Good‘s new gardening expert Zoe Carafice is ready and waiting to solve your dilemmas! Each question published on Zoe’s blog or in Good receives a fab prize from Tui Garden. This week: how to eradicate oxalis bulbs.
Email your gardening questions to [email protected] and every question answered in Good or on Zoe’s blog will receive a fab prize from Tui Garden Products!
Q: We have recently bought a house with a lovely garden. I sowed our summer veggie patch with great enthusiasm only to find the soil is riddled with oxalis bulbs. I just managed to stay on top of this frustrating intruder, but now I’m preparing for our autumn sowing and I notice those bulbs have developed into longitudinal roots, not unlike baby opaque parsnips. How can I win this battle without poisoning my veggie patch? –Catherine
A: Perseverance is the key when it comes to a war on weeds like oxalis! Unfortunately there is no quick cure except to keep digging out the bulbs. Make sure you have a nice thick layer of mulch on the garden; this will make it much easier to pull out the oxalis without breaking off the bulbs which will just sprout again if they are left. Stay on top of it and you will eventually win!
If you are really serious about it you could dig out the soil from the garden beds and filter it through a garden sieve to remove all the tiny bulbs.
Organic gardening is about finding a balance; so don’t be too worried about the odd weed popping up as long as your veggies are still getting enough light and space. Often the easiest way to win a war in the garden is to make peace.
–Zoe Carafice
Catherine has won a copy of The Tui NZ Flower Garden from Tui Garden. Congratulations!
The Tui NZ Flower Garden is written by Rachel Vogan and is a comprehensive guide to growing flowers at home, to inspire gardeners of all skill levels.
Meet Good’s new gardening expert
Zoe Carafice is a landscape designer and photographer. She won gold at the Ellerslie Flower Show in 2007 and has a keen interest in sustainable design and organic gardening.
Email your gardening questions to [email protected] and every question answered in Good or on Zoe’s blog will receive a fab prize from Tui Garden Products!
One question will be featured in each magazine and in each Good Fortnightly e-newsletter. Don’t receive our newsletter? Sign up to get it here!
