I have written about the spraying of weed-killers before but I am going into it in a bit more detail in this video as well as offering alternatives to use when controlling weeds.
In vegetable beds and flower beds, I use the hoe or my hands and that is it. I prepare the beds as well as I can at the end of the harvest and mulch them to prevent any weeds I missed from growing up again. That is it - physical effort, keeping an eye on things and mulching. As for the paths, I usually just live with the few weeds that pop up. This year though, beause Lol has put in so much effort to making a lovely path, (which we hope will mean we don’t have to trawl through mud to get to the chickens in winter) I am paying more attention. Most of the weeds I can pull by hand, but because they are in gravel it is more difficult, hence my natural weed-killers.
I absolutely refuse to purchase a chemical weed-killer because they are anathema to me. They are not just killers of weeds, they are bio-cides, killers of life. As you can hear in the video, even the companies that produce these bio-cides, point out that it kills pollinators and recommends not to spray flowers that are blooming. Glyphosate, which is the active chemical, is a known carcinogen according to the W.H.O. and its sister body the I.A.C.R but the synergistic activity of the glyphosate and the adjuvants and the surfactants within the weed-killer make it more toxic than it could be. Harmful to pollinators, bees and other insects, invertabreas, rodents, fish and man. The very fact that you are advised to don bio-hazard gear when spraying this lethal mix should be a warning to people not to use it at all.
“But the lawn, the beautiful lawn, we must maintain it”, I hear some people cry. A lawn where people lie in the sun or children play ball is not the place to be spraying poison surely???? Surely, beautiful Dandelions and Daisies only enhance a lawn. A lawn NOT played on, is only something that takes water and time and gives nothing back so why bother?
Anyway, I have said all in the video, so I won’t repeat myself here. I choose to use natural methods of ridding myself of weeds in the path and here is my list.
1. Boiling water - pour directly on to the plant you want rid of. 2. Lemon juice - directly on to the troublesome plant. 3. Table Salt - directly on to the plant on a warm day. 4. Vinegar mixed with salt, lemon juice, washing up liquid and a few drops of Clove essential oil.
This final recipe is 2.5l or half gallon of vinegar to which is added about two tablespoons of table salt, same amount of washing up liquid/dish soap and a good squirt of lemon juice and about 10 drops of Clove essential oil. Mix all ingredients together in one of those garden spray things, (I usually use this for spraying Horsetail tea over the potatoes when blight threatens and to remedy rust.) and spray directly on to the unwanted plant.
This recipe is very potent and does kill weeds but does not harm anything else. There is no “drift” to worry about, no animals or insects or people are harmed and it does not affect water courses. Although this is a natural product, it still can cause harm to plants and to soil so be careful when using it and only use it on paths, patios or paving.
As a herbalist, I use most weeds as medicine. You might like to learn about this and I have courses available here -Hawthorn Academy . My Weed Handbooks can be found here - Shop along with our cards. I hope these would make anyone more disposed to keeping and working with their weeds rather than causing destruction out in the garden. Other information about Danu's Irish Herb Garden can be found here https://www.danusirishherbgarden.com/
Thanks to Lol for the music - https://lolhardimanmusic.com/
and you can find him here too - Lol
On 14 June I will be at the Bullaun Ark in Galway, giving a workshop about Co-Creative Gardening with Plant Allies - Contact Charles for more information and tickets. At the end of July I will be facilitating a Lughnasadh Workshop on 26th and 27th at Studio Feasa Hope to see you at one of these events if you are in Ireland. Thanks for watching and have a great week! xx
Share this post