Getting behind with weeding is surely among the top three gardening problems here on the West Coast. Some people like to smother weeds while others prefer pulling. Then there the mavericks who strew them on paths or mulch with them or even eat a few of the tastier ones.
Young dandelion shoots can be used in salads. So can sorrel and cut-small chickweed.
When boiled, young stinging nettles make a delicious (non-stinging) substitute for spinach. So do lambs quarters, though this cooks down to almost nothing. Chickweed cut small is a fresh-tasting salad green.
But the most earth-friendly weeding tactic is mulching with plant material. It’s especially useful in organic veggie gardens. Natural mulch conserves moisture, earthworms love to breed in it and if plant-based mulch is left on garden beds through winter, birds forage there endlessly.
Gardeners with lawns find the cheapest and most easy to get mulch is grass clippings. It’s best to hold the clippings back slightly from tiny vegetable seedlings. You can move it closer as they grow.
Since lawns also need nourishment, it’s best to keep grass length at about eight centimeters and sprinkle nutriments or compost on lawns in spring or fall. Once the veggie garden doesn’t need any more mulch, the clippings can just remain on the lawn.
Other useful mulches for vegetables include straw – though some straw is quite seedy. Weed-free compost makes another good mulch.
Commercial compost isn’t organic but it’s always weed-free. Home compost is variable. Well-composted manure is a good mulch for heavy feeders such as corn or rhubarb.
When weeds get quite out of hand, a great job of smothering weeds and their seeds can be done by black plastic. Unfortunately it tends to tear and fragment if left in one place for more than a year. Clear plastic breaks up even faster than black plastic. Cardboard or newspaper makes a good base for a garden bed of mounded soil and compost. Ultimately, both barriers rot so that deep-rooted plants can establish themselves well.
Boiling water kills top growth most effectively, though it should never be used in gardens anywhere near toddlers, pets or by people with balance problems. Other organic weed killers are usually based on horticultural vinegar. You may need to douse the offenders several times.
When weeds get past the seedling stage, triage is sometimes necessary. Anything with seedheads, flowers or buds should be dealt with first. If there’s no time for pulling, at least cut them off so that crops or flowers can get ahead. Pulling is much easier when the soil is moist.
Anne Marrison is happy to answer garden problems. Send them to her via [email protected]. It’s helpful if you can add the name of your city or region.
