Simply leaving weeds over the winter is not an option for the majority of recreational gardeners. If the weather is like it, a few more hours should be planned in the first days of October to remove weeds, since excessive uncontrolled growth unnecessarily deprives the garden soil of many nutrients during the rest period, which we prefer to use again for our young plants in spring.

Weeds are much easier to remove if the soil is loosened beforehand

Every garden owner has favored certain methods of weed control. Last month we reported on how to fight this plague in the smallest of spaces, for example in joints of sidewalks or terraces that are difficult to keep clean. Here are a few tips on how stinging nettles, couch grass, knotweed & Co. can be banned from the field a little easier.

Wait and let it grow!?

If it doesn't bother you too much and spoils the look of the garden, just wait a few days longer before weeding. Larger ones, to remove the 5 to 10 cm high plants with stump and stalk from the bed, do a lot more than just wildly pulling the hoe over the garden soil with the small leaves and shoots sticking out of the ground and the greenery that has been chopped up into small pieces , afterwards still laborious and time-consuming to pick up with your fingers.

Actually back-friendly weeding works like this

  • loosen the still wet soil with a sturdy trident (never use those flexible tin claws from the digging table at the hardware store!) boldly loosen square meters as far as possible down to the weed roots;
  • Grasp plants firmly just above the ground and slowly pull them out completely with the roots;
  • smaller plants can now also be collected more easily;
  • then rake the soil vigorously several times with the trident and also collect the remaining plants that are visible afterwards;
  • after the soil has dried, if necessary remove the plant remains that have already dried up;

The advantage of this method is that the beds remain weed-free for at least three times as long as with normal hoeing. It is easiest when you work on your knees, although you have seen gardeners who have tied a milking stool to them.

Do you have any more tips against the weed plague?

  • The deep-growing taproots of dandelion and spear thistle are best tapped as far below the soil surface as possible. You can make particularly good progress with an asparagus cutter from the specialist garden trade.
  • A layer of mulch about 5 to 10 cm thick on the ground under shrubs, rose plants or fruit trees helps to prevent weeds from sprouting unhindered; Wood chips (€23.53) with bark mulch with the addition of horn shavings (€32.93) for fertilization would be an optimal mixture;
  • Couch grass and ground elder are among the most stubborn weeds that can only be permanently destroyed by digging them up without leaving any residue; here usually only a digging fork helps to cultivate the infested areas again for subsequent planting;
  • Planting out ground covers that significantly reduce or even prevent the growth of weeds in these areas;
  • bed covers with mulch paper or opaque plastic films; to insert the plants (e.g. strawberries), the top layer is cut out in a cross shape at these points; Weeds can no longer reach the surface; at the same time, the geothermal energy remains in the ground, which also promotes plant growth;

No matter which variant you choose - always bear in mind that weeds do not belong in the compost as long as they are not seedless and dried up. Due to the low temperatures of around 40°C that develop in the compost heap (4), the weed seedlings and seeds do not always die off completely. They even spread unhindered in the composter and months later perhaps in the cold frame if you mix the mature compost under the soil as an organic natural fertilizer in supposed good faith. That would not be harmful to our health, but poison for plant growth. But let's stay a little longer on the subject of poison?

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Indoor plants