Sometimes there are several different ways of completing the same landscape task. People do what they do based on their previous training, experience and preferences. Fine. Until they arrive on my crew.
Consider bedwork. Bedwork is a critical component of landscape maintenance. Great bedwork gives your site a nice edge. Picture fluffy weed-free soil, healthy plants and beautiful deep edges. The kind of stuff I dream about. Usually in July.
Bedwork done badly
This entered my head as I walked by my worker today. The veteran worker was on his knees, plucking weeds with his hands; and giving birth to a new blog post! Why? Because it’s all wrong. There, I said it. I can confidently say it’s the wrong way to weed a bed. Let’s rewind and examine the scene.
- Hand picking a super weedy bed is slow. Very slow.
- It abuses your hands.
- Weed roots aren’t 100% disturbed, thereby increasing the chance of comeback
- Landscapers should always try to stay on their feet.
- Zero soil fluffiness.
Solid gold training
My training is different. The correct procedure comes from a prominent landscape maintenance company. (No need to mention names). I stand by it. It works well. Adopt it. Message me later.
- Use tools like cultivators to uproot the weeds and expect to sweat
- Rake it up and remove green waste piles into tarps placed close by
- Take care not to remove excessive amounts of soil
- Stay on your feet
- Quickly move on to another area
- Only hand-pick huge specimen weeds.
- Enjoy the fluffy soil look
Key objection
Not everyone reading this post will agree with me. I know it. My veteran worker is a stubborn dude. The main objection- not entirely without merit but exaggerated- is that cultivating beds exposes weed seeds to sunlight. Sure. But does hand picking weeds uproot the weeds or do they just grow back? I know the answer from informal tests at the City of Coquitlam.
Test
Our foreman didn’t use cultivators to fluff up the soil. She preferred to quickly scuffle and remove the weeds along the surface. We used cultivators. Our beds looked nice and fluffy and they stayed weed-free longer, even if the effort was greater. By weeks. The foreman’s beds were weedy again in no time. Case closed.
Conclusion
For great bedwork results, always use tools like cultivators, remove the green waste and enjoy the fluffy soil look. Stay on your feet and get more done in a day. If your cultivation exposes weed seeds to much-needed sunlight, pay the price. Your beds will look great!
