I’m a gardener – a ‘smother & trowl’ tip is wonderful for removing weeds
PLANTS will no longer be choked and killed by unsightly bindweed if you use a simple gardening tip.
Pollyanna Wilkinson was delighted that the ‘godfather of the no dig movement’, Charles Dowding, came up with the idea.
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Wilkinson is a multi-award winning garden designer and co-host of The Ins & Out podcast.
When speaking with Jojo Barr on a recent episode, she revealed a tip Dowding shared during his speech at Alitex’s annual lecture.
She said it works wonderfully for growing plants from seed, such as vegetables and cut flowers.
“Rather than digging up your plants and setting them down at ground level, he has had great success laying compost on the surface of the soil,” says Wilkinson.
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“And you basically add another layer of an inch or two every year.
“And then you plant in the mound that you’ve created.
“It’s quite a bit of work in advance, because you have to create an initial mound on the ground and temporarily provide it with some timbres.
“But it’s meant to be incredible for soil health because you’re not disturbing what’s happening below the surface.
“It’s great for soil structure, increases biodiversity and reduces weeds.
“He managed to get rid of bindweed in two years, which is extraordinary.”
Wilkinson recommended the hack for allotments, flower beds and creating a vegetable garden.
She said Dowding grows “great” vegetables by using cardboard to suppress weeds.
“He covers it in cardboard for about three months and then does nothing,” she said.
‘In the first year he smothers it a bit with cardboard and in the second year he just throws it out because it is so weakened by no light.
“Two years and it’s over and that’s amazing, I’ve never had such success.”
How to get rid of bindweed
ALSO known as Devil’s Guts, The Sun’s Gardening Editor, Veronica Lorraine shares her step-by-step guide to getting rid of bindweed…
1. Relax it
First start by unwinding the plants it is attached to.
If you have a lot of time on your hands, this is actually quite a conscious task, really staying in the present.
2. Find the source
Once you’ve settled it, find out where it grows from.
3. Start digging
And then start digging. Use a hand trowel or fork first so you can determine which way the roots are going – probably in all directions.
4. Carefully pull it loose
And then carefully and gently try to trace the root through the soil and pull it loose.
This can really take some time – and there is no point in rushing it – as if you break the roots, it can regenerate.
Once you have a better understanding of how the plant grows, you may be able to pull out the shovel, especially if the roots go deep.
And then it’s just a matter of removing every last thread from the root and the plant.
Didn’t it work? Try mowing it
Another way to gradually eradicate the disease is to actually run over it with a mower. You don’t see it on lawns – because it is constantly weakened by the blade – so you can try the same – if your space allows it.
Read the full article here.
“Cardboard will rot within weeks or months, and then you start with this base layer of compost,” she added.
She acknowledged that the first layer of compost is the most challenging part of the hack because most people don’t have a huge mass yet.
In the long run, however, the method helps prevent weeds and keeps the garden healthy.
“As the year goes by the soil becomes depleted and subsides due to the weather,” she said.
“If you cover your soil with compost every year, worms will grow, so many worms, that they will bring it into the soil.”
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