Fighting the weeds in the garden

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Weed control methods
Weed control
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Weeds are indestructible! As much as we would like to get rid of them once and for all will not work. But there are tricks that will help to significantly reduce their number in the beds. How to deal with weeds in the garden

Scientists calculated that for some crops, weeds can reduce the yield of the main crop by 40-50% (1). Just imagine, on not well-groomed beds, weeds “eat up” half of our crop! Therefore, it is imperative to fight them. Only systematic control measures will help keep them in check. It is worth being lazy, letting things take their course – they immediately capture the entire territory.

Weed control methods

Here are some farming practices that will help reduce the number of weeds in the garden.

Weed the garden more often. If you live in the country, then the manual method is the best option for you.

“The constant oppression of herbs sometimes seems like a struggle between Hercules and the Lernean Hydra – you pulled out one head, and two grow in its place,” says agronomist Mikhail Vorobyov. “But it is still more effective and safer than using chemicals. By stubborn weeding, I even managed to get rid of the field bindweed. Every three days he pulled out new shoots, thereby methodically weakening the root system and depriving the leaves of the energy that the leaves received from the sun. Many weeds have a supply of vitality – in the roots (wheatgrass, thistle). But this power is not infinite, and patience and work will grind everything …

Dig up the area and remove all rhizomes. You can weed out couch grass, thistles, gout or dandelions as much as you like, but they will still grow. You can get rid of them only by digging up the site and carefully selecting all the rhizomes. Only here it is necessary to dig not with a shovel, but with a pitchfork. With a shovel, you will definitely cut the underground shoots into pieces, and then a new weed will grow from each. The pitchfork allows you to select whole rhizomes. The method is laborious, difficult, but very reliable and effective.

Mulch the beds. This method is the most ideal for weekend summer residents. Fortunately, now in any garden center you can buy a very beautiful mulch – from bark, often tinted, wood chips or small pebbles. First, it’s beautiful. And secondly, by filling with mulch previously weeded flower beds or beds with strawberry bushes, you will rid yourself of weeds for the whole summer.

“You can fill the beds with freshly cut grass,” explains agronomist Mikhail Vorobyov. – It will be free. Just remember, if you mow with a lawn mower, the layer of freshly cut grass must be thin so that it dries normally. Otherwise, the grass rots intensively and releases ammonia. This is for plants – like nitrogen fertilizer or fresh manure, accelerating growth. If in the spring and early summer such top dressing is only beneficial, then in the second half of the summer it is completely useless. However, an excess amount of nitrogen compounds is harmful at any time – the roots can get a chemical burn. With grass cut with a regular scythe, there are no such problems.

Observe crop rotation. Many summer residents have heard that the same crop cannot be planted in the same place for several years in a row – pests and pathogens accumulate in the soil. But not only them. One of the leading scientists in the field of crop rotation, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences. Sciences, Professor Sergei Vorobyov noted that non-observance of crop rotation leads to an increase in soil contamination with weeds (2).

You don’t have to look far for examples. Still weed potatoes? And then you walk along the rows, and you are surprised: here and there, weeds lurk right in the bushes. How could they not be noticed? And it’s very simple. One of the main potato weeds is common amaranth. Its leaves are very similar to potato leaves, so skipping it is a common thing. At the same time, amaranth is incredibly prolific, each unnoticed plant will produce thousands of seeds. If next year you plant, say, cucumbers in this area, you will be able to see all the amaranth bushes and will not give it a chance to breed further. And if you plant potatoes again, they will hide again and again give numerous offspring.

So change cultures in places and remember – each type of vegetable should return to its original place no earlier than after 4 years.

Sow green manure. After you have harvested, the weeds in the vacated beds begin to develop even faster – now they have no competitors. So don’t leave the ground empty. Sow green manure in this place: rapeseed, mustard, rye, phacelia. And you will get a triple benefit!

Firstly, many green manure destroy weeds. For example, mustard and rapeseed release a large amount of specific substances into the soil – glycosides that inhibit the growth of harmful plants.

Secondly, they destroy pests and pathogens. The same rapeseed and mustard produce essential oils that greatly inhibit the development of black leg, root rot, rhizoctoniosis and scab.

Thirdly, all green manure is an excellent fertilizer. Scatter the seeds over the area and rake into the soil. Water. And let it grow.

After 3 weeks, cut off the green mass of these plants, chop, scatter over the area and dig. But not deep – 3 – 4 cm. After the green manure is buried, the site must be poured abundantly with water.

Avoid fresh organics. It is sometimes not easy for a city summer resident to get manure, but if it succeeds, fertilizer is instantly applied to the site. But manure is sold most often fresh. It’s full of weed seeds! Cows and horses are known to eat grass.

In order not to clog the garden, put the manure in a pile and let it rest for 3 years. Well, at least two. When the organic matter is folded in a thick layer, it is very hot, and weed seeds die at high temperatures.

Fence the beds. Sometimes cultivated plants become weeds. For example, mint, horseradish, Jerusalem artichoke, raspberry.

To prevent them from spreading all over the site, dig slate, metal sheets or special tape around them to a depth of 50 cm – it is sold at garden centers. The same fence will protect cultivated plants from penetrating perennial weeds, such as gout and wheatgrass.

Set up drip irrigation. Weeds need not only light, but also water. If you water the beds with a hose and a watering can, the water spreads throughout the area and gets to the weeds too. Drip irrigation solves this problem – it delivers water directly to the roots of cultivated plants. And weeds die from drought.

Pour the plot … with vodka. This method came to us from America, where it was first tested in the 30s of the last century. Its essence is provocation. A month before the start, the sowing soil is treated with diluted vodka (150 g per bucket of water). Alcohol stimulates the germination of weeds, they sprout more friendly and faster, after which they are weeded out.

Weed control

There are more radical remedies for weeds, but they are either unsafe for the environment or are associated with significant financial costs.

Herbicide. Yes, this is chemistry, but in other cases, weeds cannot be dealt with differently. Herbicides are of continuous action, destroying all plants without breaking (Hurricane forte, Arsenal, Tornado, Roundup (3)). And selective, acting on certain types of weeds – monocotyledonous or dicotyledonous.

Herbicides will help to cope with such malicious weeds as couch grass, cow parsnip, gout or hops. They are best used when the beds are empty.

“Chemistry is also good to use where it is difficult to weed by hand,” says agronomist Mikhail Vorobyov. – For example, at the fence, at the boundary with the neighboring plot (as a rule, many people have a chain-link mesh there, through which weeds, including nettles, readily grow), along the facade of a house or outbuildings. But this must be done very carefully.

Herbicide treatment is best done on a sunny, calm day, and ideally in the morning. Read the drug instructions carefully. As a rule, it says that it is possible to go to the treated area only after 4 days, when the chemical becomes safe for people and animals. In general, all “killer” chemicals decompose in the soil within a month. Therefore, be very careful near the berry bushes.

Covering materials. Cover the area with a dense opaque blanket – black film, agrofibre, cardboard. Agrofibre can be used on beds – it is enough to make holes in it at the right distance and plant cultivated plants there. And so that the film does not spoil the look of the garden, it can be mulched with hay, straw or sawdust.

Black film, of course, costs money, but it lasts for several years, and it greatly simplifies the work.

Weed control methods

Weed control

Popular questions and answers

Sources of

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