Poll: How do you get rid of weeds?

Recent cold weather has kept many of us inside, giving the weeds in the garden a chance to run amok.

The latest Workshop poll asks how you get the upper hand in your garden battleground: how do you usually get rid of those pesky weeds?

Do you get down on your knees and yank them out by hand? Do you apply a commercial weed killer? Or do you use a tried-and-tested technique handed down from previous generations such as boiling water?

The poll can be found on the front page underneath the Join the discussion icons. Please add your vote. I also encourage community members to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various weed-killing strategies by replying to the conversation below.

Jason

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Comments

greygardener

Don't forget the crucial role of mulch in keeping weeds at bay. In addition to helping your plants by keeping moisture in and adding nutrients to the soil, mulch acts a little like a blanket and can stop sunlight from reaching weed seeds. Of course, you can take this further and use a weed mat, just cutting holes into it wherever you want to plant.

QuailFlock

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/1618#Comment_1618

On my veggie patch, I pull the weeds out by hand. No chemical in my organic veggie patch is allowed. 🙂
Weed mat can be messy when it starts to break down. I use a thick layer of newspaper, then put about 5-7cm of sugar cane mulch on top.
On the driveway and concrete paths, I pour boiling water over any visible weeds. Usually that kills the root and any seeds around the area and is weed-free for a good 2-3 months.

Trying

Hi all, the weeds love to dominate our gardens but I've found that this helps in some areas of our outside spaces - Baking Soda ! The common old kitchen variety. For pavers to be free of weeds, sprinkle liberally and brush into the cracks/borders. For garden beds to be free of encroaching lawn grass, sprinkle on the soil at the edge of the bed (don't put on plants or they will probably die.) This works by changing the ph level of the soil, so I've been told. You can test the ph level of the soil if you wish. Wet the soil and take a small amount of baking soda and sprinkle it onto the soil. If it bubbles, soil is acidic with a ph level under five. Go figure. Apart from this idea, nothing makes me happier than to pull those little devils out by hand and get down into the garden. Only problem is getting back up again ! Cheers.

Jason

The results are in.

Workshop members certainly aren't afraid of rolling up their sleeves, getting down on their knees, and yanking out those pesky weeds.

Feel free to continue the discussion by replying below with your techniques for weed removal.

Jason

Andy_Mann

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/1635#Comment_1635

I did some weeding the other morning, caught up with some worms, & got a good feel for the soil after all the rain we've had. There weren't many to pull, it didn't take long & I got a good feeling that there'd be even less next year.
Though the soil was still damp, it didn't clump, so I must be doing something right. : )

bergs

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/63100#Comment_63100

Hi,
Mostly I pull them out by hand in and around the vege and flower gardens. The trick is to pull them out before they seed otherwise your weed problem will be well and truly multiplied down the track.
On pathways etc. I generally use a herbicide when it's safe to do so.
A neighbour asked why we didn't have many weeds in the garden, when his was full of them. I explained to him that whenever we were outside we would pull a couple of weeds out each time when we saw them and this helped to keep them down. It was then easier to control later. He would look at his garden but would never pull a weed so how did he think they were going to disappear.
After good rain and the ground is not cold is a good time to lay mulch, this is great to keep the weeds down and it eventually rots down replenishing the soil.

Cheers🍻bergs

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/94067#Comment_94067

How is everyone going with their weed control at the moment? I've still got a fair bit of weeding to do at my place...

Jason

Gezza87

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/113698#Comment_113698

So I got a bit lazy and let the weeds take over my grass. my question is how do I kill them without poisoning my dogs or killing my grass?

greygardener

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/124468#Comment_124468

@Gezza87 Poisons and boiling water should be avoided on your lawn as they will kill your grass.

Grab a weeding tool and pull as many as you can out. Make sure you get the roots as well. If its a really big area then just do little sections at a time over the next week or two. It shouldn't take too long to get on top of them.

Then the really important part is to feed your lawn. A healthy lawn will do better than the weeds. @Adam_W recently shared some great tips here - https://www.workshop.com.au/t5/Gardening/How-to-improve-your-lawn-this-Spring/m-p/13998

Good luck and let us know how you go.

Adam_W

Weeds… I have an odd level of respect for them, their incredible ability to take advantage of an opening & go for it often seemingly overnight…

Here are my personal strategies…

Garden areas –

As @greygardener mentioned mulch is always number 1 for sorting out weeds. It prevents any seeds in the soil from growing & any seeds (or plant parts) that get growing in the mulch itself are very easy to remove by hand.

In most situation I will always hand-weed garden beds.

A couple of cautions though;

- Know your enemy… some weeds can regrow from any part that falls onto the soil so extra care needs to be taken, others may have caustic, irritant or toxic sap so you may need to be wearing protective gear.

- Beware of seeds – if a weed is setting seed it is easy to accidentally distribute seed amplifying your weed problem. If a weed looks like it’s going to seed remove the seed head first, bag it in plastic bag and then remove the weed.

Lawns –

The best measure for lawn weeds is preventative – keep your lawn well-fed and healthy. If you've missed that boat & you need to remove weeds that have established try hand-weeding first. Fiskars make an excellent long-handled lawn weeding tool to save your knees & back.

A tip here too – be systematic and do the lawn in a methodical pattern. If you jump back & forth apart from missing weeds you’ll quickly tire of the task feeling like it’s an unbeatable problem.

If you decide to try other options then hot water is not a good idea as there is too much collateral damage to surrounding grass likewise the potential risk with spot spraying with a herbicide (weed killer). On saying that though you can get spray hoods for pressure sprayers that limit the spread of herbicide.

The other option is to use selective herbicides – weed & feed type products. Just make sure the one you select is compatible with your lawn type as many can harm buffalo.

Paths, pavers etc –

These are the sort of areas where if hand-weeding isn’t practical boiling water is perfect or just a general herbicide if you wish.

Gezza87

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/3598#Comment_3598

Thanks for the replies I guess I will start the long process of removing the weeds by hand they are the foxtail weeds so it will definitely be a slow process as I want to drop the most minimal amount of seeds as possible.

greygardener

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/64024#Comment_64024

Yes, get the seed heads off carefully then dig deeply with a tool to get all the roots. Good luck.

Kate68

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/3598#Comment_3598

Yes, definitely try to stop the weeds before they grow. Put newspaper down over the soil around your plants and cover it with mulch meaning they have a harder time to grow through your garden beds.

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/64161#Comment_64161

Thanks for the tip @Kate68 and for joining in the discussion. It's great to have you as our latest Workshop member. I hope you find plenty of other great advice and inspiration for your projects from our members.

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/94665#Comment_94665

Just noticed this great suggestion for dealing with heavily weed-infested areas of your garden from Workshop's @CathM - using old cotton bed sheets.

Cath's video explaning the technique is below. Hope you find it useful for dealing with those pesky weeds.

Jason

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