Weed control
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Weed control, a botanical component of pest control, stops weeds from reaching a mature stage of growth when they could be harmful to domesticated plants, sometimes livestocks, by using manual techniques including soil cultivation, mulching and herbicides. Prevention of weeds from growing is desirable, but often difficult to achieve, due to the resilient fertilization and growth patterns of weeds.
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The effects of weeds on other plants
Luther Burbank has been quoted as the source of the saying, "A weed is any plant growing in the wrong place". Yet with a small shift in perspective, we can often change our definition to a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. Those plants that we call weeds can often have many useful functions- many are edible, medicinal, attract wildlife, increase biodiversity, provide valuable information about the condition of our land (eg, nettles (Urtica diocia) indicate a fertile soil, whilst the presence of horsetail (Equisetum arvensis) suggests poor soil and waterlogging) or can act as ‘dynamic accumulators’, bringing up and making available deficient nutrients from the subsoil with their roots. As A.W. Hadfield states; "We could never for long be free of them, and we would be the poorer without them" (from the introduction to How To Enjoy Your Weeds (http://www.eco-logicbooks.com/index.cfm?fa=book_details&book_id=314), Muller Press, 1969). However, weeds can also compete with our productive crops, and given half a chance will quickly return cultivated land to a wilderness state.
By their very nature, and the fact that these are the plants that are naturally adapted to local conditions, weeds tend to thrive at the expense of our more refined edible or ornamental crops. They provide competition for space, nutrients, water, and light, although how seriously they will affect a crop depends on a number of factors. Some crops have greater resistance than others- smaller, slower-growing seedlings are more likely to be overwhelmed than those that are larger and more vigorous. Onions are one of the crops most susceptible to competition, for they are slow to germinate and produce slender, upright stems. Quick growing, broad-leafed weeds, therefore, have a distinct advantage, and if not removed, the crop is likely to be lost. Broad beans, however, produce large seedlings and will suffer far less profound effects of weed competition other than during periods of water shortage at the crucial time when the pods are filling out. Transplanted crops raised in sterile seed or potting compost will have a head start over germinating weed seeds.
Weeds also differ in their competitive abilities, and can vary according to conditions and the time of year. Tall growing vigorous weeds such as fat hen (Chenopodium album) can have the most pronounced effects on adjacent crops, although seedlings of fat hen that appear in late summer will only produce small plants. Chickweed (Stellaria media), a low growing plant, can happily co-exist with a tall crop during the summer, but plants that have overwintered will grow rapidly in early spring and may swamp crops such as onions or spring greens.
The presence of weeds does not necessarily mean that they are competing with a crop, especially during the early stages of growth when each plant can find the resources it requires without interfering with the others. However as the seedlings’ size increases, their root systems will spread as they each begin to require greater amounts of water and nutrients. Estimates suggest that weed and crop can co-exist harmoniously for around three weeks, therefore it is important that weeds are removed early on in order to prevent competition occurring. Weed competition can have quite dramatic effects on crop growth. Harold A Roberts cites research carried out with onions wherein "Weeds were carefully removed from separate plots at different times during the growth of the crop and the plots were then kept clean. It was found that after competition had started, the final yield of bulbs was being reduced at a rate equivalent to almost 4 percent per day. So that by delaying weeding for another fortnight, the yield was cut to less than half that produced on ground kept clean all the time." (The Complete Know And Grow Vegetables, Bleasdale, Salter and others, OUP 1991). He goes on to record that "by early June, the weight of weeds per unit area was twenty times that of the crop, and the weeds had already taken from the soil about half of the nitrogen and a third of the potash which had been applied".
Perennial weeds with persistent underground stems or bulbils such as couch grass (Agropyron repens) or buttercup (Ranunculus repens) are able to store reserves of food, and are thus able to grow faster and with more vigour than their annual counterparts. There is also evidence that the roots of some perennials such as couch grass exude allelopathic chemicals that inhibit the growth of other nearby plants.
Weeds can also host pests and diseases that can spread to cultivated crops. Charlock and Shepherd’s purse may carry clubroot, eelworm can be harbored by chickweed, fat hen and shepherd’s purse, while the cucumber mosaic virus, which can devastate the curcubit family, is carried by a range of different weeds including chickweed and groundsel.
