Last Updated on 08/07/2023 by Barney
Garden weeds are some of the most annoying growths in your garden or patches. Below you will find a list of commonly asked questions and how to deal with them. Take a look through the full FAQ and find out more about these weeds!
What are Garden Weeds?
Garden weeds , often described as unwanted or undesirable plants that are in the wrong place. Otherwise known as a plant that is in “the wrong place”. Garden weeds can be found everywhere. Small garden patches, farm fields, lawns, and more.
Garden weeds can grow anywhere, as long as there is a place for roots, and any kind of natural sunlight and weeds will spurt up no matter what.
Why are Garden Weeds bad?
Garden weeds are bad in a number of different ways. In most cases, garden weeds bring a whole host of attention from pests and diseases that may or may not harm the plants which you want to thrive. This is not super common, but in most cases, you will be open to several plant-eating pests or diseases that will kill off your plants.
Not only this, but weeds are often ugly. A lot of gardeners and people with a nice looking flower arrangement or lawn love the fact that they’ve spent the time to make it look amazing. Then these small, pesky weeds pop up and ruin everything.
Although this is indirectly bad, weeds are super annoying to have in your garden or flower arrangement and should be removed to keep the serenity of your garden.
How to prevent Garden Weeds?
You may have searched up several ways to prevent garden weeds, however, there are a number of fake, or lackluster ways to keep weeds from spurting up all over your garden. There are several amazing methods that you can use, that we’ll list here, to keep your garden weeds from sprouting all over your amazing garden.
One effective way is to use Mulch on top of your soil. Weeds need natural sunlight to grow, and covering the soil with a mulch will prevent the weeds from growing completely. If you use chunky-style mulch, you should be able to cover the majority of your garden and it will keep the light away. This will need to be topped up over time, so may not be a long-term solution to your problems.
Another solution, that is more of a permanent solution to the weed control problems people face, is using weed control fabrics. Depending on the style and design, you can get fabric, specifically made for this purpose. This fabric, usually black and sits above the soil, where plants would often be planted. I have listed my best weed membranes here.
This cheap solution to preventing the sunlight from touching your weeds will not only kill the chance of them producing, but will also let you make a nice looking garden when dressed with gravel or bark mulch. Membranes are designed to allow for water to pass through, so the garden won’t be flooded!
Are Garden Weeds Poisonous to Dogs?
Many plants are considered poisonous to dogs, and weeds are no exception. Flowers such as Iris, Foxglove, Clematis, Begonia, tulips, ivy, and yarrows, amongst others are all flowers that are considered toxic to dogs.
Weeds such as Yellow Dock, bittersweet nightshade, creeping charlie, baneberry, bloodroot, mistletoe, and mayapple are all considered toxic to dogs. For the most part, it’s a good idea to keep your dog away from these. If your dog was to eat or touch these weeds it may be a good idea to take your dog for a checkup at your local vet, to be on the safe side.
Take a look above to find out what you can do to prevent weeds from sprouting up in your garden, so you can let your dog run wild in your garden!
Can you burn Garden Weeds?
There are two sides to this case. In most cases, burning weeds is fine, if you’re using something like a weed burner, which is made for this purpose. However, if you were planning on using garden weeds in a fire pit, or another fire-based system to burn them away then it might not be the best idea.
Garden weeds tend to have irritant oil in them called urushiol, which can release fumes into the air. By doing so, can cause you lung irritation and severe allergic respiratory problems should you be affected by this.
Another way that you can get rid of your garden weeds without them being a pain, is to actually compost them. More on that further down in this FAQ article.
What kills Garden Weeds?
Garden weeds can be killed off with a number of different chemicals and tactics. In most cases, prevention is the best way around this, by using something like fabric membrane or mulch to prevent them from growing.
If you’re looking for a way around this and would prefer to use a chemical way, then using something like Vinegar could be an effective way of doing so. Vinegar is commonly found in everyone’s homes, so shouldn’t be too hard to pipe into a bottle and spray directly at the weed. This should kill the weed off within a number of days, but it may be a good idea to keep spraying daily.
There are other chemicals from third-party companies that are designed to really kill the weeds off, no matter their type or strength. Using one of these is probably the better idea, but does contain chemicals that you may not want in your garden, so always read the label when checking the weed killer!
How to compost Garden Weeds
Composting weeds is often be overlooked, and just thrown into any pile and this might not work as first planned. Using the hot compost method may be a good idea to get this done. Composting using a hot composter can take as little as 6-8 months and does need constant additions, and contributions from the sun to keep your composting process going.
Another way of doing this would allow the weeds to rot. Putting the roots, and keeping them under a large amount of water all whilst covering the bucket (to prevent light) will not only keep the rain out but will stop the weeds from using this and growing further. Once done, within around a month, the weeds should have drowned and further rotted away which can then be put into your composter as normal. Not only this but the liquid you get from it can be strained and used as an amazing liquid fertilizer. Dilute this 5 parts water to 1 part weed liquid for the best results.