant invaders other than spraying willy-nilly-with noxious fluids that can have a damaging effect
There are no two ways about it – gardeners are obsessed with weeds. It’s easy to see why: they compete with the plants we love, they appear in every available nook and cranny, and they interfere with the aesthetic appreciation of our well-cultivated plot.
But what exactly is a weed? The precise definition is that a weed is a “plant growing where it is not wanted”, but to most of us a weed is the name we give to any British wildflower (mainly the ugly ones!) that invades our beds and borders. There are annual kinds that seed themselves freely and there are perennials with tenacious roots that are the very devil to eradicate.
Of course, these days native wildflowers must be encouraged in all our gardens to benefit insect life, so cultivating a little tolerance is good for everyone. But some weeds can become a real nuisance – and should be your focus (see panel overleaf).
The challenge for the organic gardener is to control weeds without resorting to chemicals, which, as far as the amateur is concerned, are soon likely to be phased out anyway. Safer by far is to look for alternative means of keeping on top of these plant invaders other than spraying willy-nilly with noxious fluids that can have a damaging effect on our environment and upset the balance of nature.
Different types of weed are a problem in different areas of the garden. On the veg plot it’s usually annual weeds that are a nuisance – self-seeding and growing rapidly. In beds and borders, where the soil is disturbed less frequently, perennial weeds have the chance to get their roots firmly established.
Chemical-free methods
Organic gardeners must look to a range of ways other than chemicals if they’re to have a garden where weeds have little chance of survival. In my own garden, there is one major way I combat weeds in borders – I grow the cultivated plants close together in well-enriched soil, so they quickly form an impenetrable blanket over the ground, allowing little room for opportunist weeds. Bare earth is an open invitation to outsiders, so I do my best to avoid it.
If the ground is cleared of thick-rooted perennial weeds at the outset (by forking over and pulling out their roots before planting), organic enrichment is used to ‘beef up’ the soil, and the earth between the new plants is mulched with a 3cm layer of well-rotted organic matter, chipped bark or suchlike, then the moisture will be sealed in and the cultivated plants (provided they do not go short of water) will establish rapidly and smother out any chance invaders.
Weed-suppressing membrane can be used at the back of borders, covered with bark chippings, for a more permanent
means of control. Avoid using it under gravel paths though, as it always seems to poke through and look ugly. While it’s tempting to spray weedkiller on paths, boiling water is effective at killing tiny weeds between paving and in gravel, as is a sharp-bladed hoe.
Healthy border plants that are not short of food and water are much better at fending off weed competition. Any weeds that do appear can be forked out or pulled up by hand before they multiply. I hand pull or prise out weeds on an almost daily basis, but as there are so few, thanks to this little-andoften approach, the job is a pleasure not a chore. On the veg patch, pushing a Dutch hoe regularly between the rows is the easiest way of controlling annual weeds. Those that crop up within rows can be pulled by hand.
When it comes to weeds in the lawn, I regard mine as a green botanic garden
– a mixture of grasses, clover and other low-growing plants that make an attractive sward. My rotary mower, which has a heavy rear roller, still manages to produce stripes, in spite of the impurity of the turf. I do prise out plantains, dandelions and daisies by hand with a daisy grubber (a useful little tool), but the rest I have come to tolerate.
When cultivating a new piece of weedinfested land, there are a few options open to you. You can strim back the heavy top growth and then mow it. You can fork or dig over the entire area and remove as much weed root as possible, bearing in mind that you will have to keep on teasing out the bits you missed for a year or two afterwards (it’s called ‘gardening’) or you can cover an area with weed-supressing membrane, weighted down with bricks, and leave it in place for two years, by which time most of the growth will have died. But during that time you will have to gaze upon an ugly black carpet, which will do nothing for your spirits.
Give and take
Without a doubt, being an organic gardener means you have to compromise. Yes, take action where weeds threaten to take over from your cultivated plants, and even force them out of existence, but get used to the appearance of a few throughout the year.
The key is to keep on top of weeds regularly, rather than letting them get out of hand, and to grow your plants well and close together so that they allow little room for these alien invaders. Think of your borders as a dense patchwork quilt and you will come to feel far less paranoid about the odd uninvited guest. VISIT gardenersworld.com/organicweeding for more advice on removing and preventing weeds organically