Help,with weeds

Justagardener

You apply glyphosate to the plant at the same concentration whether you've bought ready mix at B&Q or a tub of concentrated 360/450 g/l trade stuff

I disagree. The concentrate is nothing to do with how much you mix with water or is "ready mixed" and then sprayed on the plant. 120g/l for domestic and 360g/l + for professional it's stronger. Sorry am I missing your point Dan?

DaftyDuck

Nettles will keel over even at the lower dose of so-called 'domestic', and for a patch that's only a few feet square, even a small quantity will be more than sufficient. Go to Wilko, Asda, save some dosh. Buy the smallest, cheapest glyphosate you can. NOT path weedkiller, with some residual action, or nowt else will grow.

Keep it simple, guys, the op is a new gardener, to be cultivated, not drowned.

I think a spade or fork would be a more useful purchase, if you want to spend some cash, as it will be reusable for the rest of the garden when the time comes.

Sicard

Here's some recipes for the nettles if you're interested: https://food52.com/blog/9935-stinging-nettles-and-the-best-ways-to-eat-them

Justagardener

Keep it simple, guys, the op is a new gardener, to be cultivated, not drowned.

Fair comment :beer:
enjoy the new patch you can't go wrong... you can always treat weeds as and when they come through.

Icecannon

Cheers guys for all the replies, really useful info there.

I'll look into the plants suggested, thanks for that.

I also have a balcony, thankfully no weeds to clear up there, just plants and pots to buy.

calnmui

Justagardener wrote: »

Take your time and Kill the weeds properly with a strong glyphosate weed killer don't waste your money on garden centre weed killers, use something like gallup or rosate 360 you can get these on amazon. Then plant Perhaps a miniature buddleia, a hebe. A euonymus and a buxus , maybe a few hardy geraniums and then leave small pockets to pop bedding plants In for seasonal interest...if it was me i would then cover the soil with 10mm pea shingle.

hope you dont mind me asking but would these kill off dock leaf too? we have just moved home and my garden it completely over run with them, i'm looking to get rid before putting new top soil down. thanks in advance

Davesnave

calnmui wrote: »

hope you dont mind me asking but would these kill off dock leaf too? we have just moved home and my garden it completely over run with them, i'm looking to get rid before putting new top soil down. thanks in advance

Yes, docks will be killed by glyphosate, but if they've been there some time and seeding, there will be a legacy of seeds in the ground, so you sahould learn to ID them early and get them out young, before a deep tap root forms.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Nettles are great for several species of butterfly, so the odd one or two that pop up after clearance wouldn't be a bad thing - just pull up any that appear right by the path.

You can also treat the fresh top leaves as spinach.

moneyistooshorttomention

Honey_Bear wrote: »

I'd put on a pair of stout gloves and pull them up. Very satisfying.

That's what I'd do too. I've certainly pulled up nettles before now when I havent even been trying to - I was just trying to pick some leaves. I certainly don't have much strength:cool: - so if I can manage it = pretty much anyone can.

Making it even easier - wait till there's been a good fall of rain and it will be even easier to do.