Mulch for weeds. Mulching against weeds

Usually summer residents strive to rid the site of all weeds and the whole season is mainly engaged in weeding and loosening, creating ideal beds, while not forgetting to “refuel” them with fertilizers, as the soil is depleted from year to year. Meanwhile, nature itself suggests a way for optimal farming: in the forest, the soil is never dug up and fertilized, and trees grow for centuries. The land here is fertilized with plant residues - branches broken by the wind, pieces of bark, foliage or needles. They cover the ground with a dense carpet, crunchy underfoot, and, rotting, become fertilizer. Approximately the same thing happens in natural meadows.

The now popular no-till farming method involves the use of mulch. And what is it, how to properly mulch so as not to harm the soil and plants, what materials are used in this case - let's try to understand the intricacies of these issues.

Mulch - any material that covers the surface of the soil (mulch - from the English. mulch) to protect or improve it. For example, the soil is mulched from weeds to retain moisture, in winter for warmth, and in hot summer for overheating and to improve structure. Mulch is used in landscape design. Depending on the purpose of mulching, appropriate materials are chosen, they can be very diverse - organic and inorganic. Organic mulch - made from natural materials: grass clippings, straw, leaves, needles, decomposed compost without weed seeds, bark, shavings, sawdust, cut paper or cardboard. Inorganic - gravel, pebbles, sand, black polyethylene or garden nonwovens. The main thing is to use these materials correctly in order to avoid problems in the future.

Now the main concern of summer residents (after landing) is the fight against the "green fire". Warmth and abundant moisture are favorable not only for cultivated plants, but also for weeds - you will not have time to weed them, but they are right there again. Therefore, it is beneficial to mulch the beds between rows (or plants), protecting them from weeds. In this case, the mulch should be opaque and dense. The denser it is, the more effectively it does its job.

From organic matter, the foliage of trees and shrubs is best protected from weeds. Wet and caking, the foliage creates a very dense layer, completely impenetrable to the sun, and, accordingly, leaves no chance for annual weeds. To contain the latter, 3-4 centimeters of caked foliage is enough. Straw will also protect against weeds, but its layer should be thicker. Newspaper and cardboard are effective for weed control. They need to be laid so that there are no gaps between the sheets, and pressed down so as not to be blown away by the wind. On top of the paper, you can put other organic matter, last year's plant debris, straw and fresh green weeds that have been removed from the beds. Of inorganic materials, geotextiles or black film are used, however, the latter will serve only one season - under the influence of sunlight, it quickly collapses.

By protecting the beds from weeds, mulch helps retain moisture in the soil at the roots of the plant. But keep in mind that when watering mulched beds, more water will be required to wet the mulch layer and moisten the soil underneath. The thicker the layer of mulch, the longer it retains moisture and the more water is needed when watering. Such mulch (both organic and inorganic) is not placed close to the plants, but a centimeter or two is left so that they do not rot.

R. S. Mulch is unlikely to protect against such perennials as bindweed and thistle, they sometimes grow even through asphalt. Therefore, it is advisable to get rid of them in advance.

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All owners of personal plots know how difficult and sometimes it seems that it is endless, the fight against weeds. These, as they said in one children's cartoon, "uncultivated" plants greatly interfere with the cultivation of bushes, flowers, and vegetable crops. But are all weeds and are they always so useless and even harmful? What if you take a closer look at their amazing properties. Maybe there are options for their more efficient and useful use?

Currently, the question of the benefits and harms of weeds has been significantly revised.

And now many people know that weeds can make a significant contribution as sources of useful and medicinal substances used in medicine, cosmetology and cooking.

Useful weeds and their properties

In fact, many plants that are found in almost every area and are considered weeds have amazing beneficial properties. Here are some of them:

• Nettle

It serves as an indicator of black, humus-rich soils, because it grows on them.

Stinging nettle has an amazing effect on other plants growing nearby: it increases their resistance, changes the chemical processes in them, and stimulates the formation of humus. If nettles appeared on your site, this indicates the presence of a cultivated and rich organic land. Also, in herbs growing in rows with nettles, the content of essential oil increases. It repels the potato bug, which contributes to a healthier growth of this plant. Nettle also has a beneficial effect on people. Preparations based on this plant increase lactation, improve the performance of the heart, stomach, liver, kidneys, and reduce the amount of sugar in the blood.

