Do you use chemical weed killer?
There has been a lot of controversy over the years about the effects of weedkiller, not only for insects and in particular bees, but also on human health.
Roundup is one of the country’s most popular weedkiller brands, while glyphosate herbicides are the most widely used herbicide in UK agriculture.
Environmentalists say the weedkiller is linked to cancer, although the claim is strongly denied by manufacturers and the EU has approved the chemical for use.
A growing number of people no longer want to apply chemical pesticides (which kill insects) or herbicides (which kill plant life) to their lawns and gardens, out of growing awareness of the negative, and sometimes devastating, effects on the environment and on the health of people and animals.
There are more organic products on the market than ever, and as demand increases so does the effort to find more organic alternatives to conventional weed control.
Although it is regarded as hard labour by some people, one of the most effective ways to control weeds is a truly old-fashioned way—removing them by hand. This can be a lot of work if your garden is plagued by many weeds, but after doing it steadily over time, you will gradually find that weed infestations diminish as you remove weeds before they can bloom and set seed.
How do you prefer to control the weeds in your garden? Are you happy to use chemicals to eradicate weeds, or do you prefer to use an alternative method to keep them at bay?
