War on Weeds

Now that autumn has arrived, we've been busy tidying up the garden for winter. Some of the weeds that I've pulled from the beds have been as tall as the sapling pittosporums and all of them seem undeterred by the drought.

The worst weed by far has been the convolvulus which was starting to strangle some of the tree ferns.



Fortunately, the convolvulus has taken root in the mulched area at the edge of the lawn so it's been relatively easy to pull up. At times though it reminded me of a scene in The Hurt Locker when the bomb disposal expert pulled one wire to find it connected to half a dozen other incendiary devices, the wires snaking away through the dirt.



We filled nine biodegradable bags with weeds in just a few hours. Add a cup of water and put the bags in the dark and they should rot down and lose their potency.



And then there was a huge roll of bindweed which will have to go to the tip...



Some of the weeds were less objectionable though such as these star grasses (not sure of the real name) which I brought in with one of the ferns that was a victim of my fervent digging.