Property News · April 22, 2017

How to get rid of weeds | Alys Fowler


Annual weeds are a breeze to remove, says Alys Fowler, but for perennials you’ll need to master a few tricks It is about now that you start to realise quite how fast weeds grow. What started out as a smattering across your garden is suddenly a thicket, and although they may have looked pretty and fresh in the beginning, you may not feel quite the same way about them now. Of course, bees don’t care. Weeds are an excellent source of pollen and nectar, so one way to deal with weeds is to waft past, exclaiming you’re “creating a pollinator-friendly garden”. If that’s a recipe for madness, the kind solution is to let as many flower as you can before they set seed: it’s not always easy to time, but leaving a few dandelions in the lawn, or lifting the cutting height of the mowers so that speedwell, daisies and blue bugle (Ajuga reptans) can flower between the grass, is simple enough.Weeds in beds and borders fall broadly into two categories: annuals or perennials. I think of the annual weeds as good therapy – there is nothing I like more than to get into the rhythm of pulling a particular weed. You learn just how hard you must pull to get the whole plant up, roots and all, and there’s something deeply meditative about this sort of work. Those gentle spring days after a night of rain are manna for weeding: the soil is syrupy and soft, so with a gentle tug the likes of speedwell, cleavers, young nettles, bittercress or dog’s mercury pull away from the sucking earth in such a pleasing manner. Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
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