• yarrow

In general, this plant creates a very favorable atmosphere for the growth of cultivated plants. It helps to get rid of insect pests, some diseases. Its leaves contain phytoncides that fight pathogenic bacteria.

Yarrow can be used to heal plants by preparing a decoction from it. To do this, scald 800 g of grass with 2 liters of boiling water and insist the mixture for an hour.

Then add another 8 liters of water and spray the necessary plants with infusion. Yarrow leaves are used in the preparation of salads, as a seasoning for main dishes.

• pharmaceutical camomile

It usually grows on compacted soils and contributes to their structuring, protects against harmful influences, heals the earth, slightly stimulates the growth of grain crops, improves the taste properties of onions and cabbage, and also contributes to their intensive development. Medicinal chamomile has a lot of medicinal properties and is used in many preparations. An infusion of this herb has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, bactericidal effects and has a beneficial effect on increasing human immunity.

• Comfrey (borage, larkspur, fatty root)

A fertilizer made from this weed works well on crops that need a lot of potassium and a little nitrogen. These include beans, tomatoes and cucumbers. The leaves and stems of this plant improve the heart activity of people, soothe, anesthetize, and have a diuretic effect. Cucumber grass can be used very well in salads, especially when paired with pieces of boiled meat, green peas, herbs and sour cream dressing.

• Dandelion

This plant is not only a material for making wreaths and making wishes, but an ubiquitous weed that can be put to good use. This plant emits ethylene gas, which affects the acceleration of fruit ripening in apple trees and vegetable crops. Beneficial for people from the top to the roots. The pollen of the plant contains a large amount of manganese, boron and other trace elements. Therefore, jam is often prepared from the color buds of a plant. Young leaves containing vitamin C can be added to salads, green and salty soups, vinaigrettes, and even minced meat.

After grinding, dried dandelion roots are used to prepare a coffee substitute.

• Wormwood

It has a very depressing effect on neighboring plants, but a decoction of it is an excellent tool for combating caterpillars.

• Sow thistle and thistle

A real disaster for many gardeners and gardeners. It spreads very easily over the site, and it is very difficult to get rid of this creeping weed with a very strong and branched root system. But his mother nature did not ignore him, endowing him with unique properties. So, in wheatgrass, you can use rhizomes and foliage. They are dried and used in baking flour products and cooking jelly. When fresh, it can be used to prepare side dishes, salads and soups.

And wheatgrass helps to get rid of cough, bladder diseases, bleeding, improves metabolism.

• Plantain

The leaves of this plant have a lot of useful substances: vitamin K, citric acid, carotene. When fresh, this plant has a laxative effect, acts on a person as an analgesic, wound healing and bactericidal agent. And who in childhood, having broken his knee, did not apply this wonderful leaf to the wound? And plantain can also be used in side dishes, salads, meat and fish dishes, it can be added to potato cutlets, minced meat, soups and cabbage soup. Plantain juice can be used in the preparation of cold drinks.

Above, only a small part of the useful properties of weeds, which are most often found on our plots, were considered. As you can see, even these plants can be used for the good of the cause.

In addition to preparing decoctions, food, medicines from beneficial weeds, they can also be used to help plants grown on your site. It will not be superfluous to read about weeds.

weed mulch

For many years, experienced gardeners and gardeners have been using a method such as mulching to increase the yield of a plot. However, many people forget that easily accessible material can be used to make mulch: chamomile, quinoa, shepherd's purse and other weeds. Often these plants are simply thrown away, and in vain, since they can bring considerable benefits.

To mulch trees and bushes with weeds, you need to spread them in a layer 10 - 15 cm under them, and this will have an amazing effect. Some are worried, but will the dug up herbs be able to re-take root in the ground? Not if you have previously shaken the soil off the weeds. Such a simple procedure will avoid the engraftment of all weeds, except for creeping wheatgrass. The same weed is better, without shaking off the soil, to collect in a small pile about a meter in height. Within six months, the plant will turn into a beautiful loose humus with a lot of useful properties.

You can absolutely calmly mulch the soil with mowed grass of goutweed, dandelion or milkweed. Do you know, ?

