Greetings brothers and sisters...im a keen gardner, recently I have been spending more time out in my garden since its now springtime in my area and i have a weed problem in my garden. Is there any members here who have any tips they can share, when it comes to weed killers. Does anyone have any links to homemade weed killers? I won't use weed killers bought from store as they contain alot of nasty & harmful chemicals in them. Also would love to hear if anyone has any garden tips. Like any fertilisers they prefer or make themselves...please share, I would appreciate it alot...

Hornet666 said:

Greetings brothers and sisters...im a keen gardner, recently I have been spending more time out in my garden since its now springtime in my area and i have a weed problem in my garden. Is there any members here who have any tips they can share, when it comes to weed killers. Does anyone have any links to homemade weed killers? I won't use weed killers bought from store as they contain alot of nasty & harmful chemicals in them. Also would love to hear if anyone has any garden tips. Like any fertilisers they prefer or make themselves...please share, I would appreciate it alot...

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I’ve spent a lot of time on farms. For weeds, that’s a pain. I always worked on organic farms. Like you said we had to avoid chemical sprays. This meant more often then not we just had to take a day and do it the old fashioned way. Spend hours ripping each weed from the root one by one. On a large farm this is tedious but necessary. Another common thing was to use straw/hay and completely surround the entire plants with it. This would prevent sunlight from getting to the weeds and they would die. It’s a very common practice on farms and gardens. Wood chips are commonly seen as well. Just anything to cover the soil so that only the desired plants have sunlight.



Looks like that.

For fertilizer, we commonly used wood ash, cause of mineral content and acidity, which is also a reason to avoid it if your plants can’t take the acidity, and the animal waste on the farms is an excellent option too, if you have access to animals that graze. For smaller gardens you can buy organic fertilizers. Local farms might sell some too.

Thanks for the reply eric13 I appreciate it. Yeah your right you do have to do it the oldfashioned way and pull them by hand . Thats where im at ,at the moment. Trying to work out how to keep it under control.I've heard somebody crushing up old ceramic tiles and spreading it over the garden beds, not sure if it works or not. Also been told to lay down either newspaper or plastic around the plants and the surroundings in the garden bed as a way to kind of like suffocate the weeds and block them from getting sun. But I like straw/hay method you suggested I will try that. Thank you.
Also I've never thought of using wood ash for fertilizer that's really interesting I'm definitely going to try that. I've been adding blood and bone to my soil. And have been using a seaweed based fertiliser called season which derives from a blend of the brown kelps from around the world – King Island Bull Kelp (Durvillaea potatorum), Chile Bull Kelp (Durvillaea Antarctica) and Knotted Kelp (Ascophyllum nodosum) from the North Atlantic Ocean. Then from time to time when I have old expired milk in the fridge I will dilute with water 70/30 and poor that around the roots of plants. I prob need to add some animal manure of some sort. I'll try that out too. What would you suggest horse or cow manure? Or does it really matter?

You can use wood mulch instead of hay because were I live I can get it for free and over time the decomposition adds nutrients, but I always pull the roots first. Or before I start on a plot I'll burn the section then till, then rake, then plant. I dont live on a farm I've just had my own gardens I live on two acres so I've experimented a lot, but easiest is probably just taking the weeds from root like Eric said

Love! It helps them grow better!

I meant to also add what SATchives said. Wood mulch is a good idea for smaller gardens vs buying hay. On a farm hay is an easy option.

And @Hornett666 the idea of the newspaper or coverings is the same as the hay or mulch. They even have biodegradable plastic-like products you can buy specific for gardens. The choice for the plastic like products comes down to aesthetic preference. I like the mulch or hay personally and as said the mulch can help the soil.

For manure, it doesn’t matter. I used to use goat and horse primarily. But we’d get the cows manure in too if we could. That’s if you can get it obviously, then it’s a good option.

Thanks Eric13 you have been a great help!!