Imagine a beautiful landscape with an enchanted garden just in front of your home, yes! It will definitely enhance the beauty of the scenery which you will cherish to live in. Not only will it look beautiful but also elaborate. However, with every blessing there are some troubles as well, so in this case you may expect weeds in your garden. As said by Emerson, (1878), ‘What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not been discovered.’ Birkenholtz, Trevor. “Lawns and Toxins: An Ecology of the City.” Cities, 2001. Apart from looking messy they are sharp and even touching them by accident can be hurtful. Though there are chemical methods to remove these weeds, but they can be harmful to the environment. Here are a few tips to get rid of the weeds in your garden. According to ‘Douglas Richmond’ et al (2006) (published in Influence of grass species and endophyte infection on weed populations during establishment of low-maintenance lawns), the management of lawn weeds depends entirely on the usage of synthetic herbicides.
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Tips to Get Rid of the Weeds in Your Garden
01. Pulling them Up
Though this sounds as very amateurish it is actually the simplest way to get rid of weeds in your garden. However, in order to ensure a complete weed-free garden, you need to make sure that you completely uproot them One of the best times to perform the task is when the grass is wet as it will allow to uproot the weeds completely with efficiency. But make sure to use a pair of garden gloves and trowel and pull them out with roots to ensure complete eradication.
02. Newspaper
Not that popular but it is fairly effective. Take around 10 sheets of newspapers and wet them. You should now place these newspapers on the weeds and place something over them to weigh them down. For this, you can use mulch, potting soil, etc. The presence of a newspaper would suffocate the weeds and decompose them.
03. Essential Oils
Essential oils are beneficial to enhance your beauty and health as well as it is effective to remove weeds in the garden. Take one-part vinegar, one-part castile soap, three drops of wintergreen essential oil, and three drops of clove. Mix it up and your weed killer is ready to do its job. However, this one may need more than one application to actually start showing the results.
04. Vodka Spray
Put some vodka in a spray bottle and add dish soap to it. Now spray this liquid on the stem and leaves of the weeds. Allow the sunlight to burn the weeds and you are good to remove the weeds from your garden.
05. Warm Salt Water
Boiling salt water can scorch the weed to an extent that it causes them to die. First, boil two cups of water along with three tablespoons salt in it. Now pour the water over the weeds and your work is done. The weeds in the garden is now just a matter of few days. However, you can use this trick only on the weeds between the cracks and bricks. If you use it in the garden weeds, the surrounding plants may get affected.
06. Mulch
Mulch keeps your soil cool and does not provide the weeds the light it needs to survive. If you use organic mulches, it can actually encourage the growth of beetles and carbides which are naturally weed killers. However, mulch needs to be changed frequently otherwise there is a chance of it getting inhabited with weed seeds. You need to keep the mulch around 2 inches deep as anything over and above it can rid the soil of oxygen.
07. Chop their Heads Off
If you are unable to uproot the weeds completely then just cut the heads off. This will ensure that reseeding does not happen and the weeds use up their existing food reserves thus limiting their further growth in that region. You can use pruning loppers to eliminate the top of these weeds. Or, you could also use a trimmer with a blade attachment as that would cut the prickly thistles or brambles without harming your hands.
08. Deprive them of Water
Plants need water to survive and weeds are no exception. Place your hoses beneath the mulch so that only the plants get the water and the weed has to stay deprived of it. When the weeds in the garden does not receive adequate water it eventually stops germination by almost 50-70%. However, there are certain weeds like nuts edge and bindweed which can grow with even a very little water supply. You would have to work a little hard to ensure the same though!
09. Reduce the Gaps Between the Plants
When the gap between the plants is reduced, it chokes out any weeds that are present in between. Instead of opting for scattered placement make sure that you are placing plants fairly close to each other. By this method of plantation, you can almost reduce the weeds by 25% in your landscape. However, maintain a healthy gap in between two plants which give them enough space for growth. The space requirement should take heed of that too.
10. Nurture Your Lawn
If the landscape gets appropriate nutrition there are very reduced chances of it facing the problem of weeds. Regularly use a lawn fertilizer to ensure that the food content does not go down. This should be done every 6 to 8 weeks to keep the harmful elements away. You can also use tricks like aerating or dethatching to achieve your goal.
11. High-level Mowing
Just like plants even weeds need sunlight to stay alive. If the same is cut off there are very limited chances of it surviving. When you mow your garden, the next time make sure that you mow a little higher than the required level. Usually doing that makes the grass grow tall and thick. This stifles the growth of the weeds and it dies a slow death without you having to put in too much effort.To sum up, taking care of your garden involves a lot of hard work. ‘There is increasing emphasis on cultural practices that promote grass density, and on the use of selective herbicides when appropriate’ (Johnson and Murphy, 1992). Just keeping the grass clean is not sufficient as the presence of weeds can harm the grass and plants in more than one way. Following the above tips, you can keep the weeds away and ensure that the landscape stays healthy always. Since your garden is the first impression of your home it is advisable to keep it clean and protected. Removing the weeds from your garden is just one of the most important and perhaps the firm step that you should take in this direction.
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Author Bio
Garima Bais – I am a blogger writing on topics like parenting, love, life, beauty and travel. Belonging to a country with a deep heritage India I am an eternal optimist and believe that whatever life gives to you should be taken with gratitude. Do let me know your take on my articles in the form of comments.