| Weeds are a menace to all gardeners and particularly | | | | matter how thoroughly you have cleared the ground |
| when your time is strictly limited so weed control is | | | | birds, wind, pets and people will introduce new seed |
| vital. We have better things to do than spend all our | | | | and contaminate your borders and beds. You must |
| time weeding. The first task for any gardener | | | | take preventative action and create conditions that |
| establishing a low maintenance garden is to clear the | | | | make it difficult for such weed seeds to germinate |
| ground of any perennial and annual weeds, and the | | | | and grow. |
| second is to prevent their re-growth. | | | | There are several ways to do this. You can cover |
| Any gardener who plants on land that has not been | | | | part of the garden with a hard surface e.g. slabs or |
| thoroughly cleared of an infestation of deep-rooted | | | | gravel. Another method is to crush-plant perennials so |
| weeds will regret their idleness. A clean start before | | | | that any weed seeds are denied light. Packing in as |
| new planting is a must. This is hard work but | | | | many plants as possible will produce foliage that |
| necessary. Dig over the plot to a depth of around 12 | | | | provides complete ground cover and suppresses |
| inches, loosen the soil, and remove the tough weed | | | | weed growth. You can cover areas of exposed soil |
| roots. Use a Cornish shovel or a fork to sift through | | | | with a thick blanket of mulch. Apart from suppressing |
| the soil. You must remove every scrap of plant root | | | | weeds, or making their removal easy, mulches |
| that you see because any fragments left behind will | | | | benefit the plants they surround by allowing moisture |
| be a source of new weed growth, especially since | | | | to penetrate the soil while limiting its evaporation by |
| these scraps of root will benefit from the soil being | | | | providing a barrier between the soil and the air. |
| newly dug. | | | | Despite your best efforts to control weeds a few |
| If you do not have time to do this yourself, hire | | | | will survive and will have to be weeded out manually |
| someone who is completely trustworthy. If this job is | | | | or dealt with using a chemical weedkiller. There are |
| done quickly and carelessly it will do more harm than | | | | different types of weedkiller that act on the plant |
| good. As a safeguard, before digging up the roots, it | | | | foliage. There is also a type of weedkiller, known as |
| is a good idea is to spray the ground with a total | | | | pre-emergent, that acts on bare ground, suppressing |
| weedkiller (glyphosate) and allow its action to take | | | | any weeds that attempt to break through the |
| effect before digging starts. This will reduce the | | | | surface of the soil. |
| likelihood of weed re-infestation through carelessness. | | | | If you follow these simple weed control steps you |
| Removing the existing weeds is part of the weed | | | | will successfully clear your garden of weeds and keep |
| control process but fresh weed seeds are all around | | | | it weed free with the minimum of maintenance. |
| and they will inevitably arrive in your garden. No | | | | |