Weeds act like fertilizer. Many “weeds,” such as comfrey, wild mustard, and most clover, have deep roots that penetrate the subsoil, where they harvest valuable nutrients and trace minerals far beyond the reach of other garden plants. As the weeds gradually decompose, the nutrients are recycled back into the soil.
Tackling small individual weeds stops them from competing with your lawn for water and nutrients and leaves a smaller area of disturbed soil available for other dormant weeds to make their home.
It turns out they're actually very beneficial to attracting wildlife and important pollinators. Rather than allowing weeds to take over your gardens, the book Gardening for Wildlife: A Complete Guide to Nature-Friendly Gardening suggests letting some of them be in a small corner of your yard.
They can help fertilize the soil, increase moisture, serve as a living mulch, repel pests, and even attract insects and bugs that your main crops can take advantage of. What's more, some of these weeds can also be used as tasty ingredients in your kitchen and even medicinally.
Weeds shade the soil surface – reducing evaporation and the sun's harmful effects. They can reduce wind speeds at the soil surface. In winter, they trap snow, adding to soil moisture. Weeds can be important agents of soil conservation.
By removing nutrients for their own growth and development processes, weeds are leaving crops with lower amounts of key nutrients necessary to maximize yields. Research has shown that up to 60 percent of yield is dependent on soil fertility, and weeds that rob nutrients from crops limit yield potential.
Presence of weeds increases the cost of agriculture and hinders the progress of work. It increases the irrigation requirement. They reduce the value of produce or otherwise adds the cost of cleaning. Some weeds when eaten (Cleome viscosa) by milch animals will produce an undesirable odour in the milk.
The first reason to hate weeds is that they take up space and discourage desirable plants. The defining characteristic of a weed is that it grows where it is not wanted. Most weeds are taller, rangier and seem to grow faster than more pleasing plants. Weeds make the whole garden less attractive and appear untended.
Not only do weeds protect bare soil; over time, they improve the soil every which way. Their roots break up soil to improve aeration and extract nutrients. As weeds' roots die, they, along with weeds' dead leaves and stems, decompose to enrich the ground with humus.
So why is weeding so important? Weeds compete with plants for light, nutrients and water. Left alone they will also smother and suffocate plants and harbour pests and diseases.
The trick is to remove weeds as soon as you see them, since they will only grow bigger and harder to deal with. If you miss them when they're just seedlings, the next best thing is to get rid of them before they flower and go to seed. Remember that you'll need to keep up with weeds throughout the growing season.
Mowing can actually help eradicate them from your lawn for many reasons: Cutting weeds damages the plant. Early mowing keeps the weed from flowering. Cutting the weeds exposes the plant closer to the roots for treatment.
They store nutrients in their roots and re-grow each year from the roots or seed. Hand-pulling is not as successful because perennials are often stimulated from root or stem disturbances. By hand-pulling, perennial weeds may be encouraged to grow bigger and stronger than before.
Many weeds are also blessed with a natural insect repellant. Letting weeds in your lawn grow near your more weed free flower beds can help drive out even more “bad” bugs from your plants. Weeds can also help keep down erosion of topsoil on your property.
Some lawn and garden weeds bring nutrients and water up from deep in the soil and down from the air, and subsequently make them available to microbes and plants. Some weeds break up hardpans and compaction and control erosion.
Weeds compete with the crop plant for light, nutrients, water, space and other growth requirements and reduce the crop yield.
Weeds can perform vital ecosystem services such as protecting and restoring exposed or degraded soils. In addition, some weeds provide habitat for beneficial organisms, and thereby contribute significantly to natural and biological control of some insect pests. Certain weeds also make nutritious food or fodder.
Using Bleach to Kill Weeds Permanently
Apply one cup of bleach, undiluted, to the afflicted area. Wait until the weeds turn brown before pulling them out of the ground. Run water around the area to flush the bleach, especially if you are trying to grow plants or grass in that area.
Weeds may cause problems in a variety of ways. Characteristics which result in weeds becoming a problem are: Competition – Weeds can grow faster, out-compete desirable plants and use up precious water, nutrients, sunlight and space. For example, paterson's curse in pastures.
Critical time for removal of weeds – weeds removed early in life of crop allows the crop to become stronger. Removal of alternative hosts – alternative hosts of pests can be weeds at the edge of fields, removing these controls pests. However this can reduce wildlife.
The most effective homemade option is a mixture of white vinegar, salt, and liquid dish soap. Each of these ingredients has special properties that combine to kill weeds. Both the salt and the vinegar contain acetic acid, which serves to dry out and kill the plants.
White Vinegar:
For it to work, you have to wait for the vinegar to sit in the weeds from your garden for a few days. The vinegar will kill the weed's roots.