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A weed is any plant growing where it is not wanted. This can even include 'ornamental' plants but generally means that group of common, tenacious and very adaptable plants we loath and which grow anywhere.

Weeds take advantage of any gap in the soil, they will compete with ornamental plants and vegetables for light, air, nutrients and water so it is a good idea to discourage them from the start.

One way to do this is to choke them out. All this involves is growing plants which act as a mulch, depriving bare areas of soil of light which seeds need to germinate. This wil not totally prevent runners, stolons and tubers of perennial weeds springing up but it will reduce the number of weed seeds germinating and make it far more difficult for weeds to compete with your wanted plants.

The main group to use to do this are ground cover plants. Vinca major and minor are good at smothering and hellebores and heuchera which grow in shade are good at eliminating weeds from cool dark areas.

Other plants which help are those which, though they do not spread over the ground themselves, produce enough foliage surrounding them that the immediate area is smothered, thus making it impossible to weeds to grow. Potatoes are excellent at doing this and are in fact used before crops which do not compete well with weeds are to be grown (like onions).

The other way to choke weeds out is to ensure that your desired plants are in good health. This will mean they are less likely to be out-competed by weeds and will spread rapidly to fill gaps and out-compete the weeds for nutrients, space and water. So good horticultural practices are important like growing plants at the right spacing, making sure they are staked if needed, keeping pests and diseases at bay and making sure they have a good supply of the right nutrients.

Some plants will choke weeds for you because they actually produce chemicals from their roots which prohibit weed seedlings growing. Tagetes is a good example so use it as a companion plant for plants which are vulnerable to weed attack (like phlox).

There are other ways which the gardener can use to choke weeds out too. Black polythene mulch (or old carpet if you can stand the sight) will choke weeds by taking away the light source. You need to leave it in place for at least a full season to ensure all weeds have been gotten rid of and then plant the area up quickly before any weed seeds can land and germinate because they can become established again readily and then you are back to square one.

Choking weeds with other plants is used in the grass-over system. This is the turfing over of areas which are weed -prone and where you have had little success in eliminating them. By turfing the area, you introduce a mat of grass roots and the weeds can now no longer reach light and the grass will compete with them for water and nutrients. The weeds will be smothered but it can take up to two seasons and means that piece of ground is out of action until then, but at least you have an area of turf.

Choking weeds can be done, but each method takes time and you need to understand what you are trying to achieve. You will never eliminate weeds - they are tenacious little beasts; but it is these characteristics which have made them so successful and perhaps will lead geneticists to breed more sustainable crops so the weeds should not be dismissed - yet, in our gardens, the case for choking them out perhaps justified.

Learn more about this author, Sammy Stein.
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