Weeding

[caroline7758]

Is there much point weeding at this time of year, or will most weeds get killed off by the frost? (You can guess what answer I'm hoping for!)

[caroline7758]

[valmarg]

Hope away, but you aint going to get the answer you are hoping for!!

Weeds have the most resilient seeds.  Bitter Cress and Willow Herb are just two examples.

Get out there weeding, but put them in the council recycling bin, not on your compost heap!!

valmarg

[artichoke]

<< Get out there weeding, but put them in the council recycling bin, not on your compost heap!! >>

I'm surprised to read this - all my weeds go on the compost heap as a matter of course, and I enjoy the feeling of revenge it gives me, knowing they are going to go back to the soil eventually to improve it.

I suppose you mean weeds with seedheads on, and I know my heap does not get hot enough to kill them, but I am going to have to hoe regularly whatever happens, so it doesn't worry me to think they might germinate.

BTW was it on Gardeners' QT that someone said the best way to hoe was when there were no visible weeds, as that means you are disturbing the seeds while they are trying to germinate,  so they never get going. Counsel of perfection, but I do like to hoe empty ground in the winter occasionally anyway. It looks better, and prevents that dispiriting green, neglected look that winter soil develops.

(But this year I hope to cover it with dead leaves collected from all around).

[Robert_Brenchley]

I spread the compost, seeds and all, then cover it with grass cuttings. Anything that does germinate dies miserably.

[wahaj]

i have a patch that's really bad with wild grass. it annoys me because no matter how long i spend out there picking it all out with hands and get all the roots out...it still manages to cover the patch a few days later.

just weed it on a comfortable day and mulch the ground if you can. i've got manure allover my bare beds....but i'm sure you can use compost or leaf mould aswell. if you can't afford that much....just mulch the bits that cause the most problem.

[caroline7758]

Ah well, never mind!Trouble is, when the ground is wet it's so much harder to shake the soil off the weeds so it feels as if I'm taking the good stuff out with the bad!

[wahaj]

Ah well, never mind!Trouble is, when the ground is wet it's so much harder to shake the soil off the weeds so it feels as if I'm taking the good stuff out with the bad!

yea tell me about it. But i never use tools to get rid of weed seedlings. i just get on my hands and knees and pull them out individually and throw them in a pot i carry round with me. then i just throw them in my grey bin.

[Palustris]

What a waste, all material taken out of the soil in our garden goes on one heap or another, except for stuff with disease, bindweed, ground elder roots etc. The rest is composted one way or another. Really pernicious stuff goes on the non-compost heap, the rest on the compost heap. The non-compost heap? Well that is made up of all the things which are not supposed to go on the Compost heap. When there is no room for anything more, then it is covered with plastic and left. The last one was covered for 3 years before being used, lovely black crumbly root free stuff too!
Sadly perennial weeds will just go dormant and continue to thrive so you really do have to get rid of them as and when you see them
You do realise of course that mulching and hoeing are mutually exclusive!!!!

[wahaj]

What a waste, all material taken out of the soil in our garden goes on one heap or another, except for stuff with disease, bindweed, ground elder roots etc. The rest is composted one way or another. Really pernicious stuff goes on the non-compost heap, the rest on the compost heap. The non-compost heap? Well that is made up of all the things which are not supposed to go on the Compost heap. When there is no room for anything more, then it is covered with plastic and left. The last one was covered for 3 years before being used, lovely black crumbly root free stuff too!
Sadly perennial weeds will just go dormant and continue to thrive so you really do have to get rid of them as and when you see them
You do realise of course that mulching and hoeing are mutually exclusive!!!!

yea....i mean in a few years once i've gotten used to this gardening stuff and i start to become a bit more confident...i'm sure i'll have a compost heap or bin or whatever. but i really don't have space for it right now. and i can't afford a compost bin...or afford to make one.

[manicscousers]

our council was selling the green compost bins for 5.00 this year

[wahaj]

our council was selling the green compost bins for 5.00 this year

our council's crap. they sell tiny little bags of compost for £3...and it's full of seeds that germinate as soon as you sprinkle it. They charge a lot of money for compost bins etc.

Nothing's cheap, certainly not free.

I'm sure once my garden's started to mature it's something i'll look into....but right now i have so many jobs to do in that it already takes up all my time. i don't mind....i just don't think i'd have any life left if i started with other stuff.

[artichoke]

You really don't need anything to "make" a compost area with. Mine is just a pile, "fenced" round with jerusalem artichokes. It's untidy and slow, but over a year it slowly rots away until I remove the newest layers by just shoving them aside and get at the lovely black crumbly stuff below.

<< I'm sure once my garden's started to mature it's something i'll look into >>

Truly, your garden will mature much faster if you make compost and spread it around.

I just love: << Anything that does germinate dies miserably. >>

[supersprout]

I spread the compost, seeds and all, then cover it with grass cuttings. Anything that does germinate dies miserably.

same happens if you cover with straw or leafmould
would say same happens if you cover with spent hops but the birdies love to take baths in it so it doesn't stay put :-\