Grasp the Nettle

 

To maintain a tidy garden there’s really no option but to keep on top of the weeding.  It’s quite unbelievable the speed at which they arrive in freshly turned beds and the rapid rate at which they develop and multiply. 

 

Ironic, no, how much time, effort and expense we devote to fostering selected varieties in our beds and borders while if we just left well enough alone to let the weeds run riot,

 

 

 

 

 

we’d have plenty of plants, maybe just not the ones we’d choose. 

 

I’ve noticed the slugs & snails don’t go near the weeds which is infuriating.  It's only logical to my mind that the natural order of things should be that the weeds appear, the slugs get a good dinner, they leave our plants alone and we all live in perfect harmony.  Seems the slugs didn’t get that email.  Does this mean that the delphiniums, lupins and dahlias that we’re so keenly trying to effectively cultivate are more sweet and succulent than the rampant weed species – to slugs I mean?

 

I think you can unintentionally import weeds into your own garden.  Every time you buy any pot grown plant from a nursery, check it for uninvited guests and remove them while they’re still small and manageable because by introducing fresh plant material you can also introduce new weed species that you weren’t formerly plagued with but which suddenly take up residence, effectively colonise and become another enemy for you to exterminate.  The problem is that once they get a chance to set seed and populate the area they’re tough to eradicate. 

 

I’m also suspicious of compost.  Be it commercially made or home produced it just seems to make sense that if weeds are put into bins or on the compost heap that the whole process is really just self perpetuating and recycling someone else’s waste materials into your virgin patch.  Don’t believe me?  Get a pot, add some compost and just leave it for a couple of weeks and see how many species appear without you ever planting anything.  I don’t think they’re blown around on the wind and arrive courtesy of the Mistral, I think they’re pre-existing and lying in wait to ambush you and launch a pre-emptive strike on your rockery. 

 

Once the weeds take over, you can believe that they are the scourge of any environment.  If you’re diligent and regularly patrol to maintain control you have a chance, but of course, people have busy lives and this is not always possible. 

 

 

 

 

It's bad enough when you get an outbreak of rampant stinging nettles and there are, we know, no shortage of native weed species but now we, or rather our habitat, is being forced to combat unnatural immigrant infiltration and it's not putting up a very good defence.  One of the first alien invaders to eviscerate a native species came in the form of Dutch Elm disease and now we're under threat from ever more imposing trespassers 

like

Giant

Hogweed



and

 

 

 

 

Himalayan Balsam and the ever increasing threat of Japanese Knot Weed which has the ability to grow at the rate of about 1" per day and cannot be deterred by cutting back as hacking at it will only encourage it to multiply. 

Now known as the most pernicious weed in Britain, it even puts homes at risk as it can penetrate walls and paving.  It is listed as a contaminate and has to be destroyed as controlled waste due to its ability to reproduce from any tiny root fragments.  Did you know that if you are planning to sell your house and you, or rather your garden, is suffering from an invasion of Japanese Knot Weed that you have now to declare this on a list of defects issued by your Solicitor and this makes the house unsaleable?  Indeed even if you are not planning to sell your home but have an infestation of Japanese Knot Weed which you have failed to control and are thereby effectively putting your neighbours at risk this could result in an A.S.B.O.

 

We have a lawn here that’s a lot more weed than grass and I’m wondering how best to tackle it to give a healthier appearance.  I’ve used a treatment to great effect in a previous garden and at this time of year there are a selection in all the garden centres and DIY shops. 

These one stop shop quick fix solutions retail at around £7-£10 but without going armed with a calculator I’m not sure if this would suffice for one or multiple applications on a lawn of this size, or even if repeated applications are permissible in the same season.  They do have to be correctly applied though as I’ve seen one garden where the stuff was obviously tossed around with gay abandon and it burnt the grass. 

So rather than improving the appearance of it there were bald black scorches for the remainder of that summer and to my recollection it never properly recovered and evidenced unsightly patches ever after.  So if you are planning on a DIY lawn repair and rescue yourself make sure you read the instructions and apply correctly to ensure a good result.