Garden Weeds
Garden weeds are the plants that grow in wrong places in the garden. These plants are best adapted and native to the environmental conditions they grow in. Some of these plants can be used for decorative, medicinal and culinary purposes; however, most of them are considered as unwanted garden weeds and destroyed. Blinks, borage, chickweed, clover, dandelion, etc. are few examples of weeds.
Garden weeds:
The weeds in the garden compete with the other plants for light, water and space. They can completely swamp the delicate plant specimens. The seeds produced by these plants can stay dormant for several years in soil. These seeds start germinating when they get favorable climate and soil conditions. Therefore, for protection and healthy growth of the plants in your garden, it is essential to get rid of these weeds.
These weeds can be categorized as:
- Annual weeds: The annual weed plants take one season for germination and maturation and die leaving the seeds for germination in autumn or following season.
- Biennial weeds: These weeds take two seasons to mature to produce seeds. In first season, the seeds germinate in the early summer at the soil level, developing long taproots. In second season, the upright stems with flowers are produced. These flowers give out the seeds for new plant growths.
- Perennial weeds: The perennial weeds live for several seasons in the soil. They immediately germinate in the favorable conditions. These weeds are the most difficult to control.
The seeds produced by these plants can be spread to the new places through water, air, animals or birds to produce new plant growths.
Weed control:
- There are various ways to keep the weed growth under control. Hand pulling is an effective organic method to remove them. Spending the time in garden for pulling weeds helps the gardener to know about the garden plants. However, this method is effective for the small garden areas.
- Mulching helps to control the weeds. It prevents the new weeds from coming out; smothers and kills the existing weeds. Two-three inches of mulch layer can work effectively to control the weeds.
- The weeds in the garden can be killed easily by pouring boiling water on it. Nevertheless, while doing this, care should be taken that it should not harm the roots of the neighboring plants.
- Soap water is also good choice for removing weeds. Five table spoons of liquid soap should be added to four cups of water to prepare the solution. This solution should be sprayed on the weeds using a spray bottle. Alcohol spray and Vinegar are other useful measures to remove and control the weeds.
- The chemical sprays are also available to be sprayed on the weeds. They include the substances like Ortho-Weed-B-Gon and Roundup.
To know more about the different garden weeds and its control methods, read further.