The results of using weed mulching are beyond all expectations.

For example, if an apple tree is mulched only with such material, then it receives twice as much phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen than without this procedure. A year or two later, more earthworms are noted in the soil after mulching with weeds. After rain or watering, a hard crust does not form, which harms plants. This procedure is also effective against the formation of sandy soils.

Weed, useful for health and beauty (video)

weed compost

Weed compost is also an ideal way to use the beneficial properties of weeds. Instead of throwing out weeds, you can use them to make a mixture that helps increase the yield on your site.

How to do it? Everything is very simple!

• Place all cut grass, as well as weeds collected on the site, in a place for preparing compost and slightly crush.
• Then nature takes over: the sun, water and air. Under their influence, the top layer of the formed green mass wilts and dries up. When this happens, it is necessary to add another layer of fresh mass, under which a greenhouse effect is immediately created, and microelements do their work, turning dry grass into beautiful humus.
• An increase in temperature in the lower layers contributes to the fact that the upper layer also dries out, even if the weather is cool.
• As a result of all these processes, in a year or two you will receive excellent material - organic, which can be used to fertilize your site.

Reviews and comments

Elena 11/30/2014

I fully agree with the author of the article. On the one hand, I want to put the dacha or garden in order, and on the other hand, valuable medicinal plants are usually found among the weeds. For example, recently a child needed celandine. And where to get it? The pharmacy sells, but of dubious quality and little. We went to the dacha and picked up a whole bag of him there. And from nettles you can cook a very tasty soup. Maria 06/09/2015

The celandine helped me to destroy the vavka formed in the nose, very similar to papilloma. I just plucked the inflorescences of celandine and destroyed it with juice within 5-10 minutes. I repeated it several times and that's it, I'm glad that everything is fine with me.

Irina 02.12.2015

We also put the weeds in the compost pit. And in the lawn grass I have plantain growing. I pick it and dry it, add it to tea in winter - plantain is useful for stomach diseases with high acidity. Knotweed chickens are very fond of.

Oksana Vladimirovna 07.02.2016

I did not know about wheatgrass that it can be used for food. And so everything goes into business with me: coltsfoot, nettle, burdock (I am especially reverent about it). I add quinoa to salads. The rest is mostly in the compost pit.

Alena 16.08.2017

Plantain helps with bleeding gums. It should be washed and chewed as much as you like, but at least three times a day. Better after or long before a meal. Chewed plantain should not be swallowed, but spit out.

Add a comment

Soil mulching was invented by nature itself. A person only peeped how a fertile layer is formed under the fallen leaves, moisture is preserved, and plants survive even the most severe colds without problems. Today, there are many mulching technologies using a variety of materials. But the principle remains original, natural - covering the soil with an outer protective layer, which gives the desired effect. To properly carry out this procedure, you need to learn everything about soil mulching.

The benefits of this procedure for cultivated plants are undeniable.

So why do you need mulching? To free the gardener-gardener time for other work or recreation, without prejudice to plants, and even for their benefit.

materials

All mulching materials, of which there are currently more than two dozen, are divided into two large categories: organic and inorganic origin.

The discussion about which type of materials is better is ongoing both among specialists and among amateur gardeners. The choice of category depends on the goals that are supposed to be achieved by mulching, and on the place of application of the material on a particular crop.

When mulching with any materials, an important rule must be observed - it is carried out only after the soil has warmed up well. If you lay the mulch on unheated soil, the effect will be the opposite of what you expected - the plants will develop poorly, their growth will slow down.

organic materials

This group includes the following:

All organic materials differ from inorganic materials in that they are able to rot in the soil and turn into nutrients that saturate plants, form a humus layer and increase soil fertility.

Organic mulch is considered by many to be the healthiest and the only usable mulch. But there is one caveat - when some of its varieties rot, nitrogen is pulled out of the ground. It is needed to activate the process of decay for sawdust, bark and shavings. Of course, the plants are deficient in nitrogen.

There are drawbacks to organic mulch (just like inorganic mulch). For example, if it takes nitrogen from plants, it is necessary to first shed the soil under a layer of mulch with an infusion of manure, litter or urea to replenish it.

Wood mulch (sawdust)

Sawdust can clog over time and cause plants to rot.

