The main evil of the garden and the garden are stubborn weeds that breed at an incredible speed, and it can be so hard to get them out. The fight against them can be carried out in various ways: mechanical, chemical or folk. Try everything and decide for yourself what to drown out weeds on your personal plot.
What is the source of weeds?
If cultivated plants appear in a garden or garden thanks to a person, then weeds arise by themselves. They breed throughout the season and feel great in almost any environment. These harmful plants can appear in different ways:
- From the soil. The fact is that in any case, it contains spores of many weeds, which for the time being are in a sleeping state. But, as soon as the external conditions undergo some changes (for example, it rained), they immediately break through the soil and make themselves felt.
- Through organic fertilizers, which hardly anyone can do without, growing vegetables and fruits.
- Through poor quality planting material. Therefore, purchase it only from time-tested sellers and at specialized retail outlets.
- The wind is an excellent seed carrier for enemies of cultivated plants. One rush is enough to make the ideal site an ideal haven for weeds.
Why are weeds so objectionable?
How to make them withdraw once and for all? Nobody knows, even agronomists and scientists engaged in breeding are unknown. Why did parasitic plants so not please everyone:
- They take away what is not intended for them at all. This refers to fertilizers and top dressing. After all, weeds get about 50% of all this "goodies." Cultivated plants suffer terribly from a lack of nutrition, and this is a direct way to reduce productivity.
- Parasitic plants are a refuge for harmful insects, where they perfectly reproduce and multiply.
What is weed control?
Weed plants are excellent "fittors." They are not afraid of such natural phenomena as drought, frost, rain and wind. Even after mechanical action, they have the ability to quickly recover and continue their "dirty work".
On a note! Sometimes even burning weeds in the fall does not always give good results in this unequal struggle.
Can plant something that grows faster than these nasty harmful plants? It's possible. How to plant a garden so that weeds do not grow? You can plant siderata plants. But we warn immediately that these measures will give results only for a while. So, you should always be on the alert.
Traditional methods of struggle
Traditional methods include the following manipulations:
- use of herbicides;
- manual removal of parasitic plants (moreover, remember: a weed torn without root continues to live and stay awake).
- Mulching. This should be done in a very dense layer, so as not to give the weed any chance to sprout. As natural mulch we use hay, or compost, bark, needles. But you can apply synthetics, namely, agrofibre. And someone who likes to read the press can use newspapers as well. If old cardboard boxes were littered in the attic, then it’s not a “sin” to use them.
Siderata Against Weeds
How to deal with such misfortune as weeds? Try digging the ground and sow siderat plants. These include:
- rape;
- mustard;
- oil radish;
- lupine;
- white clover;
- alfalfa;
- nasturtium;
- buckwheat;
- wheat;
- rye;
- oats.
They will displace hated parasitic plants. This is because it is the siderats that grow faster than weeds, which not only in the shortest time can cope with weeds (that is, reduce their viability to zero), but also significantly enrich the soil with organic substances (especially potassium).
On a note! After the growth of siderates has ended, they are mowed. And then either close up into the topsoil, or as a mulch leave on the surface. They can be fully called green fertilizers.
True, each plant has its pros and cons, so use them wisely. For example, rye immediately shows aggression at the slightest encroachment of any vegetation on its territory (only cornflowers are an exception: they are allowed). But mustard in this sense is more "complaisant." Therefore, if you plant it not only in order to feed the soil with minerals, but also, wanting to get rid of weeds, then do not forget about the density of planting. That is, in fact, it turns out a kind of grass struggle against weeds.
Mustard Weed Control
White mustard as a siderate has excellent phytosanitary properties. Thanks to this, it helps to combat nematode, fusarium rot, late blight and potato scab. Neighborhood with mustard is not at all pleased with such harmful insects as the pea moth, wireworm and slugs.
The plant is a characteristic representative of the cruciferous family. The rapidly growing and mass-increasing mustard enriches the soil with phosphorus, sulfur and nitrogen. The advantage of this green manure is the ability to raise nutrients from the deep layers of the soil to the upper. And then they become available to those crops that will be planted later. Having a very strong root system, penetrating to a depth of 2 meters, mustard can break even the heaviest soil. Therefore, it, as a siderate for dense (clay) soils, is simply a find.
Sowing of mustard is carried out as follows: on average, 5-7 g of seeds per 1 m² are recommended.
