There are two important words in the title. The first important word is 'weed'. The second, and most important word, is 'control.'
Weeds for gardeners are a fact of life. As sure as the sun will rise in the east, a garden will have weeds. An ornamental garden will have very few weeds, or NO weeds, because the gardener(s) spend a lot of effort removing all the weeds. The Nepean Allotment Garden Association (NAGA) is not an ornamental garden, although there are several gardeners that do a fine job of bringing beautiful flowers and creating an ornamental oasis for us all to take enjoyment in - thank you for that!
What is a weed? What may be a weed to me, could be somebody else's dinner salad. Dandelions can be eaten, but most people like to control this plant so it doesn't get out of control. However, there are some common plants that appear in the garden that nobody will eat, or find ornamental, or that will have any utility, other than making your life a misery in the garden. Annual Sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus) is a common weed that is unsightly and grows rapidly, for example.
Wikipedia has a page devoted to what defines a weed:
The word—commonly applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, such as farm fields, gardens, lawns, and parks—carries no botanical classification value, since a plant that is a weed in one context is not a weed when growing where it is wanted.When I started gardening in the NAGA plots, I was soon overwhelmed by weeds taking over my annual plot. It go so bad that I felt my time and effort was entirely consumed by removing weeds, as I could hardly tell the difference between where the food plants were among all the greenery of the weeds! Many days of caring for the food plants were lost simply to removing these darn weeds. That didn't feel like gardening! I was neglecting the good stuff to get rid of the bad stuff!
I finally decided to consult YouTube to see what experienced gardeners do to get rid of weeds without resorting to chemicals (which are not allowed in the garden, and now also illegal in Ontario). What I learned was that removing all the weeds from your garden is only a dream and a fairy tale. You will have weeds in your garden. It is impossible to 'get rid' of weeds (for more than a day at least). However, you can control them!
What is control? The thing you need to do is CONTROL YOUR WEEDS. CONTROL means that they never overwhelm you or your garden. CONTROL means that you can see what, and where, the food plants are. CONTROL means not having weeds everywhere, all the time. CONTROL means you will see weeds, but it will take you only a few minutes to deal with what you see. CONTROL means the 'NAGA weed inspectors' won't be making a note of who to call for getting their weeds under control (and potentially losing your plot!). It means not being discouraged every time you go to the garden!
Simply cutting weeds above the soil helps, but I don't find the end product very attractive, or very effective. The other thing I learned from some YouTube videos was the use of hoes, or even better, specialised tools that are meant for controlling weeds by CUTTING them BELOW THE SOIL. This was a 'Eureka moment' for me.
Disclaimer: Allow me to state up front that I have absolutely no financial, family, or other connection to Lee Valley Tools. Other than a fairly tidy, weed controlled garden, I have nothing gain from promoting the tools I am about to describe. In this posting I am suggesting two Lee Valley garden tools that have worked very well for me. In fact, Lee Valley have several tools similar to the ones below, but I haven't tried them. You'll have to try them yourself if you think they suit your style, or budget, or need, better than my chosen tools. (Also, these recommendations are not from the Board of Directors, they are from me.)
Swoe is me. The first tool I recommend is called a Swoe. The Swoe sells for about $45. 'Swoe' rhymes with 'hoe', and it is almost like a hoe. I believe the 'sw' comes from 'sword', from Wilkinson Sword. Gardeners are frugal. So far, for the time and effort saved, I have found this tool well worth the money.
The picture below, from Lee Valley's catalog, shows the swoe being used. This tool has several good features. First, the kiln-dried ash handle is very long, you can stand upright while you do the job. This is good, especially as we age. Second, it has a diamond-shaped flat stainless steel blade. The stainless steel is nice as it is very tough, and does not rust. The blade is angled so that it is parallel to the ground when you use it. A slight up-and-down motion of the handle allows you to wedge the blade under the soil on the opposite side of the weed, and then you pull, blade under the soil, and cut the evil weed! The blade is sharp enough to cut weeds, but not sharp enough to cut your fingers. A back-and-forth motion allows you slide the blade UNDER the soil and cut many weeds per stroke. The cut weed falls onto the surface, and the cut remains below the soil, away from the life giving sunlight. If the weed hasn't gone to seed, you can let the weed stay on top, dry out, and go back into the soil. Don't take my word for it, though, there are some reviews here from another seller in the USA.
The swoe in action!
The swoe blade, close-up.
Japanese weeder. Because the swoe is a large tool, it can be unsuitable for removing weeds that are closer to your food crop. Lee Valley sell hand-sized tool, the Traditional Japanese Weeder which sells for about $21. I left one these behind in my garden once, and some thief quickly relieved me of it. I hope their garden is weed controlled, at least. The tool is so useful that I quickly bought another one to replace the stolen tool. Unlike the swoe, Lee Valley also sell this tool for left and right handed people! You can see this in he photo below (courtesy of L.V.). The blade on this tool only cuts when you pull the tool, and it is a lot sharper than the swoe. According to the Lee Valley webpage, it is "hand-forged, laminated 4-1/2" blade combines a hard carbon-steel face with a shock-absorbing softer steel back for increased durability." With regular use, it has never rusted on me. I have recommend this tool to everyone I see with a weed problem. One gardener purchased one after a short loan, and she said it saved her garden. Her weeds had gotten out of control, and this tool saved the day. Just as a reminder, this tool operates as the swoe does, but cutting off weeds BELOW the surface.
Left and Right handed!
The Traditional Japanese Weeder blade, close-up.
I have found these two tools to be the quickest, chemical free, method to CONTROL weeds. You will spend an eternity removing weeds. And as the soil in the NAGA garden contains a lot of clay, it can be nearly impossible to get the roots out of the soil.
Finally, unlike a regular hoe, when you use these tools, there is a minimal amount of soil which is moved around by the blade action. I have found there is no second step to move soil back to its original position as you get with a hoe, or a digger. These are efficient tools, and they have allowed me to quickly control the weeds and then let me get back to gardening the food crop. Isn't that what it's about?
These are my experiences and recommendations. There are over 100 gardeners in NAGA. Perhaps you have another method that works well, or better! PLEASE send us an email, and let us know what works well for you. We can share your ideas on this blog, and hopefully we can get the weed problem under CONTROL!
All submissions should be sent to: naga.ottawawebsite@gmail.com
Happy weeding,
Craig Hamm
NAGA member, Director-at-Large, learning gardener
