Natural Weed Control

And it’s no spray never, no spray never no more….

Using chemical control has never been acceptable for us as gardeners. It is still taught on the RHS syllabus and nearly every head gardener’s job advertised prefers someone with their spray certificates. Outdoors horticulture has it easy compared to professional glasshouse growers! If we avoid monoculture (swathes of lawn, single crops etc) and adopt at least a semi-wilding approach we allow natural life cycles to deal with what previously had us running for the brightly coloured spray bottle.

As professional horticulturalists we are often expected to be seen to be doing something about a problem. Our approach to weeds and invasive plants is long-term. We spent two days on an estate in Surrey putting into place bramble management measures near some established fruit trees. This work began in October! We followed stolens through overgrown plants, dug up as many as we could find and then laid thick tarp (previously used over couch grass). This area can be left now - the longer the better!

The biggest challenge many people face when halting the use of speedy, chemical control is letting go of how ‘perfect’ things ‘should’ look. Aphid-curled leaves on a cherry tree will soon provide a sumptuous buffet for ladybirds and can be put in check late winter. Dense, pollinator safe plantings can quickly crowd out weeds (and provide a low maintenance alternative to front garden lawns……see our Harleybank project for an example of this).