Poll: GYO wants to know how you do it!

[Jeanied]

I think you need different approaches for different things. I voted for hoeing and pulling because my plot is more or less under control now. Once the main top growth of weeds has been tamed, with the roots dug out as much as possible (I'm thinking of bindweed here) then regular hoeing and pulling of the odd perennial weed really makes a difference and keeps it all under control. However if I let it slip for a few weeks then other methods may be needed! If I have a part of a bed get weedy with no time to deal with it then the covering and mulching approach may be deployed as well!
One thing I won't do is use chemicals.

[bubblewrap]

I more or less shut my lottie down for winter in December bar a few bits but before I did I dug over the whole plot.
Come last Monday I started off the new season with few weeds so the plot only required a light turning.
I am now ready to start planting when the weather gets a little warmer.

[PAULW]

Cant be doing with all that weeding so the spuds and onions are covered with second hand straw from the stables, keeps the weeds down I dont chop any onions weeding and there is plenty of humus to dig in at the end of the season

[Storming Norman]

Two Sheds idea about the autumn newspaper mulch is one I'm going to copy - just brilliant!

[Birdie Wife]

Horses for courses - I have five 10 x 3m beds to keep in check and I just don't have time to handweed everything. When the ground is not in use I use black landscaping fabric (much cheaper than barrier fabric and wide enough to cover the whole bed) to cover the beds and smother out the weeds. I'm going to uncover it as the weather warms up, let any weeds germinate, then cover again after a couple of weeks. Once the veg gets going hopefully it should shade out anything I've missed, but I think I'll still have to hoe through rows of onions and garlic as their leaves let more than half the light through, unlike potatoes and cabbages.

[Flummery]

I wonder how the magazine will interpret what we say here?

[Nicos]

I wonder how the magazine will interpret what we say here?

Time will tell sweetie!

...have you voted????

[Flummery]

I have. But in a previous poll, the 'evidence', though reported, was ignored in the text. Dis-chuffed? Moi???

[piskieinboots]

Hoeing and weeding; mulching and smothering - but can't vote for 2.

ditto that

What on earth is 'Other'??

[Alison]

What on earth is 'Other'??

Magic and spells?

[Snadger]

I usually hand weed any weed that makes it through the mulch, but if its an annual weed I just put some more mulch on top of it!

[Pies]

At the begining of winter i smoothered everything that didn't have crops with mushroom compost and cardboard

Im now weeding by hand and doing a bit of hoeing

When the bindweed pokes its nose through ill use weedkiller

Can i vote for all three

[jacob marley]

ditto that

What on earth is 'Other'??

I have seen a flame gun used..jacob

[Emma Ward]

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to let you know that I've edited the 'Other' category, asking members to post the details of their alternative cultivation methods. This category allows those who have adopted a more unconventional way of weeding to share their experiences.

So, if you ticked 'Other' and haven't posted yet...make sure you do

Thanks
Emma

[Ian Pearson]

One 'other' method is to make use of allelopathy. This is the natural ability of a plant to inhibit the growth of others. Some green manure crops such as Hungarian grazing rye are very good at inhibiting the germination of following crops or weeds. Obviously it does require some skill to get the timing right, otherwise your veg won't grow either. But transplants and tuber-started crops are largely unaffected.

This method should be seen as pert of an integrated weed management system, rather than 'the' way to get rid of weeds.

Of course avoiding digging is another important method of reducing weed problems.