Weeds are remarkable plants that will quickly colonise any bare patch of soil. As soon as the weed seeds start to germinate during the first mild spell of the season it is time to act fast. As the weather starts to warm up annual weeds quickly germinate and colonise bare ground, while existing and new perennial weeds will also start into growth.
Weeds not only compete with your chosen garden plants for any available food and water, but they also provide shelter for a number of garden pests and diseases. If you can remove perennial weeds now it will save you hours of work later in the season. Dig out any perennial weeds making sure to remove all the roots. Good things to get control of as early as possible include creeping buttercup, (make sure you remove every tiny plant), bitter cress (get every little plant out before it flowers – this weed sets seed very easily), dandelions (dig out the tap root and try and remove all the root system) and bind weed (this one is very deep rooted and you’ll be hard pushed to get all the roots out and you may have to resort to a systemic weedkiller that kills down to the roots). Hoe off any annual weed seedlings as they appear. Use a small hand hoe to weed between existing plants and leave the chopped weeds to dry out on the soil surface. Always hoe when the soil is slightly dry and on a sunny day so that the decapitated seedlings will quickly wither. Keep your flowerbeds and vegetable garden well weeded now and you will have made great headway for the season ahead.