Does anyone have strategies for minimising this arduous task in a veg plot?

I've spent half the afternoon bent double pulling up weeds and grass from
between my spring greens and my back is killing me!

How do others cope with weeds?

Suggestions anyone for a weed free veg plot - or at least how to minimise
the work getting rid of them?

I don't know whether to go for wide rows so I can easily get between to weed
or narrow rows so there is no room for weeds to compete?

I own every type of hoe available to mankind and personally find the Dutch
hoe best provided the weeds are small. On the down side I tend to slip
sometimes and whoops there goes another veggie to the great compost heap in
the sky. It is virtually impossible to hoe right up to plants and this seems
to be where dandelions sneak in.

Why do weeds grow ten times faster than vegetables?

Often time is a problem, or rather the lack of it, and weed seedlings have
raced a foot high and beyond hoeing so it is the back breaking job of trying
to pull them up. Unfortunately lots have long tap roots and just snap off. A
few weeks later they are back but with five stems instead of one.

Last year I made a terrible mistake of rotorvating lots of fresh lawn
clippings straight into part of the veg plot that has heavy clay soil. It
seemed like a good idea at the time. Unfortunately this part of the veg plot
has now become a lawn too! I don't know what variety of grass it was but the
clippings have rooted!

Another mistake was allowing some weeds run to seed, and that part of the
veg plot is plagued with a carpet of weed seedlings this year. Even after
rotorvating them several times, after a little rain a fresh dense carpet of
weeds seedlings pop up. Lesson learned!

Norman Digger.

"Norman Digger" wrote in message
...
[...]
Last year I made a terrible mistake of rotorvating lots of fresh lawn
clippings straight into part of the veg plot [...]
this part of the veg plot has now become a lawn too! [...]

A badger will sort that out for you.

tim w

"Norman Digger" wrote in message
...
: Does anyone have strategies for minimising this arduous task in a veg
plot?
:
: I've spent half the afternoon bent double pulling up weeds and grass from
: between my spring greens and my back is killing me!
:
: How do others cope with weeds?
:
: Suggestions anyone for a weed free veg plot - or at least how to minimise
: the work getting rid of them?
:
: I don't know whether to go for wide rows so I can easily get between to
weed
: or narrow rows so there is no room for weeds to compete?
:
: I own every type of hoe available to mankind and personally find the Dutch
: hoe best provided the weeds are small. On the down side I tend to slip
: sometimes and whoops there goes another veggie to the great compost heap
in
: the sky. It is virtually impossible to hoe right up to plants and this
seems
: to be where dandelions sneak in.
:
: Why do weeds grow ten times faster than vegetables?
:
: Often time is a problem, or rather the lack of it, and weed seedlings have
: raced a foot high and beyond hoeing so it is the back breaking job of
trying
: to pull them up. Unfortunately lots have long tap roots and just snap off.
A
: few weeks later they are back but with five stems instead of one.
:
: Last year I made a terrible mistake of rotorvating lots of fresh lawn
: clippings straight into part of the veg plot that has heavy clay soil. It
: seemed like a good idea at the time. Unfortunately this part of the veg
plot
: has now become a lawn too! I don't know what variety of grass it was but
the
: clippings have rooted!
:
: Another mistake was allowing some weeds run to seed, and that part of the
: veg plot is plagued with a carpet of weed seedlings this year. Even after
: rotorvating them several times, after a little rain a fresh dense carpet
of
: weeds seedlings pop up. Lesson learned!
:
: Norman Digger.
:
You say you have lots of hoes (reminds me of the Two Ronnies) but do you hoe
when the ground is clear? That is the way to keep them down. Regularly hoe
your free ground as well as between crops and you only need to handweed
close up to seedlings or plants

"Norman Digger" wrote in message

Does anyone have strategies for minimising this arduous task in a veg
plot?

1. Use narrow beds about 3-4 ft across so that you can easily reach them
from both sides (less leaning and thus back strain).
2. Mulch fallow sections so that the weeds don't have a chance to sprout.
3. Do a little and often.
4. If they get away on you on fallow ground, let the weeds get high, let
the bed dry out completely for as long as you can (or cover the bed in clear
plastic so it can) then water well and the next day go through it and pull
out the weeds - they'll come out easily in great handfulls.
5. If you can, do it at the seedling weed stage when a mere ground
disturbance is enough to destroy their fragile roots - this is when I use an
old kitchen knife to do that job (I used to use an old concrete trowel till
I lost that)..
6. Get good knee pads and get down and dirty amongst the weeds. Hoes are
too distant for the job IMHO.
7. Dandelions can be killed with a tiny drop of weedkiller or otherwise
mulch them and each time you see even the tiniest bit of green poking
through, lift up the mulch and drop it back again to starve it of light,
it'll eventually die but the mulch must be thick and constantly watched.

HTH

"Robert (Plymouth)" wrote in message
You say you have lots of hoes (reminds me of the Two Ronnies) but do you
hoe
when the ground is clear? That is the way to keep them down. Regularly hoe
your free ground as well as between crops and you only need to handweed
close up to seedlings or plants


"Got any O's?" - I remember the sketch well. I will give your suggestion a
go this year. I've always waited until weed seedlings appear (at the
earliest) before hoeing. It hadn't occurred to me to hoe while the ground
was clear but sounds like a good idea.

It will give me chance to try out my latest hoe - an electric one. It looks
like a narrow upright vacuum cleaner but has 4 small rotovator blades on the
bottom. It's only 7 inches wide so should fit between the rows nicely,
though I suspect manoeuvring the electric cable around the garden will
perhaps be more trouble than it's worth.