On a note! Scatter the seeds by hand or put them in the grooves: it does not matter. Then we plant them into the soil to a depth of 2-2.5 cm using a garden rake and water them (after all, mustard is a very moisture-loving plant: just do not overdo it).
When to sow mustard against weeds? This should be done from April 15 to August 15, occupying the plant areas that are either not seeded at all, or already freed after harvesting.
Advice! After the green manure is embedded in the soil (this occurs after 1.5 months from the day of planting), 2-3 weeks should pass. And only then they plant any other culture.
Using white mustard as a siderat, we do not forget about another important point: we do not sow it where cruciferous plants were or will be planted. Due to the fact that she also belongs to this family, it is impossible to exclude the possibility of a disease with the same diseases.
Advice! Based on the foregoing, we recommend planting mustard where peppers or tomatoes will subsequently grow.
Rapeseed seeds
How to plant a garden so that weeds do not grow? Rapeseed is an annual herbaceous plant of the cruciferous family, which is propagated by seeds. It is cold-resistant and very demanding on soil fertility and moisture. Rapeseed is successfully used as a green manure, which, in addition to weed control, perfectly loosens and structures the soil.
Important! If you want to increase efficiency in weed control, it will not be out of place to combine the simultaneous sowing of rapeseed (winter) with rye.
Agricultural technology for sowing winter crops, which is carried out in August: we mix rape seeds with sand and put into grooves (2-3 cm deep). We arrange the rows at a distance of 15 cm from each other. Then we throw the earth and slightly compact it. After a week, wait for seedlings.
Important! The best soils for rape are considered: chernozem, loam and sandstone. Remember: stagnant water for rape is fatal.
In the spring, vegetation is restored, active growth and flowering begin. As soon as the green pods are noticed: it means the signal - it's time to mow and plant in the soil. After a month, you can plant seedlings of peppers, eggplant or tomatoes.
On a note! If you sow winter varieties in spring, then you know that they will not bloom, but you will be provided with green mass. You can mow it, it will grow back.
Rapeseed (spring) seeds are sown in early spring (in March), and at the end of July you can mow.
Oil radish
Oilseed radish also belongs to the cruciferous family and is a tall annual plant. We sow it in the third decade of July after the main crop has been harvested. Radish is gaining green mass at a fairly rapid pace before the onset of frost and thereby inhibits the growth of even the most malicious weeds (for example, wheat grass). How is she good? The fact that it is quite unpretentious in leaving, tolerates cold, shadow well and is absolutely indifferent to the composition of the soil.
Lupine
How to plant a garden so that weeds do not grow? Try planting a lupine:
- It gives a huge amount of biomass - 45-60 tons per hectare.
- The plant belongs to the legume family.
- Its root system (due to the fact that they reach a depth of two meters) is able to deliver nutrients from the depths to the topsoil, so that subsequent crops can enjoy them (they themselves cannot do this).
After any lupine, absolutely any crop can be planted, since it is not in vain that it is called a soil orderly. And this happens because some varieties of this plant are simply saturated with alkaloids, which successfully cope with soil organisms and bacteria that cause diseases.
When the flowering has ended and the seeds are already visible, we begin to mow the lupine. Then we chop it and embed it 20 cm into the soil.
Important! If you do not conduct this operation on time, the stems will become coarse: it will be more difficult to process them, and they will decompose much longer.
Nasturtium
And why not use nasturtium as a siderate: it’s both beautiful and useful. Often it is planted in the soil next to fruit bushes and trees. Planting is done in this way: 3-4 plants per 1 m². The smell of nasturtium is not to the taste of green aphids. In autumn, when the aboveground part of the flower dies, the underground continues to “work”: the roots remaining in the ground contribute to the moisture and air exchange of the soil and attract earthworms.
Winter rye
Rye against weeds is great. She copes well even with perennial weeds that have long taken root and it is very difficult to “smoke” them from the site. The best time to plant is autumn, immediately after the latest crops have already been harvested.
Advice! If you are developing a new site, we strongly recommend that you plant winter rye for two years, which will make you forget what weeds are. This is especially true for wheatgrass and Cirsium arvensis.
Alfalfa and clover
How to plant a garden so that weeds do not grow? Clover (white) and alfalfa fight quite well with them and make healthy competition to all the plants listed above.
Advice! We recommend not to be lazy and as often as possible to resort to the help of green manure, your faithful colleagues in the fight against parasitic plants.