Weedkiller v, Rain!

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Weedkiller v, Rain!
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Lozzie

Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 2595

Posted: Mon May 22, 06 10:25 am Post subject:
Do you need to do this quickly, Mrs Nesbitt? If not, then you could cover the are with blcak polythene. Takes a couple of months, but can be extremely efficient and totally natural.

mrsnesbitt

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1576

Posted: Mon May 22, 06 10:27 am Post subject:
I was thinking about this originally, something similar to what Brigit did on INEBG...have you tried it Lozzie, could you explain, slowly I am a blonde remember!

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Mon May 22, 06 12:03 pm Post subject:
Isn't it just getting lots of black polythene, weighing it down, and then leaving it be? Some people prefer to turn it all in first, of course. Works well. Doesn't get rid of everything, but it'll weaken it. What do you aim to plant there?

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Mon May 22, 06 12:48 pm Post subject:
Get some glyphosate, a pair of rubber gloves and a pot of vaseline. Put on the rubber gloves, mix some glyphosate into the vaseline and then apply liberally to the docks with your hands. It should stay in place long enough to be taken up by the dock leaves and it won't drip all over your grass.

mrsnesbitt

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1576

Posted: Mon May 22, 06 3:20 pm Post subject:
Works well. Doesn't get rid of everything, but it'll weaken it. What do you aim to plant there? A wild flower meadow mix I have in the cupboard waiting for action! Dx

bernie-woman

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7824
Location: shropshire

Posted: Mon May 22, 06 3:25 pm Post subject:

mrsnesbitt wrote:

Works well. Doesn't get rid of everything, but it'll weaken it. What do you aim to plant there?

A wild flower meadow mix I have in the cupboard waiting for action!
Dx

Most wildflowers like really poor soil and from the sound of it you haven't got really poor soil as it is full of weeds

Wildflowers will not be able to compete with the weeds and if it is just a patch of a meadow then weeds will quickly colonise again

I would skim of the topsoil and replace it with poor soil or just skim off the topsoil and plant onto that

Your wildflower mix will get well established that way - we have just done this in the nature reserve I am involved with and it has worked there

mrsnesbitt

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1576

Posted: Wed May 24, 06 7:23 am Post subject:

This is what the weeds look like.
They are about 3 foot high now.
It has rained throughout the night and is forecast today.

The soil is very good soil. In the early 1800's our plot formed the village green. In 1956 it was bought by the Police and a house was built on it, ie The Village Police House. The paddock was an allotment then.over the years it was neglected, overgrown etc etc...we levelled it off, and it is looking much better....it is just this last part.
I do have access to diggers and workmen

who can level it for me, but I just want to ensure this weed is eradicated.
Sorry for not getting backsooner, teaching for a couple of days.
Dx

bernie-woman

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7824
Location: shropshire

Posted: Wed May 24, 06 8:22 am Post subject:
As I said - I wouldn't bother with weedkiller - if you have access to workmen then just skim the top off - do not add anymore comost or topsoil and sow your wild flower mix inot that Honestly, wildflowers do not like good soil at all I like the look of it at the moment - you can't get more wild than that and after all weeds are only plants in the wrong place

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Wed May 24, 06 8:44 am Post subject:

mrsnesbitt wrote:

This is what the weeds look like.
They are about 3 foot high now.

Weeds?

WEEDS?

Naah, they're wild flowers they are.

What I can see is tall umbellifers, and considering the time of year and what they look like, they're most likely cow parsley. Beautiful stuff. Could be upright hedge parsley, could be sweet cicely (doesn't look like it though).

Now, if you must get rid of it, be aware that it spreads both by seed and by creeping rhizome. So you can nuke it with weedkillers, but you'll have lots of other seeds in the ground already, plus all the other annuals/biennials. Strim it over and over and it eventually seems to die, but the bit in our lawn seems impervious to mowing, keeps coming back.

I might be tempted to weedkiller and then add lots of wildflower seeds to the ground when its turned, see what comes... But I'd have a gut feeling that you'll get lots of dock, chickweed, goosegrass, fat hen, cow parsley.... You know, more weeds

The idea of taking the topsoil off is intriguing, though.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Wed May 24, 06 8:50 am Post subject:
Another vote for your existing wild flower mix. I think it looks great. Cow parsley looks rather nice in a vase too IMO.

bernie-woman

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7824
Location: shropshire

Posted: Wed May 24, 06 9:22 am Post subject:

cab wrote:

The idea of taking the topsoil off is intriguing, though.

This is what we have had to do in the nature reserve which I volunteer at - the warden said to us that basically if you have nettles/dock/ cow parsley etc... then our soil will be too good to plant a wildflower mix

One of the schools wanted to do this as a little project so we have taken the top soil off and sown some seed in a small section - some of the seeds have just germinated

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Wed May 24, 06 9:29 am Post subject:
Bernie, how much soil have you had to strip off? What depth?

bernie-woman

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7824
Location: shropshire

Posted: Wed May 24, 06 9:37 am Post subject:

cab wrote:

Bernie, how much soil have you had to strip off? What depth?

about 4-6 inches - more than we hoped

but it meant we didn't have to nuke the area with weedkiller - just skimmed the whole lot off

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Wed May 24, 06 9:45 am Post subject:
So you took off what was visibly topsoil then? Might be worth, if you're considering this MrsN, having a little exploratory diggigng just to see how far down you'd have to go.

bernie-woman

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7824
Location: shropshire

Posted: Wed May 24, 06 9:47 am Post subject:

cab wrote:

So you took off what was visibly topsoil then?

Might be worth, if you're considering this MrsN, having a little exploratory diggigng just to see how far down you'd have to go.

Yep we dug a small trench so we could see the layers of soil and went from there - you do need a digger - wouldn't recommed anyone doing it by hand

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