Controlling Winter Weeds with Bioweed.

Controlling winter weeds.

 Unfortunately, opportunistic weeds do not hibernate in the winter months. Bioweed is the perfect tool to control winter weeds.

Most gardeners tend to think that because winter has rolled around, and their garden plants start to slow down so will the weeds that they have been battling all summer will start to slow down.

Although this is true in some senses, as weeds have adapted to suit all climates around the world you may find some garden intruders that will start showing up in the winter months. Bioweed is the perfect tool to control winter weeds. As Bioweed is non systemic it is not reliant on the plant’s ability to take up the weed killer but rather works by stripping the outer layer of the plant it can be used year-round with fantastic results.

Is there a difference between winter and summer weeds?

There are two main life cycles of plants that relate to weeds also. Annual and perennial. Annual plants are plants with a life cycle that only last for a year or season. This means that there entire cycle from germination to seed production is carried out in a year. Perennial weeds differ as they can last year to year and season to season. Bioweed will work on both annual and perennial weeds but just remember the earlier you can get to the weed the better kill you will get.

Depending on where you are in the country the types of weeds will differ season to season. In the northern regions of Australia, you may just get certain weeds growing more vigorously in different seasons. Winter annual weeds such as Poa annua will live and die within a year, although this means that the plant will die within a season, these plants are designed to set a large amount of seed for the following season. Using Bioweed to control these seeds is a great way to get on top of the weed while cutting out the seed bank for next winter.

Common Winter Weeds.

Some of the common weeds you may see appearing in your garden during the winter months are as follows:

Winter Grass Poa annua – a small low growing grass species that can dominate your garden or high moisture areas of your lawn. They also produce a large amount of seed that can come back even stronger next season.

Chickweed Stellaria media – A prostrate winter annual that grows fast and can continue to grow throughout summer. As temperatures rise coming out of winter, they will produce clusters of seed heads that can spread quickly.

Prickly Lettuce Lactuca serriola – A rosette broadleaf weed that can produce up to 25 seed heads. Resembling a small dandelion flower these weeds can outcompete your garden plants by taking precious nutrients.

Shepherd’s purse Capsella bursa-pastoris – A winter annual that dominates cultivated areas. It can also grow happily in gravel and garden beds. Shepard’s purse needs soil temperatures of 15 degrees to break dormancy, so winter is its time to dominate.

The best practice for applying Bioweed in winter is similar to a normal application that can be found on our website here. A few main points to remember are:

• Bioweed will work best on a warm sunny day
• avoid spraying within 2 hours of rain
• If weeds are over 15cm, cut back first before applying
• Remember to apply Bioweed to point of run off