Killing Onion Weed
Onion Weed is a persistent, perennial bulb-type weed. Easily detected by the pungent onion-like odour that it gives off, especially after mowing, it is a cosmopolitan weed the bane of gardeners’ lives all over the world. One of the most difficult weeds to eradicate, it can in some cases be near impossible to completely kill Onion Weed. Digging out the weeds is not advised as, due to the tiny bulbs attached to the bottom of the plant’s main root, it will only serve to aggravate the situation.
How To Kill Onion Weed
There remains two effective ways to kill onion weed however, the use of a glyphosate based weedkiller, such as Roundup, or covering the area under a sheet of black plastic. The first solution is the most effective and straightforward, if a little time consuming. Although the entire area around the Onion Weed(s) could be treated, this will kill all plants in the area, thus it is advised to treat each Onion Weed individually, with a small brush for example. However, due to the prolific nature of Onion weed this can be incredibly tedious and time consuming. The second solution proposed is not without its faults however. Covering the weed with thick, opaque, preferably black plastic on a hot summer’s day effectively ‘cooks’ the soil underneath it, though the plastic is a rather ugly addition to a garden and needs to stay there for weeks to be fully effective. Furthermore, the plastic prevents moisture from getting to the soil underneath, which can leave the area in question dry and barren meaning the soil either needs to be replaced or a wait of around 1 – 2 years for the earth in question to get to its original nutritional levels.