Kitchen Garden Forum

As it says really.

Sorry about neglecting you all; the good news is that I have been in demand for work, the bad news is that I didn't see the allotment from October to the middle of January and and even and once the snow and frost had gone the green weeds were everywhere!
Lots of broad-leafed stuff (that looks a biy like Cornsalad) came in with the manure (or so it appears)

Way too early.

Stuff needs to be in active growth, so wait until its warm enough to seed a lawn.

Shame.
I'll have to get the hoe out.

Can't you just think of it as volunteer green manure, and leave it to dig in later ?

I'm interested in this because the Couch grass on my plot is already growing up through my garlic plants.

Hand weeding this rarely finds all the lower roots when crops are already present, so I was wondering about using a touch weeder or similar now.
Anyone got any recommendations?

Hi Stephen,
Tony's idea is probably the best because whatever you have growing will not be showing any seed heads so if you hoe them and rake them off and add to compost or actually shallow dig them into the soil would seem the best way to go.
Now I got told off by the weedkiller police for suggesting spot weeding with Glyphosate on an Asparagus bed which would have used all of two eggcups full of mixed up solution. But that was because it was me.
Unless something is particularly pernicious I do not use Glyphosate on productive land if it is at all possible. I explained this in another posting recently my use of Glyphosate.
Colin. I would hold fire with spot weeding until you have a fairly descent showing of green leaf and that is probably a couple of months to go yet.
JB.

Johnboy wrote:Colin. I would hold fire with spot weeding until you have a fairly descent showing of green leaf and that is probably a couple of months to go yet.

Well there are plenty of green leaves showing already. If I can do something now, I'd rather not let them get too established. Also if I leave it, the garlic will have got bigger. Still too early?

I don't want to quibble but like Colin M, I have couch grass and creeping buttercup which are showing fresh leaves.
I know that it is an unending battle, but occasionally you would like to get one step ahead.

Your money, your choice.

As already said, it's obviously too early for glyphosate, but this time of the year is ideal for getting things like couch grass and creeping buttercup out of the ground, I find (and stinging nettles for that matter). The soil has been loosened by the hard frosts and once one has got a grip of the plant it just sort of pulls out with minimum help - quite different from doing so in summer-hardened ground.

Monika wrote:this time of the year is ideal for getting things like couch grass and creeping buttercup out of the ground

I'd agree for the rest of our plot, but I have quite a bit coming up amongst our garlic and can't easily dig it out efectively (i.e. it would probably still leave a lot of root lower down, to come back again later).

Colin, I didn't mean digging out, but just loosening the soil with, say, a trowel, and then gently pulling out the weed by tracing it along the root.

It's alright - I've done some damage with the trowel and hoe - mostly on my knees!