Well here in the South East of England, we were having a hot spell..(25 to 31 degrees C). Having lived in Málaga, and various other hot countries, this for me is “lovely” weather! Dry and sunny also means I can use those conditions to try and eliminate unwanted plants, whether they are weeds or just “unwanted”, like bindweed, Houttinya cordata.. Chameleon plant. These 2 have a network of roots which are difficult to remove so when the weather is hot I do the following:
1. With a good sturdy fork, dig down one fork froth and lever out the lump of soil.
2. Turn it upside down ensure the green leaves are facing down and roots exposed. Here’s if it’s easy you can remove some of the weeds.. Otherwise just leave it.
3. Give the roots a good bash with the tines of the fork to break up the lump and loosen the roots
4 repeat step 1 and work your way backwards so you are not stepping on the soil you’ve just dug.
5 once complete leave it now for the sun to bake it! That will dry out the roots and the leaves being covered by earth can no longer photosynthesise, so a two-pronged attack on roots and leaves.
This is the same principle if there are a lot of small annual weeds popping up in flower/vegetable beds. In this case use a hoe to clear the weeds between the plants you want to keep. Leave them on the surface and they will not survive long.
It’s a never ending battle and staying on top of the weeding should ensure that you are on the winning side!
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