However, at times the role of weeds in this respect can be over-rated. As far as insect pests are concerned, often the species that live on weeds are not the same as those that attack vegetable crops; "Tests with the common cruciferous weeds such as shepherds purse have shown that they do not act as hosts for the larvae of the cabbage root fly. One exception was found to be the wild radish, but this is not usually a weed of established vegetable gardens" (Roberts, The Complete Know And Grow Vegetables). However, pests such as cutworms may first attack weeds then move on to cultivated crops.
While charlock, a common weed in southeastern USA, may be considered a weed by row crop growers, it is highly valued by beekeepers, who seek out places where it blooms all winter, thus providing pollen for honeybees and other pollinators. Its bloom is resistant to all but a very hard freeze, and even that will only kill it back briefly. By feeding an array of pollinators during a seasonal dearth, it can redound to the farmer's advantage. Many weeds are likewise highly beneficial to pollinators.
Methods
Knowing how weeds reproduce, spread and survive adverse conditions can help in developing effective control and management strategies. Weeds have a range of techniques that enable them to thrive;
Annual and biennial weeds such as chickweed, annual meadow grass, shepherd’s purse, groundsel, fat hen, cleaver, speedwell and hairy bittercress propagate themselves by seeding. Many produce huge numbers of seed several times a season, some all year round. Groundsel can produce 1000 seed and can continue right through a mild winter, whilst scentless mayweed produces over 30,000 seeds per plant. Not all of these will germinate at once, but over several seasons, lying dormant in the soil sometimes for years until exposed to light. Poppy seed can survive 80-100 years, dock 50 or more. There can be many thousands of seeds in a square foot or square meter of ground, thus and soil disturbance will produce a flush of fresh weed seedlings.
"Stale seed bed" technique
One technique employed by growers is the ‘stale seed bed’, which involves cultivating the soil, then leaving it for a week or so.
When the initial flush of weeds has germinated, the grower will lightly hoe off before the desired crop is planted. However, even a freshly cleared bed will be susceptible to airborne seed from elsewhere, as well as seed brought in bypassing animals which can carry them on their fur, or from freshly imported manure. The organic solution to the problem of spreading annual weeds lies in regular, properly timed weeding, preferably just before flowering (fortuitously, this is also the time at which they will be of the most value in the compost heap).
This technique is also quite often used by farmers who let weeds germinate then return the soil before crop sowing.
Perennial weeds also propagate by seeding; the airborne seed of the dandelion and the rose-bay willow herb are parachuted far and wide. But they also have an additional range of vegetative means of spreading that gives them their pernicious reputation. Dandelion and dock put down deep tap roots, which, although they do not spread underground, are able to regrow from any remaining piece left in the ground. Removal of the complete taproot is the only sure remedy.
The most persistent of the perennials are those that spread by underground creeping rhizomes that can regrow from the tiniest fragment. These include couch grass, bindweed, ground elder, nettles, rosebay willowherb, Japanese knotweed, horsetail and bracken, as well as creeping thistle, whose taproots can put out lateral roots. Other perennials put out runners that spread along the soil surface. As they creep along they set down roots, enabling them to colonize bare ground with great rapidity. These include creeping buttercup and ground ivy. Yet another group of perennials propagate by stolons- stems that arch back into the ground to reroot. Most familiar of these is the bramble.
All of the above weeds can be very difficult to eradicate- thick black plastic mulches can be effective to a degree, although will probably need to be left in place for at least two seasons. In addition, hoeing off weed leaves and stems as soon as they appear can eventually weaken and kill the plants, although this will require persistence in the case of plants such as bindweed. Nettle infestations can be tackled by cutting back at least three times a year, repeated over a three year period. Bramble can be dealt with in a similar way. Some plants are said to produce root exudates that suppress herbaceous weeds. Tagetes minuta is claimed to be effective against couch and ground elder, whilst a border of comfrey is also said to act as a barrier against the invasion of some weeds including couch.
