THE GARDEN

Southland Times, Issue 25347, 26 April 1944, Page 8

THE GARDEN

WEEDS

By

RIWHI

The garden often presents a rather sorry site at this late season owing to neglect on the part of the gardener to use the hoe consistently during the later months of summer. It is also true that weeds such as thistles and chickweed flourish prodigiously during the cooler, moister months of autumn. This, however, does no harm at all so long as they are not allowed to seed. In fact they make quite an appreciable amount of organic matter for digging in. Whatever the state of the garden it is well to deal with weeds now, 'and not leave them to consolidate their positions until the spring. This refers to annual as much as to perennial weeds.' How often does one hear the excuse,

“Oh, but this is such a weedy garden!” The excuse may hold for the first year or so after moving in, but ever after the reason for weedy conditions lies at the gardener’s own door. Annual weeds can always be suppressed by preventing them from seeding at all times. This is not as easy as it seems for many of the annual weeds begin flowering and seeding when they are barely out of the seedling stage. Their flowers and possibly their seed cases are so insignificant as to pass unnoticed, except to the careful observer. To suppress annual weeds successfuHy one must understand something of their growing and seeding habits, and there must be that persistent effort that prevents even one plant from broadcasting its thousands of seeds into fertile, weHcultivated soil. • PERENNIAL WEEDS

Here the problem is more difficult of solution, but the method is clear. There is no quick way to successful control. Effective work involves much hard labour. Old man twitch, sheep’s sorrel, convolvulus, and' similar weeds must be carefully forked out, shaken out, removed to be burnt. The job must be repeated, the ground must be fallowed, and what is left in the way of rootlets must be forked over till exhaustion is followed by death. There is not the least doubt that such persistence very soon places the worst weed under definite control. I have seen a plot fuU of old man twitch forked and dug in the autumn, repeatedly forked in the spring, planted out in potatoes and at the present time it is a most attractive piece of soil after the digging of an excellent crop of potatoes. In facing the problem on poor or heavy soil it is wise to manure and to lime. Perennial weeds are much more easfly dealt with if tlie sofl is brought to a friable condition by liming. Draining, of course, will also help in the suppression of such weeds as sorrel and docks. WEED VARIETIES

Of one thing every gardener can be thankful: that is that our worst weeds in New Zealand are not garden weeds. Another thing that he will find is that as he adds to the fertility of his soil, the varieties of weeds alter. He will have less shepherd’s purse, less spudwell, less sorrel, more chickweed, thistles, clover and fat hen. Canadian and Californian thistles, ragwort, catsear, yarr, St. John’s wort and like pests do not usually invade the home garden. One disturbing factor about this weed problem is the inevitability of the spread of certain weeds once they have been introduced into this country, either accidentally or intentionally. One such is the Cape Honeysuckle (Leycesteria formosa), a garden shrub often found in Southland and greatly favoured by boys as supplying best quality peashooters. It grows to a height of eight or ten feet, has red hooded flowers and berries. It is a native of the Himalayas. Its spread, especially in bush areas in Southland, is brought about by the fact that birds appreciate greatly its berries. It threatens to become as serious a pest as blackberry, and yet how innocent was its introduction. How innocent are the tiny weeds as they push tender seed leaves through the surface soil, how wretched and inevitable the harvest of trouble to him who procrastinates or ignores the weed problem from week to week.