Intractable weeds

I work for 4 hours a week, year round, in a large garden. This includes,

A veg plot with about 15 raised beds, 3'x5' each, with grass paths between
Huge hedges
A largish spinney
Several big herbaceous borders
A small wild-flower lawn
A fruit cage with about 15m of raspberry canes plus currants & gooseberries
At least 4 apple trees
Lots of brick and earth paths

I'm the only gardener so, luckily, the owner does not expect immaculateness by any means, and is totally comfortable with a very relaxed look. So far, I think I'm coping with what she wants me to do - I've been at it since March. However, some areas hardly got visited all summer, let alone properly dealt with, and of course, everything just keeps on growing.

There are a number of perennial weeds which are getting the upper hand, especially creeping buttercup, nettles, ground elder, and to a lesser extent ash saplings, saponaria, brambles, bindweed. The usual annual supects are very well-represented, also. I'd like some advice on controlling all these. Left to my own devices I'd get the sprayer out but the owner is a passionate organic and wild-life fan, so I have to work within these parameters. Also, I don't have the time or strength to just dig the stuff out, so I'm thinking laterally. This is what I have done so far:

Regular strimming - especially grass paths full of buttercup
Putting thick cardboard down on fallow veg beds
Surrounding fruit bushes and canes with thick cardboard
Laying spare lengths of black plastic on severely weeded stretches of paths
Cutting brambles down at the base
Hoeing of areas of open soil

Could anyone suggest any other tactics? Can anyone advise me how likely the following ploys are to work?

Mulching with straw/ leaves/ homemade compost?
Covering brick paths with fallen leaves to kill off grass?
Continually strimming over the whole growing season, including nettles and ground elder?
Covering nettles with black plastic?
Organic weedkiller? Bought or homemade.

Any advice gratefully received.

 

Just watching I'm afraid Madahlia as I have similar problems. As far as ground elder goes, I keep a bit of round up in a jar with a paintbrush - pinch the shoots out and dab it on the freshly exposed stem. I would have dug it out, but it's growing in the roots of what I can only describe as a bonsai Acer which I rather like.

I seem to have beaten the Bamboo, but can anyone tell me if Japanese Anenomes self seed as despite great care to get all the root they just keep coming back.

 

We eradicated Ground Elder from a previous garden with Roundup. We lost several plants due to collateral damage (garden too big to be careful enough to avoid getting chemical on adjacent plants)

I think that is only worthwhile if you do it every week, without fail. The old saying "Never let it see a Sunday" applies. I think hoeing would be better (if soil workable) than strimming, as strimming won't quite [I presume] get the plant down to ground level.

I wonder what the Pros/Cons of using Petrol/fossil fuel to strim, probably "for ever"?, against using Roundup for a couple of seasons and eradicating the problem weeds, is?

 

Ta, LongK. Round Up would be forbidden, I think. Also, the fruit cage is an area about 40 sq metres, and is totally carpeted with ground elder so a bit of nipping here and there would be pointless!

Light bulb moment - old carpets. Better start skip diving!

I have the jap anemone problem in another garden. They do self-seed badly, so cut off the seed heads before they start shedding. I suppose regular digging and removal of the top of the root would weaken them and starve them of light - only feasible over small areas, though.

 

All I can add is 'Good luck' Madahhlia. I'd resign. The owner might be relaxed about 'a few weeds about the place' (Oh how many times did I hear that) but does she realise that eventually they'll overcome all the 'cultivated' plants? Not to mention them spreading into neighbouring gardens.

 

Best quality [i.e. Hessian backed] Wilton probably OK.

Rubber-backed etc. will release nasty chemicals into the ground. Not suitable for the veg patch I expect?

Personally I never put carpets down for weed suppression, as once they start to rot they are a nightmare to remove. Only exception, for me, is around hedges - being as they are intended to be permanent structures.

 

Realistically, the strimming would be done probably once a month during the season. Enough to stop the nettles getting huge and rank but not much else, I suspect. Hoeing is an option for areas that have been relatively recently planted as the soil is barer and softer - for the moment, shepherd's purse is rapidly colonising. But most areas have been overgrown for some seasons and a hoe wouldn't even register!

I don't know that presenting green arguments of Poison once v. strimming often would get me very far, but I'll try. I'm more bothered about the weeds than the owner. I like retaining control, while she is happy to allow nature to take its course.

 

They would be a good option for the fruit cage. Could plant roots take up these nasty chemicals? I don't think so. Synthetic carpets are easier to come by than finest quality natural fibres!

 

Dunno, but there is often chat about it in Vegetable Growing forums, and upshot is usually "not worth the risk".

I expect its the same argument as the Organic one - Who knows? but better safe than sorry.

My Father bought Best Quality Wilton in the 60's, it was still there, looking as good as the day it was laid, when the place was sold a couple of years ago. That's probably why there isn't much of it about for mulch!

Might be worth looking out for a luxury cruise liner's refit though