Remove weeds using these effective methods | Gardening 101 | Gardening Australia

Jerry faces that most perennial of gardening problems; weeds in his vegie garden. Taking viewers through some tips to tackle them.

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Weeds are plants that you don’t want in your garden, but hang around anyway. They could be germinating from seeds blown in by the wind or dropped by birds. They might be emerging from underground bulbs left over from a previous gardener. They can even be plants you deliberately introduced into your garden that are popping up in the wrong spots, or have long overstayed their welcome. Weeds have often evolved to be ultra-competitive, quickly outpacing other garden plants.

CURE:
Jerry is a big proponent of weeding by hand. He finds the dexterity allows an opportunity to identify weeds and distinguish them from welcome self-sown vegetables. He uses kitchen scissors to cut weed seedlings off at the base. Disturbing soil can bring more weeds to the surface.

Hand weeding is best done when it’s slightly wet, “as the roots come out of the soil easier”.

But sometimes the scale and size of the weeds require a bigger approach. For this Jerry uses a dutch hoe, a simple tool that works to sever weeds from their roots.

Jerry says that weeding in the right weather can also help make a hard job a little easier. “When using the dutch hoe it’s best done when the soil is slightly dry, to allow the weeds you pull out to dry and die. Chickweed is a classic one where if it’s not dry all you’re doing with the hoe is moving it around the garden; it just resettles”.

But not everything should be hand-weeded. Bulbs in particular can scatter and spread if pulled out of the soil. To treat bulbous oxalis, Jerry recommends:

Pouring boiling water over large clumps. This will cook and kill the bulbs where they lay
Using a vet’s syringe, injecting cheap cooking oil at the base of the plant, to smother the roots and tubers
If you think you can excavate the plant carefully, Jerry recommends keeping a bucket nearby to deposit the plant in and contain it, to avoid scattering bulbils over your lawn. Removed plants should go in the bin.

PREVENTION:
As always, prevention is better than cure. Jerry has a bed with Dai gai choi growing. These young seedlings are stout, strong and upright. Their robust nature means Jerry can mulch thickly with sugarcane mulch, which suppresses any weed seeds from germinating at all. This means little to no weeding as the plants mature. It won’t work with all seedlings, but if you’re planting more robust things (like Asian greens, tomatoes, cucurbits or eggplants) or seedlings at a mature stage, consider thicker mulch like sugarcane to keep the weeds from even starting.

Another way to turn the tap off on weeds is to think about where they’re coming from and if there’s anything you can do about stopping it. If they’re blowing in from next door, have a polite chat with a neighbour. Or perhaps the caller is coming from inside the house? Jerry says one of the worst weeds in his garden is the tomato. This quickly growing, adventitious plant is looking for exactly the warm and fertile conditions his garden provides, and will often come up en-masse in compost. It’s hugely annoying when you like tomatoes but you’re trying to grow other things too. Many people will face a similar problem with rogue pumpkin seeds in their compost. The solution was simple; Jerry no longer composts tomato fruit.

COMFORT:
Jerry says the key to a successful long-term weeding habit is to think about your own comfort. Jerry has a simple, affordable toolkit:

Handlebar kneeler-to help get up and down from a kneeling position easily
A sponge mat knee cushion to save your knees if you’re going to be on them for long periods
A small plastic mat to stop his knees and legs getting wet in damp soil

Another comfort tip is Jerry lays down long wooden boards through the centre of his beds. These not only provide a designated pathway and stop the soil being compacted by spreading the load, they act as a perfect platform to stage weeding from without having to overstretch like you would if you were weeding from the outside.
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