Weeding

Excessive weed growth around new plantings will stifle them and can even kill them. At best it will delay successful establishment as the weeds compete with the plants for space, water and nutrients. It is therefore essential that new plantings are kept regularly weeded.

Annual Weeds
Initially there will probably be an increase in annual weed seedlings caused by weed seeds from previous years being disturbed by the cultivation of the garden.

Where space permits hoeing is often the most effective method of weed control. In more densely planted areas and amongst herbaceous perennials weeding by hand with a hand fork is the simplest method.

It is very important not to allow annual weeds to seed around, as it will greatly increase the weed problems in subsequent years.

* NB. If you have a soakahose watering system great care should be taken not to damage the pipework and to this end a border fork should not be used. *

Perennial Weeds
Certain perennial weeds e.g. Brambles, Bindweed, Japanese Knotgrass etc. are extremely rampant and invasive pests with deep root systems. There is no really effective way to remove these using weed killer amongst existing planting. The best way to deal with any subsequent regrowth is to pull or dig it out it as soon as it appears. By removing growth above ground as it appears any remaining root system will become starved and eventually die out. This may have to be done repeatedly.

Other perennial weeds common in gardens include dandelions, creeping buttercup, symphytum, ground elder and couch grass. If these reappear they should carefully be removed with a hand fork taking out as much root as possible. Do not compost the roots of perennial weeds.