Use of herbicides
The above-described methods of weed control avoid using chemicals. They are often used by farmers. However, these methods may damage a fragile soil by destructuring it, hence they are not always used. They are those preferred by the organic gardener or organic farmer.
However, weed control can also be achieved by the use of herbicides. Selective herbicides kill certain targets while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed. Some of these act by interfering with the growth of the weed and are often based on plant hormones. Herbicides are generally classified as follows;
- Contact herbicides destroy only that plant tissue in contact with the chemical spray. Generally, these are the fastest acting herbicides. They are ineffective on perennial plants that are able to re-grow from roots or tubers.
- Systemic herbicides are foliar-applied and are translocated through the plant and destroy a greater amount of the plant tissue.
- Soil-borne herbicides are applied to the soil and are taken up by the roots of the target plant.
- Pre-emergent herbicides are applied to the soil and prevent germination or early growth of weed seeds.
In agriculture large scale and systematic weeding is usually required, often by machines, such as liquid herbicide sprayers, or even by helicopter (such as in the USA), to eliminate the massive amount of weeds present on farming lands.
However, there are a number of techniques that the organic farmer can employ such as mulching and carefully timed cutting of weeds before they are able to set seed.
(See also section below on UK legislation regarding the control of certain weeds)
Wood
Besides those kinds of weeds which are of an herbaceous nature, there are others which are woody, and grow to a very considerable size; such as broom, furze and thorns. The first may be destroyed by frequent plowing and harrowing, in the same manner as other perennial weeds are. Another method of destroying broom is by pasturing the field where it grows with grazers.
The best method of extirpating furze is to set fire to it in frosty weather, for frost has the effect of withering and making them burn readily. The stumps must then be cut over with a hatchet, and when the ground is well softened by rain it may be plowed up, and the roots taken out by a harrow adapted to that purpose. If the field is soon laid down to grass, they will again spring up; in this case, pasturing with grazers is an effectual remedy. The thorn, or bramble, can only be extirpated by plowing up the ground and collecting the roots.
In June, weeds are in their most succulent state, and in this condition, after they have lain a few hours to wither, cattle will eat almost every species. There is scarcely a hedge, border, or a nook, but what at that season is valuable.
UK Legislation concerning weeds
The Weeds Act, 1959 is described as "Preventing the spread of harmful or injurious weeds", and is mainly relevant to farmers and other rural settings rather than the allotment or garden scale grower. There are five ‘injurious’ (that is, likely to be harmful to agricultural production) weeds covered by the provisions of the Weeds Act. These are:
- Spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare)
- Creeping or field thistle (Cirsium arvense)
- Curled dock (Rumex crispus)
- Broad leaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius)
- Common ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) (nb, this weed is poisonous to livestock. Livestock should not be allowed to graze where ragwort has grown until it is eradicated, and any traces have disintegrated. Ragwort should not be allowed to be harvested in hay or silage for feed).
DEFRA provide guidance for the treatment removal of these weeds from infested land. Much of this is oriented towards the use of herbicides, the majority of which may not be acceptable to the organic producer (apart from non-synthetic substances like sulphur, which in some circumstances are accepted within Soil Association standards) but in most cases there are manual techniques that can be used such as digging out the roots, mulching out or carefully timed cutting before seeds are able to spread.
Primary responsibility for weeds control rests with the occupier of the land on which the weeds are growing, therefore it is important to be alert to potential weed problems and to take prompt action. However it should be remembered that most common farmland weeds are not "injurious" within the meaning of the Weeds Act, and many such plant species have conservation and environmental value. When dealing with complaints under the Weeds Act, DEFRA has a duty in law to try and achieve a reasonable balance between different interests. These include agriculture, countryside conservation and the public in general. Constructive discussion about problems caused by weeds can often result in ineffective solutions and avoid the need for DEFRA to take official action. In addition to those weeds covered by the 1959 act, under section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it can be an offence to plant or grow certain specified plants in the wild (see Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981), including Giant Hogweed and Japanese Knotweed. Problems involving these plants can be referred to the local authority for the area where those weeds are growing as some local authorities have bye-laws controlling these plants. There is no statutory requirement for landowners to remove these plants from their property.
See also: Biological pest control