Large plants cast shadows around their trunk or main stem, making it difficult for weeds to thrive. If you have just planted a hedge, it is still too small to create such a dense shade. So if you want to avoid weeds under the hedge in the first few years so that you have to pick them as rarely or even not at all, you need a few useful tips and tricks that are easy to implement.
Weeds grow under the hedge, especially with these species
To prepare for the new plants, you loosened the soil and removed the existing weeds. If not, you should do it again, because weeds compete with the ornamental plants for moisture and nutrients and in the long run the former will win and affect the hedge plant.
Especially thosepopular hornbeams, beech and privet or in other words - deciduous hedge plants - are affected by weeds that sprout more in spring thanks to the increased temperatures, humidity and sunshine. During this time, the plants have no leaves, so light can reach the ground unhindered.
Evergreen plants, on the other hand, which keep their greenery all year round, are protected, at least to a certain extent. Pulling weeds is rarely if ever necessary.Here you will findevergreen hedge plants.
Keep hedge weed-free
Once you have gotten rid of the unwanted plants, you can avoid weeds under the hedge in the future or at least greatly reduce their growth in the following way.
- Mulch
Mulch is a common tool in beds for weed control and moisture retention. So why not use it for your hedges too? Whether you use bark mulch for this purpose or straw, wood chips, grass clippings, fallen autumn leaves or compostor even conesis up to you. It's also practical: the mulch layer is a wonderful frost protection that will be good for your new plants.
Consider:
- Insects also collect under the mulch layer, which in turn are attractive to birds. In the spring, before it gets too hot, your mulch layer can be torn apart and messed up by the feathered garden friends.
- The mulching material needs to be replaced approximately every 6 months to be effective.
- A layer of mulch greatly reduces weed growth, but not 100 percent. Over time, it can happen that one or two plants get through and have to be removed. However, compared to the situation without mulch, this is not worth mentioning.
You can find out more about “mulching”.in this article.
- Ground cover
Ground cover plants are also effective and very beautiful to look at, but they come with one disadvantage: they are best only planted when the hedge is larger. The reason for this is that the conditions around the hedge plant will change over time, which can also affect the ground cover plants. For example, more sunlight gets under a small hedge plant than under a large one. So have one firstsun-loving ground coverplanted, it may be that at some point the increasingly shady location is no longer sufficient. So you should plan well in advance in this regard.
Alsolow-growing grassesare suitable.
Remove weeds from under the hedge
If one or two plants do grow, it is best to remove them as quickly as possible. As long as the roots are still short, it will be easier to pull out. Depending on what type of weed they are or how big they have already grown, chop or weed them. Regular weeding is an effective preventative measure if you start it in spring, when the weeds also begin to sprout. This will minimize growth during the remainder of the season.
Use weed killer under hedges:In general, chemical agents are not a good idea if you want to control weeds under hedges. They harm the environment and also ruin the soil of the hedge plants. In addition, weeds are not as serious as some plant diseases and weeding is not so difficult that one would have to resort to it.Use natural remediesand measures when destroying weeds under a hedge or in other areas of the garden.
