Blog

Weeds - dispose or use?

If clients don't mind, we leave weeds onsite to let them to rot down as compost, smother existing weeds, and to save labour and costs in removing them. Anything we can do to improve the soil’s structure and microbe population is a win.

Woolsacks full of weeds for green waste at the tip.

Here's how
Here’s how you can reuse organic matter (anything that once grew) and save yourself effort and money.
Learn to identify the pest, or invasive plants, (ideally when they are small) versus the less nasty weeds that will curl up and die without a fight.
It’s fine to leave the less nasty weeds on top of garden beds or around plants to rot down to improve the soil, which helps hold water and nutrients on your land.

A different approach is needed for the baddies, those that reproduce like crazy using a variety of cunning tricks. For these, you can:

Dig or pull them out or rake up (eg tradescantia) and pile in a corner or in a contained compost area. You can cover them with black polythene to speed decomposition and reduce chances of regrowth. If they do regrow, you can spray herbicide on regrowth or manage the edges of the pile while the bulk rots down. You can use on garden once they are definitely dead.
Put them in a waterproof container, add water (or wait for rain) and put the lid on. Once they’ve rotted down, you can water the garden with the resulting soup. There’s no guarantee on nutrient value, but there’s nothing to lose.
Bag them up and take to green waste

To avoid spreading the types of pest plants you have, have separate piles in each garden area, eg front and back.

More info
To identify pest plants see Weedbusters.
Pests in Wellington region and more general info see, Greater Wellington Regional Council Pest Plants.

Ivy is one of the most common pest plants we come across. It grows up trees and shrubs and smothers them. Birds eat the ripe berries and drop the seeds in the bush with a dollop of fertiliser.

0 Comments

Agapanthus (aggies) out

0 Comments

On my walk up my street this afternoon, every other verge had agapanthus, Agapanthus praecox, growing healthily. Definitely the predominant species round these parts.

A healthy aggie clump leaving no room for any other plant

Aggies quickly cover the soil making it impossible for other plants to grow

Agapanthus praecox, the predominant species locally.

Aggies quickly establish and take over and are extremely hard to remove

Why it's a pest plant

It seeds prolifically, spreads seeds effectively which germinate densely. Fragments of the roots easily regrow. Plants live a long time and can handle a wide range of conditions and soil types.
Wherever it grows, it forms solid clumps. I've seen layers and layers grow on top of each other. It bullies all other plants out and takes over.
For information on getting rid of agapanthus see Weedbusters,

0 Comments

Back to life

0 Comments

A small garden clean up entails weeding, pruning and trimming. Also, prioritising plants that need more space and light and pruning accordingly.
We can also attend to plant pests and start improving the soil.
Below is an example of one job.

Second visit to continue work January 2020.

First visit to start work July 2019.

Photos from the initial visit 24 June 2019 below.

0 Comments

Spring weeds

0 Comments

January 2020

Our approach to a small garden with a lot of invasive weeds.

Ivy is extremely vigorous and when it comes from the neighbour's, we can't kill it.

Weeded and tidied up the plants here. They had blown towards the deck.

A wider view of the cleared area after we'd cut back branches and weeded it. We planted some lupins in to fill the space. It might be a bit late, but we may be in luck.

The 'wild' area. We prune back any branches that invade the deck.

Before we started work Oct 2019

Small garden beds back on to a wild area. We want it to look tidy for as long as possible but some of these weeds are pretty aggressive.
Hover over the images for information.