MENACE OF THE WEEDS

Evening Star, Issue 23349, 19 August 1939, Page 21

MENACE OF THE WEEDS

WAYS OF DESTROYING THEM The problem of preventing the garden from becoming overgrown with' weeds is one which requires much consideration. For weeds, in addition to robbing cultivated plants of food and air, act as host plants to insect and fungoid pests. / To deal with weeds effectively, it is a great help to know to which class they belong. Annual weeds are tho most prolific; but are the easiest to destroy. They must bo killed or removed, however, before they commence to seed. Annuals have only a few months in which to make their growth, so they produce their seeds in abundance, and in many cases whilst the plants are but a few inches in height. During dry weather, therefore, the Dutch hoe must be regularly used among the plants, so that all annual weeds are cut off as soon as they appear above the ground. In a wet season they are not killed so easily; and the only remedy is hand weeding. ' The principal annual weeds found nt gardens are: Groundsel, duckweed,; shepherd’s purse, annual nettle. Perennial weeds ate more difficult to eradicate. Tap-rooted kinds, rfuch as dandelion, thistle, and dock must ba dug out with a fork, as the smallest portion of root left in the ground will quickly form a new plant. If they arehoed off regularly as soonas new leaves appear and this practice is kept up for several seasons, they will eventually; die.

. The same remarks apply to weeds which have underground rhizomes, especially couch grass, bindweed, and goutweed. These weeds aro most tenacious of life and can be eradicated only by removing every portion of rhizome from the ground, although they can be weakened by persistent hoeing. Unfortunately, they penetrate clumps of herbaceous plants, shrubs, and rows of raspberries, which necessitates lifting the plants and removing all soil from the roots before the weed rhizom.es can be extracted. —‘ Popular; Gardening,’ London.