Quickly Tackling Common Weeds
Our gardening sponsor Chris demonstrates how to effectively clear outdoor areas of common garden weeds such as chickweed and nettles using Elixir Garden’s Fast-Acting Weedkiller.
Annuals & Perennials
My favourite approach to weed control is a push pull hoe. When used on a sunny day with a little wind it is always effective and rapidly kills most weeds – as a gardener there is something very satisfying in watching them shrivel up moments after severing the shoots from the roots – never to return again! This year though sunny dry days have been few and far between, March and April have been extremely wet, too wet to hoe but not for the weeds to grow. Trying to control both annual and perennial weeds in these conditions can be challenging and calls for many approaches to keep ahead of the rapid weed growth and seeding. What approaches can you take?
For perennial weeds such as Nettles, docks, couch grass and the nightmare Oxalis corniculata var. atropurpurea I am not opposed to using glyphosate, indeed for Oxalis I would never touch that with a hoe as the tiniest piece left in the soil will multiply very quickly as it thrives on being cultivated where its delicate roots are easily broken up. Nettles are a very good as a food source for many species of butterfly caterpillars but not very welcome in the vegetable garden where once in fertile soil spread quickly and dominate. For these and other unwanted perennials I either spot treat or use a weed wiper with glyphosate to ensure they are killed right to the root tips. This is also undertaken for grass, particularly meadow foxtail that regularly escapes by windblown seed from the meadow into the vegetable garden. Although not invasive, it’s huge root system quickly establishes.
Methods of Control
I treat annual weeds very differently. If they are in the process of seeding I usually dig them out with a narrow bulb planting trowel, which is superb for the job as it will effectively extract the weed without much soil. Then I either compost them or put them in the green bin. If they are small or not yet seeding I will hoe them. Here lies a problem. In wet weather conditions weeds such as annual meadow grass and chickweed will simply be moved around and will re root the next day to go on growing!
In these conditions the hoe stays in the shed and the next weapon of choice is fire, either provided by the flame gun or on a smaller scale a gas torch weeder. Both are really effective at halting the growth of annual weeds instantly and will quickly clean up an area ready for planting, although the downside of using them is that they can be very detrimental to beneficial predators such as ground spiders.
This year though I have tried something new – acetic acid, or more precisely Elixir Gardens Fast-Acting Weedkiller which comes in a ready-to-use formulation. The target was the ever present chickweed and annual meadow grass on part of the garden where peas will be drilled and marrows planted in the next few days.
and the Results...
The weeds were quite large and just coming into flower and thus needed to be controlled quickly. For this I would have normally flamed these off to prevent seeding, and then dug the area before cultivating and planting. A perfectly still and dry May evening was forecast and this provided perfect conditions to apply the Fast Acting Weedkiller. The pack comes with its own spray trigger so is really easy to apply however as a safety precaution I would recommend wearing gloves and safety glasses. It is really important to completely drench the weed in solution as it kills by contact action. I treated around 40 square metres in around 10 minutes so was very pleased with how quick and easy the ready to use formulation was to apply, no mixing and no cleaning the sprayer out after application. On returning to the shed I also gave the block paving a spray as the regulars were back giving an unwelcome green untidy appearance.
Thirty six hours later the results really speak for themselves the chickweed was completely collapsed and yellow and very surprisingly the same had occurred on the annual meadow grass. Grasses are particularly difficult to kill by contact type weedkillers that burn and ‘flaming’ methods as you tend to only kill the top growth and new shoots will then quickly emerge from the base of the plant. Grasses have evolved after all to be burnt off naturally and is actually very beneficial to them, this is why grasses such as annual meadow grass recovers very well after been hoed off, if the base of the plant does not desiccate completely in the sun they will be back!
Closer inspection of my treated weeds, revealed that this herbicide had killed right to the base as it was quite soft and squashy, resulting in little or no possibility of re-growth. Even the pearlwort which has made a permanent home between the paviour blocks was desiccated and in an ideal condition for flame weeding to finish the job and reduce their remains to ash.
So would I recommend this new herbicide? – yes without doubt, I like the fact that it is Acetic Acid (vinegar) based, and as such, safe to use to clean up beds prior to planting vegetables. It also provides a very quick kill which means weeds are stopped growing instantly. But I think the biggest benefit for me will be as an alternative to the hoe when time is short or in showery conditions where weed regrowth is always a problem.
I’m based in Shropshire, and I’ve been a keen gardener since childhood. Throughout my career I have raised plants commercially, landscaped gardens, taught horticulture, built the odd show garden and managed public parks where I helped popularise the use of wildflowers. My passion has always remained with growing fruit and vegetables in my own garden and looking after my rare breed chickens.
I’m based in Shropshire, and I’ve been a keen gardener since childhood. Throughout my career I have raised plants commercially, landscaped gardens, taught horticulture, built the odd show garden and managed public parks where I helped popularise the use of wildflowers. My passion has always remained with growing fruit and vegetables in my own garden and looking after my rare breed chickens.
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