My sermon on weeds

A lot of people have been talking about weeds and how to get rid of them – probably more newbies than the old hands. There are all sorts of ideas and methodologies on how to get rid of weeds so I thought that I would try consolidate and simplify the info as I see it.

1.   You will never “get rid” of weeds. The best you can do is manage them.

2.   First you need to get on top of the problem. Ie dig them out. This is the hard part and one that newbies have been known to give up on half way thro. There is no alternative. Even if you use weed killer you will need to dig the remains out.

3.   Once you are on top you need to regularly deal with new weeds. Pull them out, hoe, weed kill, etc… This is because previous weeds have left seed in the soil which will continue to germinate. Seeds can survive several years but you will slowly work your way thro them. Each year you will have less seed in the soil and so less weeds. This may take a few years. Regularly means an hour at least once a week and preferably more often.

4.   Never let a weed flower and produce new seeds. This will put you back another several years. Deal with them.

5.   Weeds are part of nature and nature always wins. However after the hard bit in number 1 above its easier to keep nature at bay.

6.   If you cant do the original big dig and then manage an hour once a week your weed problem won’t reduce and you will lose interest in your plot. This means that you miss out on the good bits – planting, growing and harvesting your own veg.

Sermon over,  WG   

But before you get too hung up on eradicating *every* weed.. it's worth remembering how many of them are edible crops in their own right.. and how many of them support the friendly bugs that help keep the problem bugs in check.  Balance in all things..