Biggest pest is weeds....

Weeds to me are the biggest pest in any garden, from couch grass to bind weed they seem to get on many nerves and in every corner.

Apart from digging them out or covering them with weed suppressant, is there any other ways of getting rid of them?

Also, is there a way of keeping them out of the borders and from wrapping round the plants you want to keep for show?

I have left the borders for a few months now and have found that these have virtually taken over the whole border. That and the creeping butter cup which is easy to remove.

Turn over one sticky clod of soil and there they are the dreaded two show up in vast numbers, Oh to be rid of them.

The only way that comes to mind, is to lift all my plants and start again with freshly dug soil and ensure that the smallest of weeds are removed before trying to get them in again.

Trouble with this is that the climbing roses and clematis are in and have these weeds intertwined with their root system, thus allowing them to continually grow and spread.

Your thoughts and help in this matter would ease my mind and will to give up the ghost to those awful weeds.

 

I'd try one of the dab it on systemic weed killers.

 

Do they do this in 50 gallon tubs Zigs?

 

My heartfelt sympathy Landimad. I have ground elder for my sins. I clear what Ican at the commencement of the growing season (now) but can see it coming up though the stems of roses I planted last year. The roses are settled and I don't wish to disturb them now of course. I have just ordered Glysophate paint on gel from Amazon and all I can do is paint the new growth which is readily accessible at the moment as the rose has only tiny shoots.

 

Yeuk ! the very same problem here .. The few borders that I have are a mass of bluddy weeds

 

Roundup systemic weedkiller applied with care will sort your problem.
Use as a weed wipe rather than a spray to keep off clematis and roses.
Something like this link or could make your own
http://www.progreen.co.uk/Applicati.../-Weedstick/Hand-held-Weedstick/prod_269.html

 

We cured Ground Elder in our previous garden with Roundup / Glyphosate. Lost a few plants in the process, as we had a large area so sprayed "trying to avoid plants" but I found that Ground Elder readily sucummbed to Roundup, over a couple of seasons

Bindweed, in and amongst plants, in our current garden, is proving to be a lot more difficult to eradicate with chemicals. Every time I dig I find the fat, white, brittle roots, so clearly the chemical warfare I am waging is not actually killing the roots. I think the fact that Bindweed emerges relatively late makes it harder to combat as all plants are well established by then and provide cover and hiding places for bindweed.

 

The problem with these types of weed is, if you leave part of the root in the ground it will re-shoot. Regarding the bindweed, if you can pull a major part of it away from what it's growing up leaving the roots in the ground, push as much of that as possible into a bin liner and then spray Roundup or similar into the bag an onto the plant, then close off the bag until it dies.

Regarding the weeds in borders. If you have the patience, cut off the top and bottom of a large soft drink bottle, put that over the individual weed then spray, this will avoid contact with other plants, after spraying one move on to the next. Remember not to do it on a breezy day because of drift.

 

PS Sheal. Love your avatar... My favourite plane of all,
jenny

 

Thank you Jenny, I don't think Armandii will be to pleased to hear that!

 

The old saying "Never let it see a Sunday" helps too - keeping cutting the tops off, e.g. hoeing, to weaken the plant

 

Trouble is Kristen, the blighter's are getting stronger not weaker. Even with their heads lopped off. Must be something in my soil.

 

If you use a systemic weedkiller the plant absorbs it and in effect it kills it from within.
The little blighters wont come back

 

Trouble is that I do not have a weedkiller nor a chemical in the garden Lawnman. I do not wish to use them again after seeing reports on us loosing our bee population to some of these.

On the flip side, just one drop of rain and their little heads have shot through which has meant more hoeing for me and digging up of the roots to keep them at bay.