There are restrictions on the use of bark, wood chips and foliage from non-fruit trees. For example, it is better not to use birch and oak trees at all, or to use them only for conifers. The high content of tannins in them can damage garden and garden plants, slowing down their development.

For decorative conifers, birch and oak mulch can be used. They like it when the soil is acidified, and they are not afraid of tannins, since the growth of conifers is already slow.

But back to the health benefits of organic mulch. Large sawdust and wood chips repel slugs. They are not comfortable crawling on them, and if you mulch the beds with these materials, the slugs will leave your garden, despite the presence of tasty plants.

grass mulch

Also, slugs do not like straw. If you put a layer of fine straw (hay) about 12 cm, after shrinking it will give an ideal cover, about seven centimeters high, which can completely and environmentally protect your plants from all misfortunes.

Plant waste - weeds, grass taken from the lawn, the remains of green manure are very well suited for mulching not only between rows, but also near the trunk circles of fruit trees. It is not recommended to lay this type of coating on the beds. Mulch should decompose over time, and cut grass and weeds will quickly dry out in the sun and not have time to decompose. If you wish, you can cover the soil with herbal plant mulch in the fall, before the rainy season. Then by spring you will have a good fertile layer.

Pine and spruce needles are the best material for covering flower beds. It looks very decorative and promotes healthy flower growth.

Manure and compost

This species rightfully ranks first in the ranking of organic materials for mulching.

Decayed manure has the only drawback, or rather, a feature of use that must be taken into account. It has a dark color, so it attracts heat. If the site is in a sunny place, and the plants planted on it are not particularly thermophilic, it is better to choose a light mulch.

moss and turf

They are used mainly for the garden, arranging turfing in the near-trunk circle of fruit trees and shrubs. You can cover the ground with ready-made moss taken from the forest, or with pieces of sod, or by planting any ground covers. Such mulch will grow to the soil and will be durable. In addition to preserving moisture and warming for the winter, it will keep the garden from erosion and increase the amount of nutrients in the soil.

sheet mulch

Fallen leaves should be treated with caution. It has already been mentioned above that the foliage of oak and birch will not bring much benefit to garden and flower plants. In addition, the foliage can become a carrier of fungal diseases, which are transmitted through the soil to cultivated plants, or, picked up by the wind, spread fungal spores throughout the site.

Foliage in its pure form, if there is a suspicion of the presence of fungal diseases, it is better not to use it for mulching. But it can be processed with special means and placed in compost. And when it turns into a nutritious fertilizer, mulch the garden with compost.

inorganic mulch

• film;
• nonwoven materials;
• pebbles, crushed stone and gravel;
• coarse sand;
• paper and cardboard waste;
• expanded clay.

These materials do not contain nutrients and do not decompose to form humus. Therefore, their properties are limited to protective and decorative. But since they do not rot, they are durable and do not lose their properties and appearance for a long time.

Inorganic mulch is mainly used in floriculture and horticulture. Garden beds that need constant cultivation are not covered with crushed stone or gravel, as they interfere with the cultivation of the soil.

gravel and crushed stone

Bulk inorganic materials are usually used as a decorative mulch in flowerbeds, rose gardens, and alpine slides. They can also fill up paths and trunk circles of shrubs and trees. But keep in mind that between the pebbles, no matter how tightly you put them, weeds will still sprout. It is necessary to think in advance about how to remove them in the future.

Film and non-woven cover

The black film perfectly retains moisture, and also protects cultivated plants from weeds, as it inhibits their growth.

But watering is difficult. It has to be carried out manually, getting exactly into the film holes left for plant growth. It is possible to carry out automatic drip irrigation under the film, but it is not easy to control the level of soil moisture with it.

Under the film or non-woven material, if the humidity is high, slugs can accumulate, which will damage the young shoots.

The black film has another significant drawback - it enhances the heating of the soil. In extreme heat, the roots of trees in the ground can “burn out” or rot if overheating is combined with high humidity.

The film is used for mulching plantings of potatoes, tomatoes, garden strawberries. It is desirable to use it in tandem with straw, with which the film is covered from above.

paper waste

They can only be used as an auxiliary material, mixed with another type of mulch. It alone draws moisture out of the soil, dehydrating and drying it out. Paper or cardboard works well under organic mulch. In this way, the germination of weeds can be almost completely prevented (

Today we will talk about weeds, how to remove them from summer cottages and garden plots and what harm they bring.

