As much as everyone who owns a garden wishes it to be the case, unfortunately, Cottesloe Landscapers have not yet created a garden that requires zero maintenance. Even landscaping without any plants or foliage will need cleaning regularly. In other landscaped gardens where there are shrubs, trees, flowers, and a lawn, then of course there is maintenance and care required to keep it healthy and looking great.
One of the tasks within that maintenance regime will be weeding. Weeds are every gardener’s nemesis given that they take away moisture, nutrients, and sunlight from the other plants they wish to grow. There is also the issue of weeds spoiling the appearance of a garden too. If weeds are left to thrive, especially the aggressive ones, they will soon overrun a garden and eradicate the plants and flowers that are meant to grow there.
As you are probably aware the solution to the problems we have just described is removing any weeds which you see growing. However, many well-meaning people make mistakes when weeding and as such do not get rid of the weeds as well as they should. Here are five of those weeding mistakes to avoid.
Taking Too Long To Start Weeding
One trait of weeds that you must be aware of is that they do not wait for an invitation to start doing damage to your garden. It is a classic mistake of those with newly constructed landscaping to think that they will not have to weed for several months. The fact is it is never too early to look for and remove weeds so do not delay because, if you do, the work to rid your garden of weeds later, will be even harder.
Not Knowing Which Plants Are Weeds And Which Are Not
Whilst you do not need a degree in horticulture, it will most definitely help your cause if you know what weeds to look for and their attributes. Knowing what they look like is step one but also knowing whether a weed is biennial, perennial, or annual helps you to determine how often you will need to deal with them.
Using Weedkillers Incorrectly
It is a sad irony that more damage is done to healthy plants by gardeners using weedkillers wrongly than weeds would have done in the first place. You should always research what weed killer or herbicide is safe to use around the plants you are growing, and which will also eradicate the weeds you are dealing with. If in doubt and worried about using weedkillers, one option is to hire a professional gardener who offers a weeding service.
Leaving The Root Behind
“Off with his head” is said by the Queen of Hearts in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ but whereas in the fairy tale it means someone’s demise, it is not true for most weeds. Simply cutting off or pulling off its head will not kill a weed. To do that you must remove all of its roots to prevent it from making an unwelcome reappearance.
Not Using The Correct Tools
The universal cause of so many mistakes, errors, and accidents is not using the right tools for a task and weeding is not immune to that. Some weeds are dealt with using different tools from others, so ensure you are using the right one. If you are unsure which tools to use, do some research or ask a local landscape gardening expert for some weeding advice.
