STOP Killing Weeds!
Before you kill another weed read this....
As a company we have recently been brainstorming the whole weed control subject.
Our thoughts primarily are concerned with weed control on amenity hard surfaces.
A weed is a plant in the wrong place.
A fact is that plants require light, food and water to survive. - remove any one of these and a plant will suffer.
In general, soil is the medium which stores the water and food for a plant.
Soil is not an intended constituent of a hard surface.
Therefore plants do not grow on hard surfaces!
However, we know that plants may be found growing on or in hard surfaces.
Therefore soil must be on or in the hard surface.
Causes of this include
- Soils migrating from adjacent organic surfaces
- Soils being formed from detritus remaining on the surface
- Broken and unsealed hard surfaces allowing soil pockets or access to soil layer below hard surface
If we use a chemical herbicide or any other method to simply kill the plant the causes remain and regrowth is inevitable.
However if we remove the soil and, importantly, the cause of the soil, we short circuit the cycle.
Statutory provision is made for this in The Environmental Protection Act 1990 which imposes duties under section 89(1) and (2) on certain landowners and occupiers to keep specified land clear of litter and refuse, and on local authorities and the Secretary of State to keep clean public highways for which they are responsible.
Code of practice on litter and refuse published by DEFRA April 2006 and modified 2019 Part 1 Section 5 lists detritus as refuse and litter and must be removed from the highway under section 89 of the act and recommends detritus should be removed from all other hard surfaces as well.
Part 1 of the code goes into some very helpful and robust detail. Ideal for your bedtime reading.
It strikes me that there are some very clear requirements for land owners to keep hard surfaces in a clean, and good state of repair.
It has numerous benefits to everyone which I won't go into.
This legislation appears to be being completely overlooked with few exceptions and we are routinely kicking the can down the road by applying unnecessary and unsustainable weed control measures instead.
Chemicals have their place but they have been hijacked to cover the cracks in our pavements.
This information has to underpin "A sustainable best practice for maintaining hard surfaces" and be included in the Governments' forthcoming National Action Plan.
Last thoughts
If we are going to pave over nature then surely we have a responsibility to maintain that paving in a sustainable manner. If we can't afford to maintain it, then the question is, should we build it?
30 years ago Compulsory Competitive Tendering led to the splitting up of many local authority departments. Grounds maintenance went one way, street cleansing (including sweeping) went a separate way. Without the cooperation of these 2 elements chemical based pesticides stepped in to bridge the gap. Cheap and effective, just keep putting it on!!!!!
Declaration of interest - I sell sweepers.
Please let me know your thoughts
Please find a link to our information page which may contain some interesting articles.
Links to legislation for bedtime reading....
Defra - Code of practice on litter and refuse
Environmental Protection Act 1990
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/43/contents
For much more information on weed prevention please take a look at our new Weed Prevention Guide for the Amenity Sector
You should also check out our 4 step plan to phase out glyphosate.
Chris Faulkner
Chris is Managing Director of Kersten UK Ltd Interested in weed control solutions and machinery
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