• What harm do weeds bring to cultivated plants
• Folk remedies.
• Weed killers
• How to plant a garden so that weeds do not grow
• What to do so that grass does not grow between the beds.

This is how we fight weeds

Weeds are the main enemy of any garden and garden plot. In the garden, they compete with cultivated plants for food and moisture. It is from them that diseases and pests “come” to our vegetables. But far from everyone succeeds in destroying the weeds on the site ... The most difficult to eradicate weeds are rhizomatous (creeping wheatgrass) and root shoots (field thistle, common gout).
Why are they dangerous for the garden, garden, and sometimes for humans?

Harm caused by weeds to cultivated plants

First of all, weeds are extremely prolific, many of them produce tens of thousands of seeds in one season, which have a very high germination potential, thereby abundantly replenishing their “reserves” in the soil.
For example, the wood lice known to all gardeners is a lover of wet areas. In 40 days, it manages to sprout, bloom and give just a huge amount of seeds. Over the summer, it can flood the entire garden.
The seeds of many weeds have a fairly dense shell. Many sprout after lying in the ground even for several years, so it is extremely difficult to destroy weeds on the site.

If you do not destroy the grass in the beds, it can clog any cultivated plants.

With each loosening, we inflict mechanical wounds on such seeds, accelerating their germination. That is why, after weeding, weed seeds quickly germinate and stand up as a solid wall.

In spring, weeds sprout and grow much earlier than cultivated plants. Therefore, they greatly inhibit the sowing of early vegetable crops, thereby causing great harm to cultivated plants.

Weeds have a much more powerful root system. Therefore, they are the first in the garden to absorb water and nutrients dissolved in it, taking them away from cultivated plants, impoverishing and drying up the soil, and this again harms the plants that we grow with such difficulty.

In many perennial grasses, when weeding a site in the ground, pieces of underground organs remain, which quickly take root and new plants grow from them. Also, daughter roots grow from the main root, and from them, in turn, new plants sprout.

In addition, some weeds (for example,) release toxic substances into the soil, which significantly accelerate the process of soil fatigue.

And they are a favorable habitat for many pests. For example, cruciferous fleas, cabbage butterflies find shelter on weeds of the cruciferous family, and the Colorado potato beetle - nightshade crops. The favorite habitat of the wireworm is thickets of couch grass, and soil nematodes like to breed on field sow thistle.

And finally, weeds are "adapted" for the development of new territories. Their seeds are carried by the wind and melt water, birds and animals. A good example is the soft bristle of young grass that appears shortly after the introduction of fresh cattle manure. I think that any summer resident, based on his own experience, knows what harm weeds cause to cultivated plants and how much time and effort it takes to destroy them.

How to get rid of weeds folk remedies

How to deal with the "invincible" enemy? There are several rules that our ancestors "discovered". There is nothing complicated or new about them. We know them very well, but for some reason we often do not adhere to them.

1. Weeds must be actively dealt with until they have grown. It is easy to clean even the largest area from small grass. The later we do this work, the more effort will be required to destroy them. The most affordable and easy way is spring harrowing, which is carried out as soon as the soil is “ripe.” On many crops with deep seeding, you can harrow almost before germination. When sowing crops whose seeds do not germinate for a long time, the rows are marked with pegs or crops of lighthouse crops (lettuce, radish) are produced. And on heavily clogged beds, you can start inter-row cultivation "blindly" - before the emergence of the crop when weeds appear.
2. Cut weeds with a flat cutter or sharp chopper. This should be done in sunny weather so that the weeds immediately dry out in the sun. Cut down in rainy weather, many have time to take root again.
3. It is necessary to cut off the growth point, which is at a depth of 1-2 cm. Therefore, the chopper should go a little deeper into the ground, and not only cut the tops of the grass. Even such a “dangerous” weed as wheatgrass, if every 4-5 days for 6-7 weeks to remove its growth point, i.e. to deprive him of the sun altogether, without disturbing the roots, dies of exhaustion: for development and growth, he needs sunlight.
4. Grass must be fought not only in spring and summer, but also in autumn. Unfortunately, summer residents often fight weeds all spring and summer, by autumn they become smaller and gardeners calm down, forgetting that the remaining specimens can produce a lot of seeds and will have to fight just as actively next season. Therefore, weeds must be destroyed with special careful not to let them form seeds. Wet September and October are considered the most insidious time, when we often stop fighting weeds.

