The theory of weeding

[Slarti]

If it comes out easily, it was a plant that Mrs S wanted and I shouldn't have pulled it.

If it is a bu99er to shift then it is a weed that needs removing


Slarti

[oldapple]

You remind me of a neighbour who is very proud (with good reason) of his gardening skills but who was blissfully growing a docken weed in a pot. Wasn't amused when I told him. They were what we used to rub on nettle stings so on this rare occasion I knew what I was talking about.

[sg31]

Definition of a weed in our garden... If my wife kills it, it's a weed, if I kill it, it isn't.

My wife had a tendency to put plants in the garden with nothing to indicate they were intended to be there. As I do the hoeing this presents a problem. After I murdered a few we came to an arrangement, if she sticks a lablel, tag or other indicator on the plant I would leave it alone. Sounds like a good plan you would think but there is a problem, plant is in the ground, the label is also in the ground but a couple of feet away from the 'treasure'. The treasure met a ghastly end, you guessed it...my fault. Much discussion ensued.

I'm no gardener, my wife is, but we have a large garden so I do the labouring. After the above discussion I withdrew my labour and went fishing. I was still available for grass cutting and digging but not for any operation near plants. The garden got very weedy.

All is now well, the labels are right next to the plants, I do the hoeing and peace has once more descended on the garden.

[oldapple]

I love these stories! I've been trying to weed yesterday and today, but I have a most unusual problem. Hundreds and hundreds, maybe thousands, of ladybirds every where, and I'm trying my best to not to trample them.

[Sussexlad]

It's not the actual weeding that's transformed my wife's life but the Green bin provided by the council for the princely sum of £52/yr. Bagging it up and the occasional excursion to the council tip was a bit of a drag but all that has changed, There's been a waiting list now for a couple of years but they seem in no hurry to extend the scheme.

[kiloran]

I quite like weeding, it's relaxing and therapeutic, though it takes its toll on my knees, ankles and back. I take the view that if I didn't plant it, it must be a weed.

I spent a couple of hours weeding yesterday. At this time of year, I can easily fill two wheelie bins within a week, though they're only emptied every two weeks.
And yesterday, as ever, I had a little helper with me. A wee robin. They really are so friendly and bold, coming just a couple of feet from me while I'm working away. I've always wondered why little robins are so bold, whereas the magpies skedaddle if I as much as look at them from 30m away. Strange.

--kiloran

[ReformedCharacter]

And yesterday, as ever, I had a little helper with me. A wee robin. They really are so friendly and bold, coming just a couple of feet from me while I'm working away. I've always wondered why little robins are so bold, whereas the magpies skedaddle if I as much as look at them from 30m away. Strange.

--kiloran

I usually have a friendly Robin too. They seem to know that when I work in the garden I am likely to turn up worms or insects for them to eat. I would guess that they have evolved to be fairly confident around humans because we usually like them, I certainly do. As you say, it doesn't take much to disturb Magpies or Crows.

RC

[kiloran]

As you say, it doesn't take much to disturb Magpies or Crows.
RC

I find the crows and jackdaws very different to the magpies, even though they are all corvids. The crows and jackdaws are a little circumspect if they are on the lawn and I walk about 3m from them, but they seem quite comfortable in my presence. Intelligent birds..... if I throw out some bread and it's a bit dry for them, they dunk it in the bird bath before they eat it.

--kiloran

[Breelander]

.. as ever, I had a little helper with me. A wee robin. They really are so friendly and bold, coming just a couple of feet from me while I'm working away.

Did you know that this is a uniquely British trait?

It is interesting to note that in the rest of Europe robins are much more shy and rarely leave the confines of the forest.

https://www.britishbirdlovers.co.uk/bir ... o-friendly

[sg31]

We have several robins in the garden all are friendly and happy to come within a couple of feet.

Blackbirds are very wary here which is strange because at our last house they were happy to pick worms up at our feet when we were digging. One took to sitting on the handle of the spade if it was momentarily unused. It became necessary to be very careful when moving ones feet to not tread on a blackbird.

Longtailed tits are happy to sit on the birdfeeder within a yard or so of someone standing nearby although they are much more easily spooked elsewhere. They are such delightful little birds.

[Slarti]

Back to weeds and being difficult to pull up, I had 3 crackers today where the roots were 1', 1' 6" and 2' 6" and I suspect I left some behind

Also, another one that removed looked like nettles, on the leaves, but had white flowers near the top and it was taller that the actual nettles. Any ideas as to what it could have been?

Slarti

[oldapple]

I see there is a white dead nettle, or 'Wednesday weed' Slarti.

We have friendly robins too which are lovely to have around. We also have several blackbirds and one which keeps taking over the old bath we turned into a mini pond. Last year, just as the little waterlily was flowering for the first time, this blackbird whipped the top off it in her daily bath and left some feathers to incriminate herself. Will have to try to cover the waterlily in some way, maybe a chimney guard?

[Slarti]

I see there is a white dead nettle, or 'Wednesday weed' Slarti.

Lamium album, apparently. And it doesn't sting hence the dead in the name. Thanks for that.

