Tips for Maintaining Weeds & Pests in Your Garden
Maintaining a garden is no easy task and there are so many activities that has to be taken care of. In this article, we are focusing on how you can manage weeds and pests so that your plants don’t have to compete for nutrients, water and sunlight. When there are pests, they can damage flowers, fruits and foliage affecting the overall health of your plants.
There are companies that specialise in Garden Maintenance and you can hire them to visit your garden on a specific schedule so that they can take care of the weed and pest problem. There are certain strategies that can help you prevent weeds taking root in your garden. One solution is mulching where you apply a layer of organic mulch around the plants so that weed growth can be suppressed. This layer will also help retain moisture and improve the overall health of the soil. Some of the things you can use as mulch are shredded leaves, wood chips and straw. You can also use weed barrier fabric underneath the mulch so that there is a physical barrier to inhibit germination of weeds. You have to carry out regular garden maintenance work such as hoeing, weeding and cultivating so that weeds can be removed before they start to spread. When plants are overcrowded, these can give way to weed growth.
Also, pests can easily find hiding spots in this situation.
You have to follow planting guidelines so that overcrowding can be prevented. There are guidelines that can help you decide how to space plants so that they get sufficient sunlight and air circulation. You will also find it difficult to access the plants for maintenance when there is overcrowding. You have to maintain healthy plants and soil so that there is more resilience in your garden to weed infestations and attacks from pests. You have to apply balanced fertilisers so that essential nutrients can be provided for the growth of plants and their development. You will be able to contribute to stronger plants in this way and they will be able to withstand weed competition. You need to water plants deeply and do this infrequently so that deep root growth is encouraged. This can also help minimise germination of weeds. If you overwater, it can create favourable conditions for the growth of weeds. This can also lead to the development of fungal diseases.
You can take
A more environmentally friendly approach to pest control with integrated pest management where the use of chemical pesticides is minimised. You need to first identify which pests are in your garden so that you can come up with control measurements. There are cultural practices that can be adopted such as companion planting, crop rotation and modification of habitats so that pest populations can be reduced. You can introduce natural parasites and predators that prey on pests so that the pest population can be kept in check. There are also mechanical controls that can be used such as traps and physical barriers. You can also hand pick the pests to physically remove them.