This years annual weeds

Is it just my plot or are yours really bad this year?

I thought i was digging much earlier this year and making a good start but been up today and the annual weeds are a nightmare - i honestly have never had as many as i currently do

My neighbouring plot has been left for the last two years which clearly isnt helping with the seeds blowing over into my plot but ive never had such a battle against them, particularly so early

Is it just me?

I wonder if its anything to do with the mild winter

One way to avoid overwintering weeds is not to dig too early in the Autumn. Wait until the soil has cooled a bit and seeds have stopped germinating.

This year has been so mild that I think weeds have been growing right through the Winter. Sometimes the only solution is to turn it over again in the Spring, but that is only possible on light soil where you are not dependant on frost mould for making seedbeds.

Yes Jenny, horses pass a lot of weed seeds straight through, especially grass seeds. If it has been kept in a heap for a year some of the seeds die, but not many.

There are benefits to the early germination. I plan on giving my beds a hoe every week or so for the next month and hope this will kill off most of the weeds before I sow stuff. If the weather was colder or dryer then the weeds would not come up until after much of my stuff had been sown.

I'm the same, although not as bed when i first started 3 years ago, mine are more in clumps now, mainly nettles. I'm sure the mild winter has helped the little blighters