weeds

hello all
has anyone ever heard of using neat liquid kelp as a weed killer i think it burns them out :D ... lee

 

Kelp (or seaweed) is used as a fertiliser. Sounds like death by overeating. :D

 

Bit of a waste to use a liquid fertiliser to kill weeds when there's other, more effective ways of doing it. Kelp mulch (as any other mulch) will help suppress weeds but it's more to do with blocking the light than a chemical attack.

The other dangers with neat liquid feed concentrate are that any run off may contaminate a water source and also your ground could be unsuitable for planting - at least in the short term.

 

I have clay soil so its hard to dig, there's a farmers field the other side of the fence, and roundup weedkiller just slows the weeds down a little, mainly because they are being fertilized every time the farmer does his field. which he last did during easter as when he went past on the tractor the fertilizer was hitting my lounge window... Lee

 

For my two pennyworth the farmer fertilising his fields, doesn't affect weedkiller use. If your dealing with the thugs of the weed world, like ground elder, bindweed, dandelion and nettle - its more likely that they are coming in from the field - either by runner or seed.

The annuals and seedlings are easy to deal with either by hoeing or hand.

Roundup applied two weekly will kill most of the perrennial running weeds - but they will recurr, so maybe consider a vertical barrier in the soil at the border with the field.

Clay soil can be loosened by the addition of organic matter and grit - but with sharp gardening tools, weeds can be dealt with in clay. (having gardened on uncultivated clay - I know)

 

which weeds are these i took this through my living room window, took me a while to get the photo on here :confused: :confused: but i got there in the end...lee

 

That is Rape!...exactly what the farmers are doind to our land
Artificial Insemination!

 

Docks,grass,dandelions,etc..amongst others :eek:

 

Looks like the weeds are coming in mainly from seed from the uncultivated border of the field. In which case they will continue to do so even after you've got rid of the crop you've already been landed with.

Two applications of Roundup over the next couple of weeks. Then dig out what you can.

If you want a flower bed I'd suggest putting down a membrane barrier covered with bark and planting through holes in it. You'll still get weeds seeding in the bark mulch but they should be easy to spot and pull out.
If you want to grow veg then I think you'll have to resign yourself to very regular hoe and finger weeding. Though this might not be too bad once you've eliminated the current squatters.

Might also be worth "over-spraying" Roundup so that it kills the weeds in the field border. If you know the farmer it might also be worth having a word with him as he may be delighted to have someone kill his marginal weeds - he might even pass you some agricultural weed killer.

 

The veg is going at the bottom of the back garden some 200ft long, now i`ve got rid of the 5ft weeds. there is still a little work to do yet like a awful lot of fence to put up :eek: :eek: ... lee

 

I empathise heppy, I not only have weeds but sheep eating my stuff too!

It is as already said a continual battle.