There are solutions.
Mow regularly
Apply selective weed killers a few times a year then reseed.
Modify the ph of you soil if necessary because certain weeds are attracted by acidic or alkaline soils.
Improve drainage if necessary to reduce moss levels.
Etc etc
The problem is that whilst I donât want to be ecologically unfriendly I would like to apply no more than two selective weedkiller treatmentsâŚI cannot find a product here in France and it would seem nobody can recommend one.
Hi John
Have you tried asking at your local shop which sells gardening stuff ???
More money than sense IMO to try and dose away nature.
Weed and feed et al is fine for a postage stamp sized lawn but such green carpets dont exist here. The grass is different and so are the numerous green broad leaves that grow with it.
I recall an english chap not far from us who was obsessed with having a strippy Wimbledon lawn and his life was sad and miserable because his attempts failed him.
Strim the edges and take a weekly trip on the ride on and you will have an area of green that will look and make you feel proud of your corner of France.
I certainly wouldnât want feed our âlawnâ it grows too quickly as it is!
All the highly effective ones are only for professional use. Canât you try to change your view of what makes a lawn? Mow it a few times and see it you can adjust to a green sward that isnât entirely uniform in colour and texture. And do something nice with the money you save.
We have decided to only regularly mow the area directly around the house, and then occasionally mow the bottom half of the garden around the perimeter intersected with a few select cross-walk cuts, leaving the rest to grow, attract the bees, butterflies, grasshoppers and other insects. Come end of summer, it all gets cut back again in preparation for the autumn.
If anyone really wants a just grass lawn, that special type of grass that grows sideways and covers everything is a great idea. Weed free and beautifully soft to walk on . It is pricey but you can sometimes get cuttings for sale on LBC and it takes hold pretty fast. Our neighbours have it and it is fabulous.
We on the other hand, have arranged the garden into divisible sections, let it grow during wet / flowering/ bee friendly times and then let the pony in. No need to strim the edges either. I will see if @james has a videoâŚ!
We collected yellow rattle seed from nearby fields and spread it across and area we wanted to turn into flower meadow. Rattle parasites grass so favours flowering species. Each year we have had a wider range of flowers, and last year started to get orchids too.
And it changes colour, in May it is pink with ragged robin, in June yellow from the rattle, and then we get white with marguerites.
Hi John. Have you considered going online and ordering some selective weedkiller or perhaps asking a friend to bring you some from the UK next time someone visits you.
Selective weed killers are available online and you shouldnât need more than two treatments per growing season but spread over a few years depending on how bad the problem is.
Pretty lined lawns can easily be achieved by using a decent reel mower rather than the ghastly rotative blades which are effective but hardly esthetic on the average meadow- like lawns we have in France.
You could of course, start from scratch and tear up the old field/ grass and relay it with turf, pricey but effective if carried out professionally.
Basically, you can have just about anything if you pay for itâŚ
@strudball
France is gradually becoming more concerned about the environment/water pollution etc ⌠bit by bit, but gathering momentum.
Many Communes have their own stringent rules⌠on what chemicals can be used.
Might be an idea to check and see what the position is locally⌠before spending any money.
Does buying chemicals banned from being sold in France in England make their use here acceptable?
Does using chemicals that you know are bad for the environment for non-essential purposes make their use acceptable?
Most chemicals used in France are bad for the environmentâŚ
I use white spirit occasionally on places like pathways with the intention of rendering the surface toxic with the weeds etc unable to grow. Itâs cheaper than concreting or tarmac king the surface which is even worse for the environment.
It always makes me smile when people say that theyâve stopped using chemicals and are using household products like salt and vinegar instead. What they mean is that they are using sodium chloride, NaCl, and acetic acid, CHâCOOH instead. Thatâs OK then, not a chemical in sight.
I realise that this question is rhetorical - but for the avoidance of doubt clearly not. Nor do they somehow bring a little bubble of legality with them.
I learned the harsh way what buying âkillersâ really meant for my small green environment when I lived in Brazil. I had a terrace where I grew plants in pots and they tended to attract slugs. We also had geckos, which are small lizards that have big pads on their toes so they can climb anywhere.
I bought slug killer and put it between the pots. A few days later, while gardening, a gecko emerged from between the pots and died in front of me. His large eyes watched me the whole time he died as bubbles of liquid broke through his skin. That was the day I became âorganicâ. ANY chemical that kills what we think of as ânoxiousâ or âunwantedâ be it plant or bug will go on to kill what we consider benign and would not want to harm. And it starts at bedrock level, with healthy bacteria in the soil.
If you want to understand what we are doing to our world in our misguided, misinformed, misled way that it is ok to kill the living organisms in our gardens, and that there are âsafeâ killers read Silent Spring by Rachel Carson.
It has to be said the slug killer is a particularly reactive product in the presence of water. As an animal, you definitely would not want to be ingesting it, or even letting it come into contact with any mucous membrane.
I guess it might thin them outđ
