Easy weeding for infirms!

7roland8

Hi - we have a small little chapel garden that no one is tending. We want to try and keep the weeds down but cannot really afford to pay anyone.

It has paths around the outside of the chapel while inside the lowered walls is a slated area which has plastic underneath - though it is now almost covered in weeds.

What is the best and easiest way to sort this out?

None of us are really fit enough to do much or carry anything heavy but the price we were quoted seemed silly so we thought maybe we could try ourselves.

As you can see I am no gardener and do not know one weedkiller from the other!

We are lucky that the local council fund the grass cutting of the graveyard but the left is left to us to sort.

Farway

I do similar, tending the borders for local Age Concern, we luckily have volunteer free help from local council, SSE and Waitrose

I do not know your area, but try the volunteer web pages on local council, any local supermarkets and perhaps schools, our local tech college designed & is building a war memorial for us, the council volunteers, dug a rose commemorative rose bed for the memorial, SSE treated our wooden fences, and Waitrose provided and helped with a Christmas lunch

The help is out there but does need finding

I do not know where you are, but try streetlife.com, free, put your post code in to keep it local and see what turns up

Some did just that and now there are litter pickers doing the rounds in local area

7roland8

Thanks Farway for all the useful tips.

Ours is a closed chapel which was demolished - we raised funds to create the garden inside the walls but fail to have people to maintain it. Luckily the community council pay for the graveyard part to be cut.

Sadly the War Memorial is elsewhere but I shall be following up your suggestions.

I did try the Streetlife site but nothing very local to us.

SallyG

Cherish the weeds - save the bumblebees.

7roland8

Oh we have plenty of weeds and overgrown places all over the village - a huge common right next door so no end of cover for wildlife.

7roland8

Have been reading that vinegar (or vinegar mixed with salt) is a good and cheap weed killer - any opinions?

wellused

Weed killer is one option as is getting volunteers to do it if you can but one thing that I have faith in where weeds are concerned is the tactic of little and often. If it is possible to get at the weeds by hand or using one of those litter picker tools could you pull them out on a little and often basis. If the weeds are growing on top of the plastic membrane the roots shouldn't be too deep and if there is a few of you it could be possible to keep on top of the job doing it for as little as half an hour a day. I don't know your situation and this may be impossible but even the biggest jobs can be done if you have enough time to spare.

7roland8

Yes thanks Wellused.

I also subscribe to that principle and did do some last autumn - every time I passed - though I never got to be winning and of course with spring they are back with a vengeance.

Had a quote from a local chap but quite expensive I thought - took some pics today and pulled some more - though if we do pay someone I am wasting my time!

If others agree I will follow up some leads suggested above about trying to get volunteers or funding.

sheramber

Are there any scout or guide companies around? They may help out for one of their badges- gardening or helping the community or something.

Or a donation to their funds, if that is possible.

You may even garner some permanent help from that.

Davesnave

The problem here, as in many MSE posts, is a lack of quantification.

We don't know what sort of area exactly, what counts as a 'silly' price and what would be too heavy.

So, this suggestion is conventional, but that's because it works. I use it on my front drive area of compacted hardcore, just in larger quantities....probably.

1. Get a knapsack sprayer - about £50-60 for a Matabi or similar.
2. Buy some Roseate weedkiller (it's glyphosate) on Amazon - you decide the amount.
3. Mix up 5 litres of weedkiller at a time, which will weigh 5 kg, and spray it on the weeds. Knapsack means no carrying by hand and no significant bending.
4. Wait for results - about 3 weeks.
5. Repeat at intervals in the growing season, as you cannot now buy persistent weedkiller and new weeds will emerge.

Total outlay £100 max. The sprayer should last you 5 years or more and is effectively a one-off cost. What about a grant (one off) from the parish council? Badger them!

That's it. If you are not too bothered about the long term effects on the soil, the alternative is bags of road salt, but they are heavy, hard to apply and not necessarily cheaper in the long term.

7roland8

Thanks Sheramber and Davesnave - no real close scouts or school really but will consider.

Thanks for the tips Davesnave. I suppose the price/quote of around £150 may not see excessive but I was going by the cost of weedkiller. If I was more mobile would happily do it myself. But maybe I am out of touch with todays prices!

Thanks fro saying what to buy etc - as you can see I am not green fingered!