Weeding

frazzbo

Hi all,

Now that I'm starting to get going with my garden, it seems the weeds are starting to get going too! They are only really small and I started to pull them out, but there are so many of them and are so small that it was getting a bit tedious - in the end I opted for shifting the soil about around my plants. The soil certainly looks a bit better - not as flat! Of course now all the little weeds are still there, but at least I've dislodged their roots so hopefully I've stopped them growing.

I'm loving the rewardingness (I don't even think that's a word) of my garden, but weeding seems like a thankless task!

I was wondering if anybody has any good tips for how to weed?

Yorkie1

A hoe is your friend!

Although you'll need to dig out deep rooted weeds such as dock & dandelion

Linda32

It all depends on how you look at them really, you could call them "a plant in the wrong place"

Pretty much all of them are good for creatures which in turn are good for the garden.

Learn to live with "all plants"

Insist that you "havn't the time", and let everything grow

The above are my methods.

Hoeing regularly will get rid of the annual weeds (those without big deep roots) even when you can't see them. Now is good weather to do this, if a little hot for you, they just whilt on the surface you see.

If you want to pay out money, these weed killer of course, but be very very careful when you spray this as it will also kill your plants.

Buy lots more plants so there arn't any gaps in your soil for weeds to grow through.

frazzbo

Thanks Linda - I don't want to undo all the 'good work' of the weeds, so I think I would only be doing harm if I was to remove them Perhaps I will leave them alone, and only pull out any big ones!

I'm fairly sure some of my tomato plants are trying to reproduce themselves as well, because some of the 'weeds' that I've been pulling up - particularly around my tomatoes - have looked and smelled a bit like tomato plants. Is that normal?

EDIT - I shall invest in a hoe at the weekend!

mrbadexample

I bought an onion hoe from the Gardener's World show, and it's scarcely been out of my hand since. Very useful tool.

mary-op

Have to admit to being one of those gardeners who believes a weeds only a weed if its somewhere you don't want it to grow.
I've had a lot of gaps filled in the garden with 'weeds' with such pretty flowers......I just couldn't destroy them and they do all have a purpose.
Have to admit those hoe's are very useful for the weeds you want to 'disturb'.

Dandelions can be a pain but I think I read somewhere in a gardening magazine that it's a lot easier to enjoy the flowers -just make sure you uproot them before they get the chance to seed (easier said than done sometimes)

savingmummy

A hoe is my parents best friend and i too have started getting the small leggy weeds appearing but annoyingly in amongst barked edges.
My parents have a country garden which is really difficult to weed and my father hoes every weekend and not a weed in sight.
Some of my parents have some gorgeous flowered weeds that grew (simply missed inbetween plants) and they have turned into gorgeous wild flowers!x

jaxx46

If I took all the weeds out of my "lawn" I would have no lawn lol. In my back garden that houses the veg patch(es) there is a designated area for nettles, thistles and the like but in the front garden there are loads of plants that I think are probably someones idea of weeds, I don't, they have colourful flowers that the bees and butterflies love that'sgood enough for me.

Lotus-eater

frazzbo wrote: »

I was wondering if anybody has any good tips for how to weed?

Often, every day if you can:D

Zazen999

frazzbo wrote: »

I was wondering if anybody has any good tips for how to weed?

Carefully.

I bought s Swoe; and it is the best tool ever.

Just hoe the surface weeds on a hot day; and use a deep weed tool to get the roots out on perennial weeds after a rainstorm.

You'll never be totally rid of them, so accept them and manage them and you'll never be peed off with them.