Mulch against weeds

Mulching beds is a very useful technique for many reasons. Including mulch does not allow weed grass to break through, but the layer must be at least 5 cm. This is perhaps the most useful, effective and absolutely free way to get rid of grass in the beds.

Using black film

Instead of mulch, you can cover the bed with a black film. Not a single weed will break through it, and small holes are made in the film for planting plants. Most often, this method is used when planting strawberries.

Killing weeds with vinegar

You can also destroy the grass with ordinary table vinegar. Vinegar must be added to the water so that the concentration is at least 15 - 20%. Such a mixture is able to burn everything it gets on, and not just weeds, so the treatment should be carried out purposefully. This method is safe for people and can be used near cultivated plants.

If there is little vinegar and the required concentration cannot be achieved, you can add salt to the water with vinegar. You will get an even more deadly solution, but it is better to use it outside the garden or on the paths, away from the beds.

Use of ammonium nitrate

It turns out that saltpeter is used not only as a fertilizer, but also to fight grass. Of course, the concentration will have to be done simply lethal, dissolve three kilograms of saltpeter in a bucket of water and proceed to processing.

This is also a completely safe method for humans, saltpeter will quickly disappear into the atmosphere in the form of ammonia, and not much working fluid is required at all, just to moisten the leaves.

Weed killers

We destroy grass with herbicides video:

Well, if you are suspicious of the experience of your ancestors, and at the same time to a manual cultivator, a flat cutter, then the stores have a fairly large selection of chemicals to combat this scourge.

Herbicides of continuous action. Only a few herbicides are allowed for use on small farms. Of the continuous herbicides, Roundup and Tornado are commonly used. They are able to destroy almost all weeds - perennial and annual, including sow thistle, creeping couch grass, plantain, chamomile, highlanders. field bindweed, and others.

Moreover, they destroy all plants in general, including berry bushes. trees, flowers. They can destroy even large trees if, when spraying, the drug gets on the leaves.

Therefore, when using continuous herbicides, it is necessary to strictly follow the instructions, protect the garden and vegetable garden with film, cardboard, and make sure that the solution does not get on cultivated plants. If this nevertheless happened, it is necessary to wash off the solution from the cultivated plants with water. Make sure that the wind does not carry the herbicide to neighboring areas.

The grass will not break through the black film.

Selective herbicides. Of the herbicides of selective action on country lawns, it is allowed to use Lontrel-300, which, without acting on grassy lawn grasses, will destroy dandelion, thistle, plantain and other weeds.

Before using the herbicide, be sure to carefully study the instructions attached to the preparation.
But, in my opinion, the use of herbicides to control weeds in garden plots is the last resort that can be resorted to when developing a new site. And in a habitable garden, a sharp flat cutter (in extreme cases, a chopper) in the hands of a gardener will not let wheatgrass and thistles descend.

How to sow a plot so that weeds do not grow.

We sow green manure so that the weed does not grow video:

If you are not going to plant your plot (or part of the plot) with cultivated plants during the summer, then plant green manure there. This will not only destroy annoying weeds, but also enrich and structure the soil.

Mustard. Mustard is a cold-resistant crop, it can be sown already in April, the sowing rate of seeds per 1 sq. meter 5 - 6 gr. Scatter the seeds on the ground and close them with a rake, after that be sure to water. Mustard grows very quickly and with such dense sowing, there will simply be no room for weeds. During the summer, mustard must be mowed several times to prevent it from blooming. The next year, the remains of plants are embedded in the soil.

Rye. So that grass does not grow on the site, it can be sown with rye. Rye is usually sown on areas freed up after harvesting, for example, after harvesting potatoes. This green manure not only destroys weeds, but also disinfects and fertilizes the soil. In the spring, it is also embedded in the soil with the help of a shovel or walk-behind tractor.

