weeds!!!!!!!

can anyboby help me with the problems that i have been having up at my mums in the outer hebrides. In June/July (look up shrub garden challenge)i re done her garden i made 3 large borders and used heavy duty weed control fabric to avoid all the weeds coming through but since then all that has grown is WEEDS!!!! my mum has since been spending all her time weeding each border to try and keep them under control. a bit like painting the forth rail bridge (never ending). I was wandering if there was any weed killer that could be used to at least reduce the amount off weeds which are appearing each day but which would not effect the shrubs which i planted this year or anything that i could do to reduce the sheer volume of weeds as it has been a warm year even up there this year. i was also wandering if i could use seaweed to reduce the volume of weeds as we dont have the likes of B & Q for bark chippings etc. Any help in this matter would be most helpful as i would not have a clue how to use weed killer and would be scared of killing the new shrubs which are coming along nicely

 

Seaweed is briliant and is shipped down south where it sells for lots of �£�£�£�£�£s

Weedkillers are useless, poisonous and a waste of money. They do more harm than good and kill beneficial insects as well as plants. No matter where you live - you have two types of weeds - annuals and perennials. Annuals need to be hoed BEFORE they set seed. Remember the old saying "One year's seeding means seven years weeding"

Perennials need to be dug out completely or cut down repeatedly. Digging them out is backbreaking and any bits of root left behind will sprout again. Best thing is to cut them down and then wait for them to send out new leaves. Watch and wait and then cut them down again. Repeat if necessary. You can do this with a strimmer or mower if other plants are not too close. Otherwise use a hoe, shears or whatever. The point is that no plant can survive if it cannot put out leaves. The leaves photosynthesise sunlight into essential food. Deny them their leaves and they will die. Simple as that. Instant gardeners looking for a quick fix prefer to spray poison and they fail. A bit of muscle power and a sharp blade is the only way.

 

Just remember you can do one or the other, mulch or hoe. Once you have a good thick layer of mulch down then hoeing just puts it into the soil, so you lose the weed supressing quality! Any weeds which come through have to be hand dug out.

 

Just a thought on the subject of controllng perennial weeds by cutting down......you have to make sure that you get all of them. Lots of nasty little blighters like cooch grass and ground elder have very extensive root networks. Just few patches of leaves that you miss can keep the whole thing ticking over in a weakened state just waiting for you to go on holiday and then they seize the moment and when you return they are everywhere - slight exaggeration perhaps but the point is a good one.

 

hi shinney, long time no see :D :D how are you and how is your big garden going.
I have now acquired an allotment, it was full of bramble and twitch and weeds. we had it all cleared. the farmer ploughed it and now waiting for the winter to do its job.I am setting up a blog site so all my friends can see my progress on the allotment.

 

you need to resize your pictures we all don,t have wide screen lol

 

Hi Barra, Here is a link that might give you loads of advise, http://www.crocus.co.uk/alanshowto/rottedorganicmatter/ hope it helps
windy

 

Hey,

I had a similar experience. The weed proof layer just stops weeds coming up, but new ones can grow on top of it. The other year I had a real go over the front garden weeding and put down a layer of small stones around the plants, I found this really helped as that year I only had a few small weeds come and they took a while. It made it much easier maintenance.