Slarti

[Itsallaguess]

Back to weeds and being difficult to pull up, I had 3 crackers today where the roots were 1', 1' 6" and 2' 6" and I suspect I left some behind...i

On this specific point, where some hardy weeds have deep root-systems that are often really difficult to fully remove - would a better solution for 'next time they grow' be to use one of the readily-available 'root-kill' products on them, to give yourself a better chance for long-term eradication?

I'm asking this as someone who's often gone mining for that last scrap of root too, and I'm just waiting for one tough bugger to rear it's ugly head again before I go all-in next time with my agent-orange at hand...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[bungeejumper]

I see there is a white dead nettle, or 'Wednesday weed' Slarti.

Oh, indeed. When I was a lad, living in rural Hertfordshire, we would pull the flowers off them and chase the girls up the lane as we walked to school. Guilty as charged. What a little horror I was.

Mind you, we certainly did know about dock leaves! Stingers and short trousers weren't a good combination.....

In adult life, one of my bigger mistakes was to introduce a particularly beautiful plant to my parents' garden which I'd found growing wild along the banks of the river Severn. Well, how was I supposed to know it was Himalayan balsam? Took years and years to eradicate it.

BJ

[scotia]

In adult life, one of my bigger mistakes was to introduce a particularly beautiful plant to my parents' garden which I'd found growing wild along the banks of the river Severn. Well, how was I supposed to know it was Himalayan balsam? Took years and years to eradicate it.
BJ

I trust you didn't try out a specimen of Japanese Knotweed? It grows in profusion (along with the Himalayan balsam) on the banks of our local river. Now that's a plant that needs serious weeding.

[bungeejumper]

I trust you didn't try out a specimen of Japanese Knotweed? It grows in profusion (along with the Himalayan balsam) on the banks of our local river. Now that's a plant that needs serious weeding.

Knotweed doesn't need a weeding strategy, it needs a mechanical digger. No, fortunately I wasn't that daft.

However, one of my nearish neighbours once had one of those TV garden makeovers done on her patch, and ten years later the neighbourhood is still trying to rid itself of the aggressively invasive foliage plants that the so-called TV experts installed in her borders.

I think the neighbour might possibly have upset the famous [insert household name] designer, who had called her taste in interior décor weird and a bit sick (and on camera, too!), and it had all been downhill from there. By the time the trucks and the cameras and the sound booms had driven away, our end of the village had been heartily glad to see the back of them.

But, unbeknown to us, the horror was just beginning...…..

BJ

[Slarti]

Back to weeds and being difficult to pull up, I had 3 crackers today where the roots were 1', 1' 6" and 2' 6" and I suspect I left some behind...i

On this specific point, where some hardy weeds have deep root-systems that are often really difficult to fully remove - would a better solution for 'next time they grow' be to use one of the readily-available 'root-kill' products on them, to give yourself a better chance for long-term eradication?

I'm asking this as someone who's often gone mining for that last scrap of root too, and I'm just waiting for one tough bugger to rear it's ugly head again before I go all-in next time with my agent-orange at hand...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

For now I'll keep pulling, but next spring I will be looking to use topical chemical warfare

Slarti

[Nimrod103]

Weeds have developed countless survival adaptations, which is, of course, why they are weeds. Chickweed leaves most of its very fine root system behind when you pull. Goosegrass (Cleavers) also does that, but also produces lots of sticky seeds which stick to the dog's hair and are spread around the garden. My particular enemy at present is 3 cornered garlic, which leaves the bulbs behind when you pull the leaves, the leaves are long thin with a waxy coat which herbicide doesn't touch, and most amazing of all the plant has trained ants to carry the seeds away and store them, ready to sprout the following year.
In general my view of combatting weeds is that either you till the ground continuously to keep them down, or encourage plenty of (hopefully attractive) ground cover to smother them. Weeds love bare soil, so I plant attractive weeds (such as yellow and purple toadflax, and periwinkle) to out compete the weeds I detest.

[TheMotorcycleBoy]

Back to weeds and being difficult to pull up, I had 3 crackers today where the roots were 1', 1' 6" and 2' 6" and I suspect I left some behind...i

On this specific point, where some hardy weeds have deep root-systems that are often really difficult to fully remove - would a better solution for 'next time they grow' be to use one of the readily-available 'root-kill' products on them, to give yourself a better chance for long-term eradication?

I'm asking this as someone who's often gone mining for that last scrap of root too, and I'm just waiting for one tough bugger to rear it's ugly head again before I go all-in next time with my agent-orange at hand...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

For now I'll keep pulling, but next spring I will be looking to use topical chemical warfare

Slarti

I used to use glyphosate based weedkiller around all our tarmacked and gravelled areas for years.

But these cases of cancer, and suits against BAYER are starting to give me the willies.

Mel, has recently discovered a recipe involving Vinegar, Salt and Washing-up liquid (I'm serious!!). Perhaps I'll try it later on this season. I guess it's shortcoming will be that it needs a sustained dry spell. Whereas glyphosate only needs a very brief period without rain for it's effect to be deadly.

I'd love to find a potent chemical to destroy all our "unnecessary herbs" without resulting in my premature demise.

Matt