The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Gardens => Topic started by: smallisbeautiful on August 14, 2012, 03:09:45 pm
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Our garden seems to have the perfect conditions for docks! We try to keep chemical free, but the docks really do defeat us. In the fields they are kept in check by the goats (they love them) but how ever careful we weed the docks we never can quite remove all the roots :(.
Has anyone got a good suggestion.
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Hi
My experience with docks is to keep cutting them down close to the ground. Eventually they give up and die off as it keeps weakening them. Make sure you burn the plants you cut down as you don't want to seeds to spread everywhere. It takes a long time but I have won the battle in the end. We dealt with 5 acres of ground in this way. My two, now grown up, children still have nightmares of summer days spent 'dockin choppin'.
Jackie
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I always wait till its rained a bit ::) and just pull them straight out - roots as wel they come out quite easily. I also never let them get near seeding and they always go on the compost. If i get and small ones i get them especially before they get any bigger.
I have cleared quite a few patches of allotment & always start with docks. ;D
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depends how anti chemical you are if you break them off and apply a good amount of salt to the root it will kill them off very effectively!!!
if you have lots the break off technique takes longer but is better, long term too much salt is very bad for the soil...