Dealing with Weeds

If spotted early enough, most weeds can be removed easily without the use of chemicals.

What you should do:
- Mulch borders with an 8cm (3inch) layer of bark mulch to prevent weeds from colonising.
- Cover large areas of bare soil with plastic, landscape fabric or even old carpet to prevent weeds from germinating in spring.
- Remove annual weeds in the border by hand or hoeing.
-Using a hand fork or special weeding tool, lever up perenial weeds from borders.
- Use an old knife to scrape weeds or mos from between gaps in paving.
- Use a daisy scrubber to remove shallow rooted, rosette forming weeds from the lawn.
- Paint stubborn rosette forming lawn weeds with a herbicide gel.
- To tackle coarse grasses growing in the lawn, slash through the crown with a knife before mowing.
- Before mowing lawns containing weeds with long runners, rake the stems to the surface. Regular mowing will eventually weaken and kill the weed.
- Lawns that are smothered with weeds and moss are best treated with a weed and feed product.
- Pull weeds from pots and fill gaps with new compost.

Time Needed - 10 minutes per week

Tools Required:
Handfork or specialist tool
Herbicide gel
Old knife
Patience