What to do so that weeds do not grow between the beds

So that weeds do not grow between the beds, it is best to mulch the passages with sawdust, mowed grass or wood chips. In stores, you can now buy a shredder of all kinds of garden waste. There is always a lot of such garbage, these are branches cut from trees, and last year's raspberry shoots, etc. With the help of such a chopper, you can not only fill up the passages between the beds, but also make paths in the garden from wood chips.

Visiting summer cottages and suburban household plots, you are convinced that such a progressive agronomic technique as mulching is increasingly becoming part of the practice of our farmers.

Surprisingly clean beds we saw at the winner of the city gardening competition in the nomination "Best vegetable grower" Larisa Chayun (horticultural partnership "Dubki", the tract Nightingale-Klyuch). And all because weeds from under such a dense and thick layer of mulch cannot break through.

- All weeded grass on the site is laid under eggplants and other garden crops. There is still not enough for everything, - says Larisa Sergeevna. - And the fruits, not touching the ground, remain clean, and the growth of weeds is suppressed, and everything looks neat. As it decomposes, the mulch turns into plant food.

Elena Shastina (Pioneer gardening association, suburb of Vladivostok) has her own view on this topic. She opted for covering materials. Planting sweet peppers is also an experiment in their use. Black agrotex is not removed for the whole season. Peppers ripen faster, the yield increases. A thicker and more durable material - roofing material - is laid on a strawberry bed.

We are discussing a topic that is relevant for gardeners and gardeners with the candidate of agricultural sciences, an employee of the Primorsky Vegetable Experimental Station Vladimir Fedyay.

“Weed control takes a lot of time. I didn’t have time to weed, as again a green fire. What to say about the beds or flower beds, if the paths do not have time to free from thickets.

- In order not to spoil the paths that run between the beds, among the berry fields and in the gardens, the weeds growing here are destroyed by scraping with sharp shovels or special scrapers at the level of the soil surface. But a few days pass, and again you need to do the same work. In many weeds, pruning rosettes at the level of the soil surface causes the mass formation of new rosettes from axillary buds. An alternative that gives a good effect is covering the paths between the beds with roofing material, black film, old linoleum and other covering materials. There will be less dirt after the rains, and there will be no expanse for weeds.

- Many summer residents and gardeners actively use film and other covering material when growing early products. Does it help in the fight against weeds?

- Yes, sure. And it is good that today a wide variety of polyethylene films of domestic and foreign production of various thicknesses, light transmission, color, strength, etc. are on sale. Various nonwoven materials are also sold, such as lutrasil, agrotex, spunbond and many others. It is advisable to navigate in this assortment in order to choose what you need.

- Sometimes an empty garden bed is covered with a film. For what?

- This is a good technique for the destruction of weeds, pests and pathogens.

If the bed is freed early from under the vegetables, and there are still many hot days ahead, then their heat can be used for steaming and disinfecting the soil. Everything is done very simply. “Wrap” the vacant bed tightly with a black or transparent film (you can use both) in two layers. If the ground was dry, then water it well before sheltering. Before the onset of autumn cold weather, the soil will be reliably protected from weeds, and also cleared of harmful microorganisms and insects.

- Many gardeners use mulching with bulk organic materials. Is it useful too? And what is suitable for this?

- Wet peat, well-rotted manure, leaf humus and properly prepared garden compost, biohumus, crushed straw and bark, sawdust, etc. are suitable for mulching. This technique is especially good when used on perennial crops, around the stems of which a layer of 5–8 cm is poured. A thin layer of mulch (0.5–1 cm) can be used to sprinkle rows of seed crops, a slightly larger layer for seedling crops.

Advantages of mulching: moisture is retained in the soil, no crust is formed, the growth of annual weeds is difficult, additional organic matter improves the structure of the soil and saturates it with nutrients, soil freezing at the roots of perennial crops is reduced.

Such methods are simple, accessible to everyone, and most importantly, environmentally friendly for both humans and plants. Although it will take time and extra effort. But the desired result will be achieved.

Help "B"

Mulch is a layer of permeable material (peat, compost, straw, sawdust, etc.) on the soil surface, protecting it from temperature changes, water evaporation, structure destruction and significantly reducing the number of weeds. In addition, mulching creates favorable conditions for root growth and helps to increase the biological activity of the soil.