Gardeners are well aware that the beds are not only an excellent springboard for growing vegetables and berries, but also a real battlefield with weeds, which with regular persistence occupy the best positions. To prevent stubborn parasitic plants from appearing among the seedlings, taking away moisture, beneficial trace elements and sunlight, you should choose the right weed killer that will not harm beneficial crops.
With the beginning of the cultivation of the first garden crops, mankind also encountered weeds, which, to the detriment of the entire surrounding world, developed much more successfully than their cultivated brothers. With the emergence of the problem, the first methods of dealing with harmful plants appeared, which were different in their purpose and execution.
Method # 1 – regular mechanical weeding
This is perhaps the simplest and most familiar way, despite its laboriousness. The main property of weeding is regularity, which means constant binding to the garden. Vigorous swinging with a hoe and even processing with a mower will not give results if you forget about weeding for at least two weeks, moreover, the effectiveness of the actions is minimal. Such regulars of the garden, as wild oats and wheatgrass, tenaciously cling to the soil with their rhizomes, which creep around and form a real carpet. Removing some of the rhizomes does not deprive plants of life, but only contributes to their rapid reproduction.
There is a little peasant trick: you should replace the hoe (shovel) with a pitchfork, which does not chop up parts of the plant, but rips them out of the ground entirely. After that, you need to collect the roots and ground parts and take them away from the garden. I would like to note that this procedure takes a lot of time and effort, and after a couple of weeks, the weeds will again sprinkle among the greens and strawberries. If your dream is to achieve perfectly clean soil cover without a single parasite, get ready for the fact that weed control in your garden will be a daily activity.
Using a small pitchfork instead of a hoe or shovel for weeding, you can not only free the soil from weeds, but also loosen it at the same time
For weeding the beds, a weed extractor is used along with traditional tools. To remove the plant, simply immerse the extractor in the soil and turn it 180 degrees
Fertilizer can be made from the resulting green mass. Read more in the article: What are the benefits and harms of weeds + how to make fertilizer from them
Method # 2 – using a covering material
To make the ubiquitous herbaceous parasites “dark”, a dense material that does not allow air and sunlight to pass through is useful. Construction and greenhouse residues are suitable as a protective blanket:
- linoleum;
- black film;
- cardboard;
- ruberoid.
The method of clearing the soil from weeds is simple: cover the desired area of land with an opaque airtight material for 3 or 4 weeks, after which it can be removed. No plant can withstand such conditions, and roots, stem rudiments and leaves will naturally die off, after which they can be easily removed with an ordinary rake.
Some weeds have taproots that extend far into the depths. Sometimes the length of rhizomes and their processes reaches 1 m or more
The peculiarity of this method is that weed control should take place before sowing or planting vegetable and berry crops, that is, the procedure must be performed as early as possible. In the middle lane, March was recognized as the optimal time for covered works. A pleasant exception is strawberries, which can quite happily coexist with a black film. The beds are closed completely, leaving nests for berry bushes. As a result, the film simultaneously performs a number of functions:
- attracts the sun’s rays;
- helps to retain moisture in the soil;
- excludes berry rotting;
- stops the growth of weeds.
You can also use mulching agrofibre to control weeds. Read about it:
The use of black weed film dramatically increases the yield of garden strawberries. Sweet and juicy berries do not touch the ground, therefore they remain whole and healthy
Method # 3 – drip irrigation device
Quite an interesting system of targeted spot irrigation not only saves water remarkably, but also feeds only the necessary vegetable crops. Water flowing out of a water supply system or a large, raised tank moves through pipes and hoses, and then seeps through small holes punctured in places where vegetables are planted. The essence of watering is to saturate only useful plants with moisture, without giving weeds a chance for growth.
