Weed Control

Weed Control is similar to Pest control, and uses physical or chemical means to prevent weeds from growing to a stage where they can affect the growth or development of a wanted plant.

Some weeds are poisonous and can cause physical harm to animals and humans, so these must be removed in areas of agricultural or recreational use. Other weeds can take over crops and strangle them, preventing growth and rendering the crops useless.

Sometimes weeds are classed simply as an unwanted plant. These then need to be removed to allow the growth of a wanted plant.

There are many ways in which to kill or remove weeds using Weed Control, for small areas of specialized agriculture, hand weeding with no chemicals or organic products, allows the weeds to remove without the possibility of damaging the rest of the plants. Rice fields are generally weeded by hand, and also by using irrigation methods.

Some organic methods include the use of paper or card placed on the soil around other plants to prevent the light and heat from germinating them. Mulch is also a common item to use, with a 5-10cm layer on the ground that suffocates or prevents enough sunlight from reaching the weeds as well as retaining water that will eventually suffocate any plants under them. Mulch is often made of woodchips or plastic.

Herbicides or Weed Killer, are the most commonly used chemical to combat weeds, and when performing Weed Control, it is best to choose the type of chemical that suits the weeds and will not destroy the other plants or lawn that is healthy.

Contact Herbicides - only kill the plant that they come into contact with.

Systemic Herbicides - these travel through the plant and are designed to affect the root system and agreater amount of the plant

Soil-borne Herbicides - are applied to the soil and then taken up by the roots.

Pre-Emergent Herbicides - applied to the soil to prevent the growth of weed seeds or baby weeds.
If wishing to use a more organic method of Weed Control, you may wish to try Mulching or manually weeding prior to the weeds generating seeds.

Lawn care requires a more specialized treatment depending on the type of grass and weed you are dealing with. Some lawns are best treated manually unless the weeds are fast spreading and have already started to kill the surrounding lawn.

When protecting vegetable gardens, a weed mat may be used to prevent the weeds from pushing through. These are environmentally friendly and becoming more common.

Weeds are generally only a problem when they get to a larger size, as they then compete with other plants for water, nutrients, and sunlight.

Choose a method that you are comfortable with, as weeding can be a time consuming job, however if using Chemical weed sprays, make sure you identify the right one for the job.