New to gardening with very little idea

I get a packet of Polycell wallpaper paste, but instead of water to mix it, I use a mix of Sodium Chlorate and water (I now have a small tub of this ready mixed to use when needed)
Then apply it to the leaves of the weeds

Jack McHammocklashing

 

Beware that Sodium Chlorate is persistent, so will "poison" the soil for 6 months or more, so whilst it will kill the weeds well it is unlikely that fresh grass will grow (I think that Sodium Chlorate is no longer sold as a weed killer?)

 

I've never tried it personally, but have read that you can do a similar trick with glyphosate based weedkillers. I.e. mix Round up concentrate with wallpaper paste for the same result but without the residual effect.

Does it work long term? I've always been reluctant to spend my money on verdone based products since I got one once and it had little lasting effect. I believe verdone, although selective so harmless to grass, is not systemic, so it only damages the parts of the plant it is in direct contact with. I might have got that wrong though.

 

Thank you all for your advice - have been out to Homebase today and have bought all sorts - Roundup (which I'll use with that cut plastic bottle technique), long flat head screwdriver, Qualcast fertilizer (feed, moss and weed killer) - they didn't have Scotts, so am very excited about getting started. Might have to wait til Wednesday morning to fertilize it. I'll try to take the weeds out tomorrow and mow the grass too (although I mowed it on last Thursday). Will also water it and will give it a couple of days before fertilizing it.

I think I went OTT in Homebase - bought all sorts, corner trimmer, mini-bark for decoration, etc.

After I've done that I'll post some pics of the back garden - which needs more work (but I think suffers from the same problems by and large). Although I think one of our tall plants has died... anyway, I'll post pics of the back garden too in case of any other assistance.

You guys have been brilliant, thank you. Hopefully this will make for a great 'before and after'!

 

Check instructions for weed & feed, but it probably says something like do not mow three days before, nor three days after, application. Ideally apply just before rain, so it gets washed in (or water if no rain for a couple of days - thus suggest you plan to water after applying, not before).

 

Ah got you. It's pretty short as I only cut it last Thursday so maybe I won't mow it before fertilizing in that case. Just dig out the horrible dandelions.

 

And today your garden will look just like ours


WHITE :-)

Jack McH

 

The reason it is banned is because that is the main ingredient for BOMB making aka 7/7 London etc
Though you can still by the sanitised form for garden weeds, it just does not go bang when you add x x and y with a detonator anymore

Jack McH

 

After several years of using W&F on our lawns I've come to the conclusion that it works best when weeds and grass are left longish and the weed kill works better the longer you leave it after the application. The moss kill is pretty well immediate but killing weeds takes longer.
I trimmed one of our lawns with the mower on max height (min cut) on 19 March, applied W&F on 27th and the moss is black but weeds are still shrivelling. I'll give it a trim later this week if weather allows and a week or two later run over with a scarifier to rake out all the dead stuff.

 

Would you like to come and do my lawn please when you're finished Dave, it's in a bad way.

 

I agree sheal, he can come and do ours as I have a bunker on the second green and would like to level this off. Looks as if they play war games on it.

 

Hi Kristen

I have tried a shade seed mix, but it wasn't really 'tough' enough in the back garden once the dogs got on it. Haven't tried it it in the front because I think I'm just going to widen the border down that side to make room for more plants

What I have found is growing really well is some large grass seed which is in the bird food I buy. It kept being dropped from the bird feeders into my borders and is a pain to keep pulling out because it grows like mad, even in the shade. It seems to be the last thing they eat out of the mix, so I've been taking the leftovers and chucking them on the lawn to fill up the patches and it's taking well.

 

Hi All,

OK I've weeded the front garden - I dug them all out with a flat head screwdriver and then fertilised the garden. Watered it the day before the hosepipe ban came in and thankfully it rained for a few days after that.

Here's what the garden looks like at the moment. Bizarrely a few dandelion flowers have grown since I fertilised it. I used Roundup on the pavement in front of our house so hopefully that will kick in in the next few days too.

You'll notice a couple of holes where there were a couple of REALLY tough weeds that wouldn't budge. I took out what I could but have holes in their place. Any ideas for these?

Many thanks for any help! I took some pics of the back garden which I'll post later. THANK YOU in advance!!!

 

Just fill the holes with some topsoil or compost and seed on top, then lightly rake and keep watered