Weed out the problems early
THERE'S an old gardening adage 'One year of seeds means seven years of weeds' and how true that is! If you don't get on top of them at the beginning of a growing season you'll be trying to catch up all year.
Control should really begin over winter when seemingly innocuous annuals are noticed on vacant land and in between winter brassica crops. Chickweed (Stellaria media), Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) and hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsute) are three of the worst offenders.
Despite the cold weather they germinate, grow and produce seeds with alarming ease, thus storing up problems for the future. Bittercress is especially rampant, with a dispersal mechanism that projects seeds up to one metre from the plant at alarming speed.
The very presence of these weeds in Winter provides refuge for dormant pests, which continue to enjoy residence close to a food source in Summer. Examine a handful of chickweed taken from the vegetable garden and there are bound to be small slugs present. The other good reason to be tough with annual weeds is that they compete for nutrients and growing space. My preference is to go for mechanical control by keeping the hoe moving regularly and hand picking. Leave them lying on warm, sunny days, and most annual weeds will have shrivelled within hours. Adding such plant material to the compost area is an option but only in the absence of seed heads.
A different strategy is required for perennial weeds for they have persistent underground stems or roots which act as storage organs. This allows them to remain dormant until spring and start a new growth cycle each year. Hoeing of the top growth at least weakens them but very soon new shoots appear. If you can find the time and energy, digging them out, roots and all, is the best defence but even then, more seeds have a way of drifting in on the latest breeze. Never look upon weed control as a one-off, rather a continuous battle to stamp your authority on the garden.
Beating weeds at their own game by depriving them of daylight, which is essential to photosynthesis the plant food making process, is a popular control method. This is achieved by laying mulch over them. A deep layer of composted material, wood chips or gravel, are some of the options available. Heavy duty black polythene weighed down with bricks is acceptable on an allotment but for the garden, make the measure doubly effective and attractive by covering with a layer of gravel.
Cultivated plants that have a natural ground hugging habit can also help by depriving weeds of the bare soil areas they need to gain a foothold. In this garden, where there are plantings of geranium, bugle (ajuga), periwinkle (vinca), lamb's lugs (stachys), heather and euonymus you will be hard pressed to find weeds. Many of the plants introduced here have developed weed-like characteristics over time, overcrowding their neighbours, self seeding at a prolific rate and testing our patience. Some were only sown or planted once and that has been enough it seems to ensure perpetuity. Greatest offenders are borage, foxglove, calendula, heartsease and Lenten rose. Feverfew and Welsh poppy arrived uninvited, perhaps in soil attached to plants gifted by a friend. No doubt you have a list of such plants that is special to your garden.
Chemical weed control should never be undertaken lightly. At the very least, do choose the right 'horse for the course'. There is no sense in using a diquat-based weed killer which only affects the top growth if you are treating perennials.
A glyphosate-based spray such as 'Tumbleweed' is more appropriate for it is absorbed by the leaves and travels right down to the roots. Safety is of even greater importance. Don't start spraying operations until you have adequate personal protection by way of clothing, hand and eye cover, etc. Never decant such chemicals into bottles and always lock them up, well away from children.
Spraying near growing plants demands a fair degree of accuracy because the chemicals used go for green tissue, be it weeds or precious cultivated plants. It follows that windy days and weed killers do not go together well! The detrimental effects of mismanaged spraying operations are too numerous to ponder but here are three gems from the past.
The roses in a bed next to crazy paving suddenly started to die off in midsummer. When questioned, the owner admitted using a residual weed-killer on the paths and had deliberately chosen a calm day and watering can to avoid spray drift. This he'd achieved but Sadly, the chemical had 'run' into the adjoining bed and down to the roots.
Immediately after applying sodium chlorate to another path, the gardener walked across lawn. Next day and for weeks after, ghostly brown footprints marked each step of the way as if Fungus the Bogeyman had paid a visit.
If you have a greenhouse, lawn and paths, and decide to use a watering can for weed-killing operations — buy three! Mark one 'P' for paths, another 'L' for lawns, and the third 'G' for greenhouse. The reasoning is simple. If the 'P' can is used to mix and apply a selective weedkiller to the lawn, any residue will affect the grass. Similarly, using the 'P' or 'L' can in a greenhouse could be catastrophic. It happened when an acquaintance used his only can to apply selective lawn weed-killer then watered the tomatoes. Over the following days they took off like rockets into contorted growth then collapsed in a heap on the bench.
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Weather for Morpeth
Wednesday 30 May 2012
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 10 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 8 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
