Weed control: how not to lose the vegetable garden battle

Recommendation points

• Sow thistle
• Woodlice or stellate
• To dream
• Creeping wheatgrass
• Purslane

How weeds complicate the life of summer residents, which, despite all efforts, continue to grow actively and appear as if from nowhere! There are especially tenacious plants that are very difficult to defeat the first time. We will present you the methods of dealing with the most resistant weeds.

There is a separate article about hogweed, which is the fastest spreading, malicious, tenacious, dangerous to human health, we would say, a powerful weed in many regions of our country, so we will not dwell on the fight against this plant. Let’s deal with other weeds that are common in our beds.

Sow thistle

In Ukraine, he is often called the thug. A very nasty plant, which is difficult to approach because of the many thorns. At the same time, ordinary weeding does not help, because the sow thistle root deepens by 18 centimeters and even the smallest remaining root will quickly sprout. This pest should be dealt with promptly, until the seeds appear, which will immediately scatter throughout the garden.

You will need gardening gloves, armed with which you must try to pull the entire root out of the ground. Did it fail or are the sow thistle thickets too large? You will have to mow, regularly, until the plant depletes its strength, that is, starve out. For a long time, yes, but chemical agents such as Lontrel and Roundup cannot be used on the areas where you have cultivated plants, these are continuous herbicides.

Woodlice or stellate

The appearance of this weed clearly shows that there is little sun on the site, the summer is rainy, and the soil is too acidic. In such conditions, woodlice replaces several generations per season, multiplying very actively. Efficiency is important in this case, the weed should be removed before flowering.

It is difficult to pull out woodlice completely, because even one piece of the stem or a leaf that has fallen on damp ground can give shoots. It is better to try to pull it out on a hot sunny day so that the shoots have time to dry out. It is advisable to use a hoe or flat cutter, but it is best to create conditions in which the wood louse will be uncomfortable. For this, ash, chalk or lime should be added to the soil. The acidity of the soil will decrease and the weed will disappear by itself.

To dream

It even blooms beautifully, with inflorescences of small white flowers. But for the garden, moaning is a real disaster. The roots reach 40 centimeters and literally penetrate everything around, so it is incredibly difficult to pull them out – they will give new shoots. Only a complete deep digging of the soil will help, and all the roots should be collected. Grass can be mowed, flower stalks can be cut off to contain spread and reduce plant activity.

You can also plant potatoes in an area with dampness, this plant does not tolerate hilling and will disappear from the planted garden. Chemical attacks are also effective, but you have to act very carefully, repeating the procedure several times per season..

Creeping wheatgrass

Familiar grass, right? It survives almost everywhere, persistently spreading through the garden and beds. The roots penetrate into the ground up to one meter, and the plant itself can give up to 10 thousand seeds, which will germinate in just two weeks! At the same time, wheatgrass is able to lure very harmful insects into the garden, for example, wireworms and stem scoops.

Digging with a pitchfork to a depth of at least 30 centimeters will help to destroy wheatgrass. In this case, the roots will have to be carefully selected from the ground with your hands. Lawn grass or clover will help to suppress wheatgrass, which should be used to sow the affected area. Roundup is also effective, but it is impossible for it to get on cultivated plants, we remind you of this.

Purslane

An incredibly stubborn plant. We weeded the garden bed – after two or three days, there are again small shoots of fleshy green leaves on brownish shoots on it. It is difficult to pull out such small plants by hand, the stems break, the roots remain in the ground, and they spread quickly, then reaching a solid size and literally creeping along the ground.

It is very important to pull out the root completely, preventing it from giving new shoots. And if you allow flowering, you will get about 40 thousand more seeds, which will literally dot the garden. Deep digging helps well, as does the complete removal of the roots. But seeds can survive for decades, so prepare for a new battle with purslane next year..

Mulching (only a sufficiently thick layer, not less than five centimeters) and covering the beds with agroperlite are universal methods of combating all weeds without exception. This is a special black fabric that will not allow anything living to germinate. For cultivated plants, holes can be cut in agroperlite.