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Gardening in the UK

Preventing weeds to grow. HELP

16 years ago

Hello all

Just tidied up a jungle. As the garden was covered in weed trees and a layer of old leaves were on the soil, there are no weeds and the soil is nicely mulched.

But...to keep it like that, what is the best I can do. I have not got the money or the time to design and plant the garden this year. Not looking forward to that the weeds are taking over in the meantime.

What is best? To cover it in the wood shreddings which I got from all the stems and branches I shredded? Or any other suggestions to keep it weed free?

Thank you

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Comments (7)

Claire_W
16 years ago
Hello

Well done clearing all those trees out! But the weeds, yes they do spring up as soon as they get a chance. You have 3 choices really - mechanical (hoeing, chopping back, hand weeding); chemical (spray them off with Round-up or similar); or mulching (chippings, thick cardboard, black plastic).

I favour black plastic, because nothing can grow through it, and what ever is underneath dies off. I doesn't look too good though. Cardboard is ok, several layers and then cover with the chippings/shreddings . . . I've found though that the cardboard grows a crop of fungus after a while, which is a little off putting!

Hoeing is pretty good, and you can chop through weed roots quite quickly if the soil is dry.

Good luck with what ever you choose!
flora_uk
16 years ago
'One year's seeding, seven year's weeding'. You will need to keep at it and gradually the weeds will slow down. My allotment has hardly any weeds now after many years cultivation but it still has bindweed. Claire-w is right - there is really no quick fix. Just be patient and plod on. It will work in the end.
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timtaylor
16 years ago
Have you tried using an automatic hedge trimmer? This is the easier alternative if you want a green lawn instead of a barren looking one. But if you want to kill all the weed, use a weed killer instead.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hedge Cutters
vetivert8
16 years ago
Just be sure that none of your shreddings has the capacity to root. (Willow is great for this.) They're not weed species for nothing!

And - the seeds came from somewhere. Each year I have to pull little barberry seedlings come from bird deposits. As flora says, it's an annual task.
pnbrown
15 years ago
Beware the plastic, it starves the soil of moisture and kills all the soil life.
greengrass_grower
15 years ago
You should let the weeds return and then kill them back in the spring with a glyphosate treatment like roundup. This will prevent many of these weeds coming up and ruining your planting in the future.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fresh Turf
tonythegardener
15 years ago
Gently and regularly hoe where there are no weeds.

Here is a link that might be useful: Allotment Garden

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