Here's how to combat it effectively and naturally

the essentials in brief

• Mechanical weeding is by far the most environmentally friendly way of removing weeds
• Nettle manure is an effective one Home remedies for weeds, repels insects and strengthens the plants
• With the help of Mulch(€ 13.95 at Amazon *) weed growth can be restricted
• Weeds can be combated with hot water or burned with a gas burner on terraces and stone surfaces

Eliminate weeds in beds

As soon as the vegetable or flower bed is cleared of all weeds and you stand up with a painful back, the unloved plants that have just been removed seem to grow back again. So it's no wonder that some desperate gardeners prefer to use the chemical club in the face of this Sisyphean work. But that is not necessary at all - and also does not make sense, since herbicides are not between weeds and useful plants - because there are some home remedies that are completely free of side effects for use in vegetables and Perennial bed.

Mechanical weeding

You may not like reading this, but in fact weeding - mechanical weeding - is by far the best practice. However, you do not have to slip on your knees in the bed and dig up couch grass for hours, because with a few tricks the plucking is much easier. This includes going into the garden immediately after a heavy downpour: Then the soil is good Moisturized and so loose that you can easily pull the unwanted herbs out of the soil can.

Suitable tools for aching back

With the right tool, you don't even have to bend down and so protect your back. If you choose garden tools with a long handle, you can work while standing or sitting. The following table gives you an overview of suitable devices.

Mulching

Mulch or hay weeds take away the light

Weeds only grow where there is space to grow: There is no bare earth in nature, as fallow land is quickly taken over by wild herbs and other fast-growing plants. You should therefore not leave any free areas in the garden, as unwanted vegetation spreads just as quickly here. You should therefore cover unplanted soil - for example between rows of beds - with a thick layer of mulch. This has several advantages: On the one hand, the mulch layer suppresses the growth of weeds, on the other hand, bark mulch and other materials also prevent the soil from drying out and you have to pour less. Some mulch materials can also be used for surface composting and provide the plants with valuable nutrients. In addition to bark mulch (Caution: This removes nutrients from the soil, which is why you should also use this fertilize must!) and bark compost, these mulch materials are suitable:

• Lawn clippings
• Wood chippings
• straw
• gravel
• Green manure plants (Phacelia, Spinach, yellow mustard etc.)
• chopped vegetable and garden waste

Make sure that the applied layer is at least two inches thick.

Versatile: nettle manure

Nettle manure is a real all-round talent in the garden, as it can be used not only to repel insects and strengthen plants, but also to control weeds. And that is how it works:

1. Put one kilogram of fresh, shredded nettles with ten liters of water.
2. Use rain or well stale tap water.
3. Pour the mixture into a plastic bucket or earthenware pot.
4. Do not use a metal container as this will cause undesirable chemical reactions.
5. Place a grid or a jute cloth over the opening of the vessel.
6. Let the fermenting manure stand for at least four days.
7. Stir daily.
8. Stir a handful Stone meal or some valerian flower extract in the liquid manure. This will soften the unpleasant odor.

The liquid manure is ready for use when it has turned a dark color and no longer foams. Depending on the weather, this is the case after about one and a half to three weeks. For weed control purposes, you do not need to dilute the manure. Simply water or spray them directly over the leaves of the plants to be eliminated. However, be careful not to spray neighboring crops and ornamental plants. The product should also not be used in the immediate vicinity of wells or garden water - keep a distance of at least ten meters here. Repeat the treatment if necessary.

Digression

Ground cover in the perennial bed

Remove weeds from paved garden areas

Flaming weeds is an environmentally friendly method

What works well in the bed is not practical on paved paths and surfaces such as the paved terrace or the driveway. Heat or mechanical methods are particularly helpful here against growing weeds in the joints.

• Hot water: Pour boiling water over the weeds.
• Flame: Burn the herbs with a gas burner.
• high pressure cleaner: Rinse the growth with a high pressure cleaner(€ 99.99 at Amazon *) just go away.

However, the disadvantage of these methods is that, as a rule, only the above-ground parts of the plant are removed. The roots, on the other hand, remain in the ground, so that the plants sprout again after a while and you have to repeat the treatment. On the other hand, mechanical methods of removal help, in which, for example, you have a Grout scraper or use a knife to help. It may also be necessary to refill the joints as the filler material has been removed.

Digression

Seal joints

Here's how to get the weeds out of the lawn

if weeds growing in the lawn, then this vegetation shows you one thing very clearly: The growth conditions are not optimal for grasses, which is why other plants can spread. So here you have to tackle the cause very practically by the roots, because if you remove them, the weeds will also disappear.

The weeds show you what the lawn is like: For example, if you laboriously pull the pull the tough roots of the buttercup, then its presence indicates a compacted and moist soil there. The same goes for pointer plants like sorrel, Herbaceous flower and plantain. As a gardener, they urgently advise you to include the soil humus to improve and loosen up.

Pioneering plants such as dandelion, goose thistle and geiskraut provide an indication of compacted and hardened soil, while field mustard, Black nightshade, nettles, and burdock bedstraw mainly on nutrient-rich soils with a high nitrogen content occurrence.

Which causes in turn Moss in the lawn and how to get rid of it is shown in the following post:

Stay away from these homemade weed killers

There are also numerous household remedies circulating on the Internet (and not only there) that hobby gardeners like to use for weed control. We strongly advise against the following remedies, as they can be found in your household, but are by no means non-toxic or "gentle".

• vinegar / Vinegar essence / acetic acid / vinegar cleaner / apple cider vinegar: leads to acidification of the soil, only degrades with great difficulty and reaches the groundwater quickly
• Hydrochloric acid: Soil is over-salted, which also has negative effects on useful and ornamental plants
• citric acid: similar to vinegar
• Magnesium chloride: only use if there is a lack of magnesium in the soil, otherwise there is a risk of over-fertilization
• laundry detergent: Conventional detergents contain many toxic substances that kill microorganisms living in the soil and therefore have no place in the soil

In addition, the use of the above-mentioned agents is not permitted for horticultural or non-horticultural purposes. agriculturally used areas (d. H. on all paved garden areas such as paths, driveways, terraces, etc.) are prohibited by the Plant Protection Act anyway and can be fined. Although there is a court ruling from 2017 in which such a ruling was overturned, the courts are showing themselves on this issue quite at odds - regulatory agencies and chambers of agriculture punish the use of vinegar and salt in particular on sealed surfaces Farther.

frequently asked Questions

Why do I actually need home remedies when there are weed killers that are approved for the garden?

Just because a weed killer is approved for the hobby garden, it is still not safe. Most of these Herbicides are based on ingredients such as acetic acid, pelargonic acid etc. and are therefore extremely dangerous for you as well as for the useful and ornamental plants as well as for the numerous animals in the garden. Agents like Roundup are also highly questionable, as they contain glyphosate, which is considered to be carcinogenic.

I've heard that baking soda dissolved in water also works against weeds. Is that correct?

It is not the baking powder that works against weeds, but Baking soda. In the past, baking soda was the main component of baking powder, today the small sachets usually contain the acidifier potassium hydrogen carbonate. This has no effect on weeds.

How can weeds still be controlled?

It is best to weed by laying out Weed control(€ 13.47 at Amazon *) and black foils to prevent as much as possible. Both can be easily installed in the bed and covered with fresh soil.