Willow....argh!
Raitt_C
Posts: 1
I have recently taken on a small allotment plot which was previously used to grow some kind of willow bush. Before we gained control, the willow was cut down and then the ground was rotavated to churn it up. I have since planted some veg which is doing fine, however, to do this I have to dig about 1/2-a foot deep to cut out the willow root with a mattoMuch to my dismay, about 3-4 weeks laterpeso me pesky willow shoots are growing again!
the idea is that the plot is going to organic, but how to I rid the plot of the willow permanently. I am happy to use some kind of 'killer', but there are adjoining plots which can't be tampered with......HELP!
0
Posts
I fear the " rotavating to churn it up" was your undoing. I think you have just chopped the roots up into tiny new plants, all raring to go. Sometimes you just have take your time and attack a problem slowly and boringly.
Weedkiller will only kill what it is sprayed on; it doesn't spread or linger in the ground.
You may have to let Roundup be your friend until you have got rid of the willow.
Rotavators are the bane of any organic gardener. All they do is chop the roots of pernicious weeds and spread them around making the problem much, much worse. I have willow on one of my plots - in the "wild" area that I have left and I will copse it this year and use what I collect as a bean cane. Apparently, the more you copse it, the more yield it provides.
In my wild area are the things I've given up trying to control there - hedgerow bind weed, cooch grass, brambles etc. I have planted in some of my left over raspberry plants and just left it for the wildlife. All I do is strim it occasionally.
Would it be too much to dig it all out? I have dug tree trunks out so surely a willow bush can't be that hard