As the weather finally warms up, you may want to spend more time in your garden, but first you need to deal with pesky weeds.
Of course, there are lots of different tips and tricks for banishing weeds, but gardening expert Alan Titchmarsh has revealed the trick he uses – and it’s completely free too.
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Speaking on the Gardeners’ World Magazine podcast, the professional explained how you can fight weeds organically without spending a lot.
Firstly, you need to know what type of weed you are dealing with.
Annual weeds often crop up around vegetable gardens and perennial weeds are more of a problem in garden beds, Alan explained.
Perennials are those that “go into our plants and are difficult to change,” according to the gardening guru.
The right kit is important for any gardener, so get a good hoe if you don’t already have one.
Alan recommended a Dutch hoe to make weeding easier – you can buy one at The range for just £8.99as well as other retailers, to remove annual weeds.
“This makes it easier to control annual weeds by simply running a hoe between the rows,” he said.
“The important thing to do is browse, not dig,” he added.
For smaller weeds, he suggested using a hand fork, but there’s also no reason why you can’t ditch the tools altogether and pull them out by hand.
Alan next The tip is to “keep mowing” the grass to prevent weeds from sprouting.
For gardening novices, weeds on patios and sidewalks are the biggest headache.
But you don’t need to use harsh chemicals to banish them; in fact, a little boiling water from the kettle will do the trick, Alan noted.
Simply pour the hot water directly onto the weeds, avoiding other plants.
“On gravel paths, a little boiling water does a little magic,” he said.
According to professionals in Plant legendboiling water does kill weeds, but there is a problem.
While high heat and water pressure will help break down the structure of the weed and its roots, sometimes it takes more than one attempt.
They explained: “There are some disadvantages to using boiling water to treat weeds.
“Some of the cons include needing several rounds of scalding hot water to work with, burning yourself, and damaging nearby plants if you’re not careful.”
That said, while the boiling water method may not be the best for large areas or areas with plants you want to keep, it’s still a good bet for your patio.
They added: “If you try to pull weeds out of these small spaces, you may not be able to get to the entire root system.
“If this is the case, using the natural herbicide of boiling water works excellent because the liquid will travel down into the soil and break down the root structure of the weed.”
Gardening Tips and Tricks
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