Weeding your garden

Weeds are great survivors, they often lay low, waiting for rain and soil disturbance for the right time to reshoot from underground bulbs, rhizomes, or corms or to sprout from seed.

Tips to manage weeds

• Try to recognise and remove them before they get too large or begin to flower.
• Have a fork for flat weeds and a trowel for removing any weeds with deep roots, as well as a bucket, and gloves.
• Moistening the soil will help to soften the soil, making it easier to pull out the weeds.
• Remove the weed from root to seed head and dispose of it properly so the seeds don’t fall onto the ground and reshoot again.
• Mowing the lawn regularly will remove heads from weeds and prevent them from spreading their seeds across your garden.

Difficult weeds

Particularly challenging weeds are those that form underground tubers, rhizomes, bulbs or corms. Oxalis, onion weed, morning glory and even lawn grasses such as couch and kikuyu, are all perennial weeds that are difficult to control.

Mulching

Mulching is an excellent method of perennial weed control, it provides a barrier that keeps weeds well below the surface, where most will eventually die due to lack of sunlight. Mulches work well around perennial crops such as fruit trees and bushes, but also used with annual crops. Planting a ‘living mulch’ cover of ground covering plants will cover bare soil, helping to prevent weed seeds from germinating.