Fighting unwanted vegetation takes a lot of time and effort, so everyone is interested in the question: how to make a garden bed from scratch without weeds? To prevent the growth of weeds, a number of preparatory work must be carried out. The soil is dug up, weed roots are removed from it, leveled, and covered with mulch film. Overgrown weeds in an open field are mowed, pulled out or sprayed with chemicals.
The main types of weeds growing in gardens
All gardeners, without exception, know that in order to get a good harvest, the land on which crops grow needs to be fertilized and watered. True, concern for soil fertility leads to weeds growing in the garden instead of sown plants.
Weeds are characterized by faster development, resistance to any weather conditions, and aggressive spread. They take away water and nutrients from the main crops. In the struggle for existence in the garden, cultivated plants often lose.
Weeds and control measures:
- ragweed (mulching, weeding, treatment with Roundup, Tornado pesticides);
- thistle (weeding, spraying with herbicides Tornado, Lapis lazuli);
- bindweed (digging the soil, repeated cutting, treatment with herbicides Chistoryad, Ground);
- knotweed (weeding, spraying with pesticides Gesagard, Betanal);
- woodlice (soil mulching, weeding, use of chemicals Pyramin, Difenamide);
- field fire (mulching, weeding, herbicides calcium cyanamide, diphenamide);
- nettle (weeding, digging soil, mulching beds, spraying with pesticides Glyphos, Tornado);
- milkweed (weeding, treatment with herbicides Esteron, Chistalan);
- dandelion (mulching, weeding, irrigation with pesticides Agroxon, Metaphen);
- plantain (weeding, treatment with herbicides Lontrel, Ballet);
- wheatgrass (digging soil, weeding, mulching);
- thistle (digging soil, weeding).
Weeds are combated as they appear. As a preventive measure, the soil in the garden is dug up in the fall. When you turn over a layer of earth, weed roots appear on the surface, which are simply selected. There are other measures to combat unwanted vegetation.
How to organize a bed without weeds
Unwanted vegetation must be dealt with systematically and consistently. If it is left unattended for some time, then soon the entire garden will be filled with weeds. Simple ideas and ways to control weeds will help gardeners win this difficult battle.
Herbicide treatment
You can deal with weeds without weeding. Herbicides have been used on large farms for many decades, but only a few are used in personal gardens. These chemicals make it possible to quickly deal with any weeds without much difficulty.
Herbicides (Lontrel, Roundup, Lazurit) have selective activity, that is, they act only on weeds and do not cause any harm to cultivated plants.
You can buy the herbicide at any department that sells seeds or fertilizers. Before use, the drugs are diluted with water in the dosage indicated in the instructions. Typically, field treatment with a herbicide solution is carried out in early spring, before or after sowing. Young weeds are sprayed with herbicides.
Chemicals burn or cause weeds to wilt, and after a few weeks they completely disintegrate in the soil.
Typically, a field is sprayed with herbicide only once per season.
Mechanical struggle for purity
In order to get rid of weeds, you need to fight them. The easiest way is to cut weeds at the root. True, after some time they will grow again. If new shoots appear, they are removed again. Eventually, the plant will run out of strength, it will not be able to reproduce the above-ground part and will die.
Mowing is used to control perennials. Annuals can be defeated by weeding. Weeds, along with their roots, are pulled out of the ground.For weeding, use a hoe or a Fokina flat cutter.
Mulching
Without exception, all plants need sunlight for life and normal development. If you cover the bed with black plastic film or agrofibre, then all life processes will stop in the dark. Mulching can destroy not only the sprouts, but also the roots of weeds, which will not be able to live if left without food.
The soil covered with film will have to be artificially irrigated and fertilized. You can use bark, sawdust, peat, hay, and straw as mulch.
Fire treatment
You can control weeds with fire. In dry, windless weather, you need to take a blowtorch and walk around the garden with it. Only weeds should be set on fire. It is advisable to carry out this procedure in early spring - before planting vegetables, or in late autumn - after harvesting. Weeds are destroyed with a sliding flame. The fire must touch the plants.
The ground itself cannot be set on fire, otherwise a fire may occur.
Sowing green manure
This is a completely harmless biological method of weed control. As soon as space is freed up in the garden bed so that it does not become overgrown with weeds, green manure is sown. These are plants that are sown for a short time, without waiting for the harvest, they are mowed and buried in the ground so that they decompose there, and later serve as a breeding ground for new crops.
As green manure, you can use phacelia, lupine, sweet clover, oilseed radish, white mustard, peas, oats, clover, and rapeseed.
Folk methods and remedies
Weeds can be controlled using traditional methods. The beds are treated with substances that can be found in the kitchen cabinet. In small quantities, these drugs will not cause any harm to the soil.
Salt
You can destroy weeds on the field using table salt. The dry substance is sprinkled on stumps, garden paths, and areas with paving slabs. The sprinkled area should be covered with plastic wrap to prevent the salt from being soaked by precipitation. True, this method is not suitable for spraying a garden.
To control weeds in the garden, you need to prepare a solution. Usually you take one pack of salt per bucket of water. You can add 0.5 liters of vinegar and a glass of liquid dishwashing detergent to the liquid. Weeds are sprayed with this mixture and they die within 1-3 days.
Soda
Ordinary soda will help get rid of weeds. A solution is prepared for spraying. For a bucket of water, take half a pack of soda and a little liquid soap for sticking.
It is advisable to use the product in the early stages of weed growth.
Alcohol solution
The method of treating beds with alcohol came to us from the USA. There, this method of controlling weeds was used in the 30s of the last century during Prohibition.
According to this method, the beds are watered with an alcohol solution in early spring. Place a bottle of vodka on a bucket of water. After such watering, the weeds sprout together and are immediately weeded. Then they begin planting work. Thanks to a single treatment of the soil with alcohol for the entire season, you can forget about such a problem as weeds.
Vinegar
You can get rid of unwanted vegetation using 9% table vinegar. True, you can only water weeds with it on garden paths. To spray weeds growing in the garden, you need to prepare a vinegar solution.
Take vinegar and water in a ratio of 1:1, 1:2 or 1:3. The more weedy the field, the higher the concentration of the mixture.If there is an abundance of weeds, a solution is prepared from equal proportions of vinegar and water. Weeds are irrigated with a vinegar mixture in dry and windless weather. You can add a little liquid soap or shampoo to the liquid for better adhesion.
Boiling water
The garden bed can be watered with boiling water in early spring. Hot water will burn all weed seeds that are on the surface of the soil. You can pour boiling water over the weeds that have grown near the garden path. Adding salt will help enhance the effect of hot water.
Expert advice
In the area, weeds are controlled using mulch (gravel, film) or by planting ground cover plants (nasturtium, mint, periwinkle, saxifrage). In the garden, weed control is carried out mainly by weeding or mowing. The use of mulch involves the construction of an artificial irrigation system.
Spraying with herbicides will help make the work of gardeners easier. Treatment with herbicides is carried out once, at the very beginning of weed growth (in spring).
