2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
No matter how much the topic of weed control is raised, it is always relevant for gardeners and truck farmers. Wild herbs and flowers are able to please the eye only when they grow not on your site and do not interfere with the development of horticultural crops, taking away everything they need for growth. How to deal with uninvited, vegetable garden vegetation?
Maybe make friends?
According to ancient wisdom, one of the ways to fight the enemy is to befriend him. Why don't we use the weed for peaceful purposes, instead of ruthlessly exterminating it? After all, most weeds are by no means useless: some of them lure pollinators well (dandelion, chamomile, yarrow), someone can become a home for enemies of garden pests (euphorbia, nettle, tansy, field mint, wormwood), and who - something with its attractive appearance can brighten up lonely areas of the garden (ivan tea, colza, chicory, field violet).
And some weeds are able to replenish your phyto-first-aid kit: the string, burdock, celandine, nettle, plantain and so on have a lot of useful properties. Certain types of weeds will also look good on your dinner table - both tasty and healthy. The same nettle, thistle, thistle and others are added to soups, for the second, wheatgrass, horsetail, burdock leaves are suitable. Dandelion is used to prepare not only salads, but also delicious jams. And the ubiquitous dream even sour!
Better to start in autumn
It is worth taking care of a weed-free area even before winter. After harvesting, it is recommended to cultivate the soil with a plow or cultivator (plowless method). This can leave the seeds of most weeds on the surface and freeze. But with the usual digging of the site, the seeds of harmful herbs are well distributed around the entire perimeter of future beds and gradually sprout when you do not expect them at all (even after 10-20 years).
Digging is best done with a pitchfork so as not to cut the roots of the weeds with a shovel, spreading them throughout the site. In those places where only late-ripening crops will be grown, in the fall, siderates can be sown - plants that improve the structure of the soil and displace weeds. Some of these useful herbs are mustard, rye, barley.
De-energize completely
Don't like messing around with mulch? But in vain. After all, it is able to create an effective protective layer through which it is very difficult for weeds to germinate. You can mulch with sawdust, small branches, fallen leaves, decorative pebbles, rotted manure, shells, crushed bark, straw, etc. The optimal layer for mulch is 1.5-2 cm. In this case, you must not touch the stems of the cultivated plant, otherwise they will begin to rot.
You can do it even easier: buy a special covering geotextile, or use the remains of cardboard, roofing material and even newspapers. But plastic wrap is not suitable for such purposes - it completely blocks air and moisture for both weeds and garden plants. Another possible way to "stifle" unwanted greenery is to plant garden plants as close as possible to each other. Spot irrigation or drip irrigation - will deprive weeds of moisture during dry periods.
Smudge wisely
Weeding is an effective and proven method of weed control. It is difficult to imagine caring for any cultivated plant without it. It is important not to miss the time of seed formation on the weed grass and get rid of it regularly. This is easiest to do after watering or rain. It is not bad to walk through the weeds with a sharp hoe - many of the plants will not last long without a top. But not such perennials as clover, the notorious bindweed, dandelion, plantain, etc. It is better to destroy them together with the root by hand.
When cultivating the soil in spring, do not scatter the dug up roots of weeds, but collect them in one place in order to compost them later or completely destroy them. To guarantee against their unwanted reproduction, pour boiling water over them. The dug up soil should not stand idle without planting for too long, otherwise it will be quickly "ennobled" by weeds.
Helper chemistry
Chemicals are designed to help the gardener get rid of weeds more easily and effectively. For example, herbicides that can destroy unwanted plants on the site within 1-2 weeks. There are two types of such preparations: continuous (they get rid of all plants indiscriminately) and selective (they kill only weeds) actions. Before treating the soil with herbicides, it is recommended to stimulate the development of weeds by introducing mullein or ammonium nitrate.
Chemical treatment is usually carried out in calm, dry weather, after mowing the grass and avoiding the ingress of herbicides on crop plants. Do not water the soil for at least 1-2 days. For harmful, tenacious bindweed, it is best to use a herbicide gel pointwise. But you should not get too carried away with such chemistry - you can harm the flora of the entire garden with it.
And a few more tips:
- Do not plant lush weeds around your site. Mow it regularly to prevent weed seeds from getting into your garden.
- Weeds at the foundations of houses or between garden paths are covered with table salt or boiled over.
- The annoying wood louse dies from lime and ash.
- After a rainstorm, cover the non-planted area with polyethylene. So in 1-1, 5 months both weeds and pests will die. After 4 days, the desired crops can be planted.
And finally, a strange paradox: the better to fertilize the soil, the less weed will be on it.
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