weeds, weeds, and even more weeds.....

Hi all,

We moved into a new house (Netherlands) about 1.5 years back. We have a large garden, and a huge weed problem...

So far, we tried the following :

1. Cover the ground with crawlers : the weeds still grow between them and are even harder to remove.

2. Cover the ground with wood-chips : weeds still grow on top of them.

3. Cover the ground with cocoa-shells : weeds still grow between them.

4. salt and / or vinegar on the paved area : Weeds keep coming back.

All our time in the garden amounts to weeding, which results in back-aches and frustration when the following weekend - they are all back again.... I even thought of covering the ground with dark canvas, you think this would work ?

Has anyone here encountered this issue - and what did you do to solve it ? I would really really appreciate some advice....

Sorry for the long post - just spent the past 2 hours weeding again...

:wallbang:

 

Hi or is it hoy

Yes, I heard there is a big weed problem in Holland

Sorry I can`t help.

 

Fill all available ground with plants that you want to be there. A "stuffed" border means weeds can't get a look in. If, however, you like to see bare earth- like the old Parks and Gardens rose beds, then weeding is part and parcel of the look.

 

I just pull them and keep pulling, and mulching, and keep mulching, after a few years you finally get them all. good to get early before seeds drop. You can also shoot any birds that fly overhead as they poop seeds out.

 

exactly!!
bare ground always means weeds...
I also try to cover as much ground as poosible at all times (matrix planting..)

but anyway, some weeds can serve a purpose: in dry, sunny weather some weeds can give more shade and help the soil not drying out as much -I have some primulas on the edge of a border and let the adjoining grass grow abit taller to make it more moist/cool for the primulas...
weeds can even fill gaps temporarily( I leave earth smoke/common fumitory for that purpose sometimes -it's easy to weed at any time)
sometimes weeds can look quite nice too (creeping buttercup or dovesfoot cranesbill)

 

Hi .....sorry did you ever heard about weed fabric controll?

clean you garden or rotivate it , pin the fabric to the soil and cover with gravel or what ever you like , in case you want to plant something just make an hole in the fabric and job done........time ago in my allotment , i used to rotivete in winter and use old carpet to cover all up untill spring the soil was complete weeds free and ready to be planted .

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner 337. Weeds self seed and they can take varied lengths of time to germinate, which is why you are still struggling to get rid of most of them. Time will see a reduction and if you haven't got the time to pull or dig them out remove the tops so they don't flower and set more seed.

 

Hi again 337 and welcome back.

I don't use chemicals myself because I have my cats. I use sea salt and believe it or not it killed off my Lantana seedlings which were driving me mad!

However, if you have a large expanse as you say, I would seriously try a strong weedkiller like Roundup.

Let us know how everything goes with you.