Poll: How do you get rid of weeds?

[Jason]

Recent cold weather has kept many of us inside, giving the weeds in the garden a chance to run amok.

The latest Workshop poll asks how you get the upper hand in your garden battleground: how do you usually get rid of those pesky weeds?

Do you get down on your knees and yank them out by hand? Do you apply a commercial weed killer? Or do you use a tried-and-tested technique handed down from previous generations such as boiling water?

The poll can be found on the front page underneath the Join the discussion icons. Please add your vote. I also encourage community members to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various weed-killing strategies by replying to the conversation below. 

Jason

[greygardener]

Don't forget the crucial role of mulch in keeping weeds at bay. In addition to helping your plants by keeping moisture in and adding nutrients to the soil, mulch acts a little like a blanket and can stop sunlight from reaching weed seeds. Of course, you can take this further and use a weed mat, just cutting holes into it wherever you want to plant. 

[QuailFlock]

On my veggie patch, I pull the weeds out by hand. No chemical in my organic veggie patch is allowed.
Weed mat can be messy when it starts to break down. I use a thick layer of newspaper, then put about 5-7cm of sugar cane mulch on top.
On the driveway and concrete paths, I pour boiling water over any visible weeds. Usually that kills the root and any seeds around the area and is weed-free for a good 2-3 months.

[Trying]

Hi all, the weeds love to dominate our gardens but I've found that this helps in some areas of our outside spaces - Baking Soda ! The common old kitchen variety. For pavers to be free of weeds, sprinkle liberally and brush into the cracks/borders. For garden beds to be free of encroaching lawn grass, sprinkle on the soil at the edge of the bed (don't put on plants or they will probably die.) This works by changing the ph level of the soil, so I've been told. You can test the ph level of the soil if you wish. Wet the soil and take a small amount of baking soda and sprinkle it onto the soil. If it bubbles, soil is acidic with a ph level under five. Go figure. Apart from this idea, nothing makes me happier than to pull those little devils out by hand and get down into the garden. Only problem is getting back up again ! Cheers.

[Jason]

The results are in. 

Workshop members certainly aren't afraid of rolling up their sleeves, getting down on their knees, and yanking out those pesky weeds.

Feel free to continue the discussion by replying below with your techniques for weed removal.

Jason

[Andy_Mann]

I did some weeding the other morning, caught up with some worms, & got a good feel for the soil after all the rain we've had. There weren't many to pull, it didn't take long & I got a good feeling that there'd be even less next year.
Though the soil was still damp, it didn't clump, so I must be doing something right. : )

[bergs]

Hi,
Mostly I pull them out by hand in and around the vege and flower gardens. The trick is to pull them out before they seed otherwise your weed problem will be well and truly multiplied down the track.
On pathways etc. I generally use a herbicide when it's safe to do so.
A neighbour asked why we didn't have many weeds in the garden, when his was full of them. I explained to him that whenever we were outside we would pull a couple of weeds out each time when we saw them and this helped to keep them down. It was then easier to control later. He would look at his garden but would never pull a weed so how did he think they were going to disappear.
After good rain and the ground is not cold is a good time to lay mulch, this is great to keep the weeds down and it eventually rots down replenishing the soil.

Cheers🍻bergs

[Jason]

How is everyone going with their weed control at the moment? I've still got a fair bit of weeding to do at my place...

Jason

[Gezza87]

So I got a bit lazy and let the weeds take over my grass. my question is how do I kill them without poisoning my dogs or killing my grass?

[greygardener]

@Gezza87 Poisons and boiling water should be avoided on your lawn as they will kill your grass.

Grab a weeding tool and pull as many as you can out. Make sure you get the roots as well. If its a really big area then just do little sections at a time over the next week or two. It shouldn't take too long to get on top of them. 

Then the really important part is to feed your lawn. A healthy lawn will do better than the weeds. @Adam_W recently shared some great tips here - https://www.workshop.com.au/t5/Gardening/How-to-improve-your-lawn-this-Spring/m-p/13998

Good luck and let us know how you go.