Norman Digger.

On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 22:25:31 +0200, "Norman Digger"
wrote:

Does anyone have strategies for minimising this arduous task in a veg plot?
I've spent half the afternoon bent double pulling up weeds and grass from
between my spring greens and my back is killing me!
Can you kneel down, on a mat? It minimises back ache.

How do others cope with weeds?
I own every type of hoe available to mankind and personally find the Dutch
hoe best provided the weeds are small.

Do you have a Kirpi? I use that more than anything for weeding.
http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalo...roducts_id=477
I have 2 and have given some as presents. All agree it is better than
anything for hand-weeding.

Why do weeds grow ten times faster than vegetables?
That's partly what makes them weeds!

I am making a point, this year of picking off every dandelion flower I
see, to prevent seeding. When I have time the flower leads me to the
plant to dig it up, or give a quick squirt of glyphosate.



Pam in Bristol

I own every type of hoe available to mankind and personally find the Dutch
hoe best provided the weeds are small.

Do you have a Kirpi? I use that more than anything for weeding.
http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalo...roducts_id=477
I have 2 and have given some as presents. All agree it is better than
anything for hand-weeding.

Why do weeds grow ten times faster than vegetables?
That's partly what makes them weeds!

I am making a point, this year of picking off every dandelion flower I
see, to prevent seeding. When I have time the flower leads me to the
plant to dig it up, or give a quick squirt of glyphosate.

Pam in Bristol


I've not got one of those. They look good though, so maybe...

I'll have to give the application of glyphosate a go too. I do use the
stuff, mainly for the drive with a big sprayer. I wonder if it can be
applied to individual weeds such as dandelions with a small artists paint
brush without getting any on surrounding plants?

Norman Digger.

1. Use narrow beds about 3-4 ft across so that you can easily reach them
from both sides (less leaning and thus back strain).
2. Mulch fallow sections so that the weeds don't have a chance to sprout.
3. Do a little and often.
4. If they get away on you on fallow ground, let the weeds get high, let
the bed dry out completely for as long as you can (or cover the bed in
clear plastic so it can) then water well and the next day go through it
and pull out the weeds - they'll come out easily in great handfulls.
5. If you can, do it at the seedling weed stage when a mere ground
disturbance is enough to destroy their fragile roots - this is when I use
an old kitchen knife to do that job (I used to use an old concrete trowel
till I lost that)..
6. Get good knee pads and get down and dirty amongst the weeds. Hoes are
too distant for the job IMHO.
7. Dandelions can be killed with a tiny drop of weedkiller or otherwise
mulch them and each time you see even the tiniest bit of green poking
through, lift up the mulch and drop it back again to starve it of light,
it'll eventually die but the mulch must be thick and constantly watched.

HTH

Thanks for the detailed reply.

3. Little and often sounds a better strategy than mine - big blitz every few
weeks.

4. I'll remember about letting overgrown weeds dry out then soak and pull
following day. Will this help get tap roots too?

5. Yes, definitely better to polish them off at the seedling stage than
fight forests of full grown weeds.

7. I'll have a go applying glyphosate with an artists paint brush on
persistent weeds with deep tap roots. They always seem to grow right next to
the veg knowing they are safe from being dug out.

Norman Digger.

Norman Digger writes

I'll have to give the application of glyphosate a go too. I do use the
stuff, mainly for the drive with a big sprayer. I wonder if it can be
applied to individual weeds such as dandelions with a small artists paint
brush without getting any on surrounding plants?

Yes

But make sure you don't use the same paintbrush for, eg, pollinating
plants, or applying dabs of meths to see off sap sucking insects.
--
Kay

3. Little and often sounds a better strategy

Yes - keep the hoe handy so you can just run it gently through shallow soil as you walk round inspecting the garden. Shallow hoeing weeds as they just come through, avoids disturbing the vegetable roots & keeps the soil dry & loose, so the next weed seeds won't germinate

In message , Norman Digger
writes
Does anyone have strategies for minimising this arduous task in a veg plot?

I've spent half the afternoon bent double pulling up weeds and grass from
between my spring greens and my back is killing me!

How do others cope with weeds?

Suggestions anyone for a weed free veg plot - or at least how to minimise
the work getting rid of them?


To add to the other suggestions. Sheet mulches work well and
stopping/killing weeds - cardboard boxes work well for this they
breakdown nicely and add organic matter to the soil. A year sheet
mulching will kill off a lot of weeds, not seeds of course though, and
not all of the most vigorous of perennials such as nettle and bindweed,
but the roots are easy to remove when it is lifted.

You can also use the 'no -dig' approach - which is basically, using
mulches (sheet or loose or both) over the soil and plating through that.

Last year I made a terrible mistake of rotorvating lots of fresh lawn
clippings straight into part of the veg plot that has heavy clay soil. It
seemed like a good idea at the time. Unfortunately this part of the veg plot
has now become a lawn too! I don't know what variety of grass it was but the
clippings have rooted!

Well, whatever variety of grass it was it won't have been the clippings,
they don't root. We use grass clippings as a mulch all the time. Either
the clippings included grass that had gone to seed, and thus the
clippings contained the seeds , or there we roots of say couch grass in
the soil, which when rotovated got chopped up and spread around the
patch. Or just coincidence.

But take care when rotovating, if the patch contains perennial weeds,
this will just cop up the roots, many bits of which may roots, so giving
you more weeds.


--
Chris French