These garden jobs are not to be missed!
Routine gardening work, such as pruning and weeding, will not only help keep your garden tidy, but also prevent the spread of pests and diseases that are often associated with accumulating plant debris. Therefore, apply the correct gardening work, and you will not have to spend a lot of energy in the future to maintain it.
Pruning
Many plants need about a third pruning annually - this not only makes them more attractive, but also ensures better growth in the next season.
Gardeners usually remove wilted flowers after flowering, but this should not be done with plants grown for seed, such as coriander, dill, or fennel. These plants must be able to complete their life cycle. If you are not growing plants for flowering, remove flowers for fuller leaf growth.
Removing wilted flowers will prolong the flowering period.
It is also necessary to prune trees in cases where their branches begin to rub against each other, which causes open wounds that cause disease and insect damage. Or when their crowns become too dense, which limits the penetration of light and air. Lower branches can be removed with a hand saw, but if you need to get rid of large branches, it is better to consult a professional. Protect your eyes from sawdust during such work. For regular pruning of trees and shrubs, get a good pair of pruning shears.
With proper care, they will last about ten years. If you do it occasionally, you just need to buy cheaper tools.
Weeding
Another type of gardening work Weeds compete with other plants in the garden for nutrients, light and water. But you can get rid of them, or at least significantly reduce their number, by following some basic gardening rules.
If there is little empty unplanned land in the garden, the weeds have nowhere to grow. Try to fill in the spaces between the plants by planting things like thyme and mint.
Hand weeding as a summer cottage gardening job is still an effective means of controlling weeds, especially rhizomatous plants. Remove the entire root system, rather than tearing off just the aerial parts. You should not put weeds with seeds in the compost heaps, otherwise you will again face the problem of combating them.
Some try to control weeds by covering the beds with a black film, but this only leads to the creation of unfavorable anaerobic conditions. Mulching is another matter: it also saves from weeds, and leaves access to air and water inside.
Herbicide use
Use herbicides (weed control chemicals) only as a last resort or when preparing an entire bed. Be careful when doing this, especially if you are growing edible or valuable plants. Always read the label carefully and follow the manufacturer's instructions.
Remember to be careful when choosing a suitable, effective and safe herbicide and always wear a face shield, gloves, safety shoes and goggles.
- Selective herbicides - kill only weeds.
- Non-selective herbicides - they destroy any plant with which they come in contact. Therefore, use them very carefully and only in calm weather, so that they do not get on the garden grasses. The most commonly used non-selective herbicide is glyphosate.
- Systemic herbicides - move from the point of contact with the surface to the points of growth of plants, causing them to die.
- Pre-emergence herbicides - applied to the soil before seedlings emerge to kill weed seeds.
- Post-emergence herbicides - are applied after the emergence of cultivated plants.