With drip irrigation, all the moisture goes to the plant for which it is intended. Dry land around the crop is a guarantee of protection from weeds and the reproduction of harmful insects
Drip irrigation is effectively used both outdoors and in greenhouses, where parasitic plants multiply at a tremendous speed. Of course, it will not be possible to avoid additional weeding, but the number of weeds with dosed point irrigation will decrease several times.
Read more in the articles: Principles of arrangement of automatic irrigation systems for a plot and Drip irrigation system in a greenhouse: an example of a device with your own hands
Method # 4 – protection with mulching
Mulching has been used for a long time, and quite different natural and artificial materials are used to create mulch – a crushed mass:
- fallen leaves;
- dry grass;
- compost;
- straw;
- shredded film;
- landscape fabric.
A layer of carefully crushed material 6-7 cm thick is laid around the vegetable crops with a dense carpet. It allows air to pass through, retains moisture, maintains the necessary temperature for optimal root growth, and at the same time serves as an effective barrier to weeds in the garden.
A biological or artificial mulching mixture is evenly distributed over the entire bed, leaving arbitrary nests for the plants, taking into account their size and growth rate
When laying mulch on the ground, you must adhere to a number of rules. If the plants are planted in the autumn, then the protective mass must be added immediately after planting. In early spring, before using mulch, you should check if the ground is warmed up well. If the weeds have already begun to grow, it is necessary to thoroughly weed the soil, and then lay a thick layer of the crushed mass – up to 18 cm.
Related article: How to prepare bark for mulching a flower garden?
The weedy army has many warriors: wild oats and chamomile, creeping wheatgrass and horse sorrel, tansy and lamb, St. John’s wort and succession. But none of these plants can withstand the aggressive chemical attack – spraying with herbicides.
There are a number of means of the so-called systemic action. These include “Tornado”, “Roundup”, “Graud Bio”. They are applied to the visible surfaces of plants – leaves, stems, inflorescences. The poisonous composition is absorbed by the pores of the herbs and gradually accumulates in their roots. A big plus of these funds is absolute safety for the surrounding soil. The land is not polluted, therefore, after herbicide treatment, you can safely plant cultivated plants. The period of exposure to pesticides depends on their composition and the degree of resistance of the weeds, most often 2 weeks are enough to completely clear the area.
“Agrokiller” equally well destroys not only annuals and perennials, but also shrub and tree shoots. With its help, you can effectively deal with a dangerous and tenacious hogweed that can cause extensive burns.
In order not to damage vegetables or berry bushes, a simple tool is used to apply herbicides to weeds – an ordinary paint brush
The main rule when using herbicides is to accurately and accurately apply them only to harmful flowers and herbs, since the poisonous substance equally effectively kills any plants, including berry bushes and vegetables. Due to the total destruction of all living things, the optimal use for herbicides is their spraying in areas far from the beds, but also in need of cleaning: thickets along the fence, grass nests in the furrows, burdock and thistle bushes on the sides of garden paths.
Let’s take a closer look at two tools. Roundup is a versatile herbicide that is used to get rid of absolutely any plant. It does not have soil activity, therefore it is used before sowing vegetable crops. If you act according to the instructions, then the product is completely safe for people, animals and the environment. A container with a volume of 1 liter, which is enough for 20m ², costs 1250 rubles.
Often large containers of continuous herbicides (eg Roundup) are equipped with a small pump and hose that add convenience and speed to the process.
The second popular remedy is Tornado. On the territory of the garden, it is recommended to use it against such weeds as cattail, creeping wheatgrass, bindweed, thistle, pig, reed. After applying the composition, after about 8-10 days, the plants begin to turn yellow, wither, and after 2,5-3 weeks they finally die. After about 3-4 days, vegetables and berries can be planted on the treated soil. A container with a volume of 1 liter costs 900 rubles.
Tornado herbicide is safe for animals and bees, but poisonous for fish. Using it, contact of the solution with the mucous membrane of the eyes should be avoided.
By learning how to control weeds using various methods and tools, you can increase yields and turn semi-wild garden thickets into a model plot.
