Weeds

Hi all,

We are starting our first garden in a new house, our biggest problem is.... Weeds - they grow everywhere, around and under plants, in the ground, in gaps between tiles in the paved area...

He bought a machine with some spinning brush to remove the weeds from the paved area, but it only cuts off the top. I actually spend 1/2 of last Sunday pulling out weeds by hand - carefully with the root. They are growing faster that we can keep up...

Probability says I'm not the only one in the universe with this problem.... LOL... so :

How do you get rid of weeds ? between tiles and in planted areas ? naturally I don't want to use anything poisonous which may damage the plants (those that we planted there).

Please let me know what the options are... Olive oil in the ground ? Vinegar ? Salt ? Anything else ???

 

'Not allowed' to use my 'Salt & Vinegar' weedkiller (1Kg salt to 1 gall vinegar) because of EU Regs.

Or I use one of these (can't find mine at the moment) to get amongst thin gaps between slabs and destroy the roots:



Made using a small pointing trowel from a '£1 shop' and grooves cut (I make them deeper than illustrated) with an angle grinder and the edges of the slots sharpened with a round file (also really usefull for weeding between closely spaced rows of plants).

 

On paths the driveway etc., I just go for the big kill - glyphosate. Between paving stones, brindle blocks etc., where nearby plants may be affected by watering/spraying, I use an old cheese knife to scrape between. Selective weedkiller on the lawn and on a windless day, I might spray (using an old household cleaner spray bottle) the things I can't easily or otherwise dig up - a bit of stout card between your spraying hand and the 'I don't want to kill these' plants makes a good barrier.

After that, if you hoe regularly between plants, that will help enormously - it won't stop them of course, but it will cut 'em off before they get to their prime!

 

Who is going to know?

 

I'm telling nobody, but the smell is a giveaway, but perhaps not as bad as that from pouring pre-smoking brine solution used on fish on your front garden paving.

Found my paving crack weeding tool (the ones for general weeding use are made from larger brickies' trowels and grooved both sides):



Hmmmm, I see now that I never did get around to cutting that last groove.

 

Thanks guys

Does that 1 kg salt + 1 L vinegar really work ? I want to give it a try on the paved area.

EU rules apply in their territory - in my territory it is my rules.... at least until the EU commissions send some of their lazy bums to weed in my garden....

I hope to be able to try it this weekend - and I guess it has to be repeated periodically ? how often ?