Gardening without chemicals - top tips for chemical-free weeding
Looking for new, planet friendly ways to clear those pesky weeds from your garden? We've gathered some top tips and helpful products to assist you in your mission to start your chemical-free gardening journey today!
The UK's leading gardening charity, The Royal Horticultural Society advises the following in their article focusing on this topic - "avoiding pests, diseases and weeds by good practice in cultivation methods, cultivar selection, garden hygiene and encouraging or introducing natural enemies, should be the first line of control."
Ultimately, the use of Chemical weedkillers whilst effective can also be damaging to your plants and wildlife so the RHS recommends the following - "If chemical controls are used, they should be used only in a minimal and highly targeted manner. For example, where pests, diseases or weeds pose a serious threat to the wider environment, to important heritage specimens, to habitat or to native wildlife."
So perhaps there is a different solution? Perhaps there is a way to remove those weeds without the use of the harsh chemicals? Lets explore some different options for the chemical-free removal and cutting back of weeds below.
Weed Pullers
Long handled weed pullers such as the Fiskars Xact Weed Puller are ergonomically designed, easy to use and require no bending or digging to effectively remove weeds from tough ground with minimal effort. With an easy-eject mechanism and three serrated stainless-steel claws its clear to see why the Fiskars Xact Weed Puller is one of our top selling chemical-free weeding tools.
Fiskars Xact Weed PullerRRP £43.99£34.99Hand-pulling
Pulling up weeds by hand and protecting your hands with a trusted pair of gardening gloves is a common and easy way to remove those weeds from lighter soils.
Hand-weeding
For those tougher weeds you'll need to dig out their roots as much as possible. Various tools suchs as hand forks, hand trowels, weeding knives and weeding grubbers are all extremely handy tools designed to help tackle this job and make light work of hand-weeding.
Hoeing
Running a garden hoe over a bed or between rows will kill most weed seedlings. This is found to be the most effective on a dry day with little wind so they are able to dry out rather than re-root into moist soil.
Weed Barriers
Pop in-store to Downtown Garden Centre in Grantham and discover a variety of mulches such as bark or wood chips. A layer of mulch is an effective and organic way to smother weeds. Not only do they help to prevent weeds from growing, they can also help to provide frost protection to your plants in the colder months and improve plant growth by adding nutrients and organic matter to the soil.
Weed control fabrics such as the Smart Garden Anti-weed Fabric can also be a particularly helpful and flexible solution when stopping the spread of weeds. Simply lay the fabric over cleared soil to stop the re-growth of old weeds and prevent new ones from sprouting!
So why should I practice chemical-free weeding?
Organic and chemical-free weeding is a sustainable and environmentally friendly practice that we should all look to play our part in. Although this gardening task requires a more regular maintenance schedule than using chemical-based weedkillers, chemical-free weeding is a brilliant way to look after your garden and the curious critters that it contains!
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Posted by Ellie Allen
16th August 2023
