The best methods and means for controlling weeds in the garden

Weed control in the garden is a labor-intensive, yet necessary process. Gardeners must expend considerable time and effort to ensure the fruits and vegetables in their beds are not exposed to danger. Weeds are sources of plant diseases and potential breeding grounds for harmful insects, such as aphids, caterpillars, and beetles. Removing weeds from your garden and vegetable plot helps preserve your harvest and prevent fungal diseases. Harmful insects that live in weed beds will not migrate to your garden plants.

Dangerous Neighborhood

In a garden overgrown with dense weeds, fruit crops are at risk. You can't expect a harvest in such beds, and here's why:

• weeds are more resilient than cultivated plants and are resistant to unfavorable climatic conditions;
• in the struggle for food, living space, light and water, weeds are stronger than garden plants;
• weeds absorb some of the nutrients and moisture necessary for the growth and development of vegetables, berries, and fruits;
• without sufficient nutrition, crops weaken and become easy prey for harmful insects;
• Spores of fungal diseases from weeds growing near the beds are carried by insects or wind to healthy crops.

Methods of control

Weed control in vegetable gardens and orchards is essential throughout the growing season for fruit and vegetable crops. Perennial weed control is difficult; it's a long and labor-intensive process. Gardeners devote a great deal of time to it, but their hard work pays off. Vegetable yields increase due to the absence of pests and diseases. The aesthetic appearance of gardens and orchards improves. Weed-free beds and paths are a delight to the eye. This state of affairs can be achieved in garden plots by using a variety of methods to combat unwanted vegetation.

Weeding

Manual weeding has long been used to control weeds in gardens, using the simplest tools: a hoe, a hiller, a cultivator, and a root fork.

• A hoe is a pointed metal triangle, fixed to the end of a handle with a length of 1.5 m, used to destroy weeds at a depth of 10-15 cm, to loosen the soil and collect soil around the plant, a hoe is used when working standing on large areas (plantations of potatoes, cabbage, beets and other crops);
• a hiller is a hand tool similar to a hoe, but with a short handle (30 cm) for easy weeding and hilling of small beds;
• cultivator - a curved three-pronged pitchfork or fork, with handles 30 cm and 1.5 m long, the size depends on the person's position: standing or bending over the garden bed;
• A fork for removing the roots of perennials - a device with 2 prongs is attached to the handle; the dug-up root of the weed is pierced with the fork, slightly lifted and pulled out of the ground with force.

The introduction of mechanized tools into gardening has reduced the labor intensity of manual labor. Machines such as trimmers, walk-behind tractors, and cultivators have come into play, helping to control weeds across large farmlands.

Use of pesticides

Manual weeding is not as effective as pesticide treatment. Perennial weeds cannot be removed without chemicals. Chemical and biological agents (herbicides) are applied before planting seedlings or sowing vegetable seeds, when the first weed shoots appear. General-purpose products are used in the fall after harvest.

Use of mulching materials

Mulch helps control weeds in the garden. Mulch is a material applied to the soil surface to inhibit weed growth and retain moisture. Gardeners use the following as mulch:

• crushed bark of coniferous trees: larch, pine;
• dry mown grass (without weeds);
• fine-grained peat from lowland areas;
• fallen pine needles (short-lived material);
• dried sawdust of deciduous trees;
• dry or rotted leaves;
• straw from threshed cereal crops;
• wood chips;
• spruce or pine cones.

Mulch is applied to the beds after manually removing weeds and loosening the soil. The height of the mulch layer depends on the crop being grown; for many plants, 5-10 cm is the average.

Folk remedies and methods

Gardeners who are averse to the use of pesticides on their plots are turning to traditional methods for weed control. Along with tried-and-true methods, gardeners are inventing new, gentle techniques that respect the ecology of their gardens and vegetable plots.

According to folk methods it is recommended:

1. Use alcohol. Prepare a 1:10 solution: one part alcohol to 10 parts water (example: 0.5 liters of 70% alcohol to 5 liters of water). Spray the beds with this mixture before planting. Weeds will not germinate for the rest of the season.
2. Use a solution of soap, salt, and vinegar. In a ten-liter bucket of water, dissolve and mix the following: 3.8 liters of 9% vinegar, half a cup of salt, and 50 g of grated or liquid soap. Apply carefully, avoiding any drops of the solution on the leaves of the seedlings. Use a hand-held sprayer.
3. Treat weeds with solutions: 250 g of soda + a bucket of water; 5 liters of vinegar (5%) + a glass of salt + 10 liters of water.
4. Invite live helpers. Chickens, geese, and ducks are excellent weed killers. In the fall, after the harvest, let the animals out into the garden; the birds will destroy unwanted grass, even reaching the roots.

Modern methods

Modern weed control involves the use of innovative materials, such as black PVC film, geotextile fabrics, gravel, and crushed stone. While these materials have their drawbacks, they certainly have their advantages:

• black PVC film does not allow light to pass through and inhibits the growth and development of weeds;
• textile fabrics suppress the root system of weeds and prevent them from growing in the beds;
• Gravel and crushed stone protect garden paths and the space between plantings in flower beds from weeds.

Gardeners use film and textiles on beds in the following ways:

• prepared beds are completely covered with protective material;
• make cuts in the places where the seedlings will be planted;
• plant the plants, secure the cuts with mulch, leaving 5-10 cm from the main stem;
• water and feed the seedlings using a drip irrigation system.

Alternative methods

There are methods of weed control that are opposite to those described above; they require a lot of labor and minimal knowledge of agricultural technology for growing fruit and vegetable crops.

1. It's important to dig up your garden every fall and spring. Fall digging, without breaking up large clods of soil, improves the structure of heavy soils. Frost causes the clods to crumble, loosening the soil, and freezing the weed roots that rise to the surface.
2. Create a crop rotation plan and carefully follow the replacement of one crop with another. Gardeners note that the same weed species grow among certain crops; replacing one vegetable crop with another (potatoes with tomatoes, cucumbers with carrots) reduces weeds in these areas.
3. Don't leave empty patches in your garden, as they'll quickly become overrun with weeds. You've harvested early radishes, freeing up a bed, but haven't had time to plant anything else. Within 2-3 days, the bed will be overrun with fresh weeds.

Conclusion

Keeping a garden clean is a difficult task, but even lazy gardeners, with a minimum of effort and a maximum of ingenuity, can cope with the problem. Use the combination of measures described above to combat weeds, and you'll be pleased with the results. Best of luck.