Topic: is weedkiller a naughty word?

[Simon05]

I have used weedkiller for docs around the pond, dont want the roots piercing the liner. alot of plot holders use it all the time, the one next to me, keeps wanting to spray the hedge bottom in between our plots, I have told him not to do this, you can get rid of most weeds by digging them out. He uses weedkiller every year, if weedkiller is so good at killing weeds then surely you wouldnt need to use it every year. Do weeds get immune to it?

[Suzanne]

I agree Simon at my new site they have had a slight dig about my organic intentions, but they state that they weedkill and rotovate every year. As some have been on site for at least 30 yrs that would have seen them off. Most of the weeds they have seem to be annuals which can be controlled by digging . The perennials like marestail I agree can't be dug out, but are not made better by rotovation either.

I'll stick to my spade and fork as long as I am able.

[Simon05]

I agree Simon at my new site they have had a slight dig about my organic intentions, but they state that they weedkill and rotovate every year. As some have been on site for at least 30 yrs that would have seen them off. Most of the weeds they have seem to be annuals which can be controlled by digging . The perennials like marestail I agree can't be dug out, but are not made better by rotovation either.

I'll stick to my spade and fork as long as I am able.

same here

[Robert_Brenchley]

Sodium chlorate is persistent stuff which kills everything, and takes at least six months to leach out of the soil. it's widely used on paths, but I wouldn't let anything that poisonous anywhere near my veg!

[Amazin]

Jeannine, last year I grew squash on my new plot - the leaves alone shaded out all the weeds, weakening them substantially, so hopefully you'll have the same result.

[Columbus]

Hi all,  :)

Flame guns were becoming very popular on our site, but a nearby householder who
hates us all in turn called the fire brigade and now no one dare use them.

Also, I know of a case when a disgruntled plot holder used glyphosphate over his whole site when he was made to give it up, (after a long running dispute with aforementioned nearby householder) Things died off but were soon replaced and after just a few weeks you wouldn`t have known it had been done. Glyphosphate isn`t a complete solution as you cannot just squirt and forget.

Col

[Robert_Brenchley]

I'd use the thing anyway, and dare them to take action. I assume there's nothing in the lease that bans them, and as long as you're sensible about using them not too long after rain there's no danger to anyone.

[Jeannine]

Me too Robert, we can't have bonfires and we do but we do it when the wind is not blowing towards ASDA who complained it went into the store,we have had no complaints since we started watching the wind. XX Jeannine

[caroline7758]

I lve the idea of mulching with compost to smother the weeds-in theory! (Another no-dig article in the Guardian yesterday).But without spending a fortune on commercial stuff, I'm sure I'm not the only one who will NEVER have enough compost to put the required thickness on the large areas we are trying to control! So it's strim, dig and curse for me!

[mikey]

It is growing faster than we can do it manually now. We are even considering buying a flame gun.
 XX Jeannine

Jeannine,

obviously I don't know what type of flame gun you might be considering  ... but from my experience save your money.

Have had one (the big Sheen model X300) for over 30 years, great for quick burning off of Annual weeds on beds and gravel driveways, but useless for Perennials.
Had not used ours for some years, until 2/3 weeks ago when tried again on our new Lottie. The problem was Couch Grass and what a bu**er it is, burned off a huge patch (great fun) and the scorched earth looked great ...... but a week later all new growth, so flaming was a waste of time.

At the same time as the flamegun experiment we used Roundup, on another patch, mixed to watering can strength (see my moan in Bargains Galore re cost of Roundup at Focus).

The Roundup worked a treat, the 'experienced' (for which read wrinklies)  on our Lottie site all recommended leaving for at least 4 weeks to allow the Roundup to do it's stuff, then dig it.  We did this and although the ground is like Concrete we have dug a large area down to a full spade depth and removed heaps of roots all of which look sickly and Brown hooray ....

Like many of us on A4A I am a non chemical gardener, but with weedkillers I make an exception (not as a habit) and only products like Roundup, Weedol etc. which neutralise on contact with the Earth

hope this helps ?

[Jitterbug]

Despite my good intentions of having my lottie all organic I have had to buy a bottle of roundup (which you mix up yourself) which dissipates on contact with the soil when dealing with my thistle problem.   :-[

My lottie had not been worked in about two years and the weeds were waist high last October.  So despite me clearing them by hand I just cannot seem to get the whole root out and in less than a week a new one pops out.  This is more problematic in my onion patch as my onions were sown in the Autumn and are quite big now so I do not want to disturb their roots too much.   So instead of loosing heart,  I have decided to break down and use it I am getting even and very carefully spraying these thistles.  All else is still done by hand though.

Jitterbug