Any tips for keeping your garden weed-free?

[JEMama]

I have to admit, I do not have a green thumb. My poor garden is being overtaken by weeds. I have ground cover, but the intruders keep popping up still! I don't want to use any toxic weed-killers... Is there any way other than going out there every week to pull them out?

[nd293]

Do you mean a ground cover as in plants, or as in mulch? I believe a layer of mulch needs to be 10cm thick to stop weeds, so maybe you need to try a really thick layer between the plants. Too soon to tell if it works here, as the rainy season hasn't started yet!

[love2read]

Check out Ruth Stout's books.

[Melissa in Australia]

Weeding,weeding and more weeding. An old saying "One years' seeds are ten years' weeds".

My Dh has found doing a little weeding every day, just a few minutes every day really makes a difference, and is more manageable than spending hours once a week.

[Prairie~Phlox]

I lay newspapers or plain cardboard down to keep the weeds at bay. Newspaper ink is soy based these days, so it's safe. Get them weet and they will lay better.

[RoughCollie]

You know how dogs have an excellent sense of smell and can sniff out particular smells, like cocaine and so forth?

 

My dog likes to pull plants out of the ground -- tug of war, vegan style, I guess.

 

So I was thinking, if I can teach him which plants need to be tugged out (the weeds), I'll have that problem solved.

[jplain]

Spending a few minutes every day pulling weeds is easy and effective, as long as you really get out there and do it every day.

[MomsintheGarden]

We've found that mulching, weeding often, and intensive planting work well. It is most effective to get weeds when they are small, and extremely important to not let them go to seed. Most vegetable crops need a thorough weeding about three times unless they are heavily mulched, and even then a few weeds will poke through.

 

Targeting a specific kind of weed helps, too. We have some acreage and the folks who had it before us didn't ever dig thistles. Every spring we have dug thistles. The first year there were hundreds and hundreds, the next there were as almost many, etc., until just a couple of years ago. Reg went out the other day and dug thistles. He only found about 20. We've also been going after ragweed, mullein, and pigweed. Someday we'll get the dandelions and wild garlic, too. :) It works, but it takes time, diligence, and patience.

 

HTH,

Gardenmom

[fairfarmhand]

i don't know how you feel about chemicals but there is a product called Preen that is a preemergent. It will kill all weed seeds in the soil...bad things is you have to pull all the weeds out before you put it down. It lasts for about 4 months before you have to reapply. I use it in my flower beds but would not use it where I planned to grow food.

[LostSurprise]

Thicker mulch. A little weeding around the edges.

[Spy Car]

I lay newspapers or plain cardboard down to keep the weeds at bay. Newspaper ink is soy based these days, so it's safe. Get them weet and they will lay better.

 

Cardboard and/or newspaper covered with mulch (tree trimmers will happily give you free chips to avoid dump fees) works very well. Plus it helps reduce water consumption (important here in drought prone CA) and over time helps build the soil.

 

Bill

[ThatCyndiGirl]

I do square foot gardening and weed just a little bit everyday. Even when I skip a day or two here or there....I'm still not left with huge numbers of weeds. It is very manageable this way. I saunter out once a day or so and pluck a few while talking on my cell phone or talking to my oldest.

[kamom]

Cardboard and/or newspaper covered with mulch (tree trimmers will happily give you free chips to avoid dump fees) works very well. Plus it helps reduce water consumption (important here in drought prone CA) and over time helps build the soil.

 

Bill

:iagree: I save newspaper for that and then get free compost at a place in the nearest town, maybe the dump? Where the 'town' dump the lawn and tree clippings. I have to do very little weeding when I do this. Sometimes I just cover them with grass clippings.

[ScoutTN]

My Dh has found doing a little weeding every day, just a few minutes every day really makes a difference, and is more manageable than spending hours once a week.

 

 

:iagree:

I pay my kids to weed. 25 cents for a small, kid-sized bucket. It helps a lot!

My back thanks me!

They water plants in containers too! They think it's fun to "play" in the water and I am happy to pay them. One of our warm weather chores-for-pay. (distinct from chores you must do no matter what ;))

[Kebo]

Get the kids to do it! Promise a movie night, or a trip for ice cream, or a dollar per bag or whatever you think will motivate them. Our lawn was pulled free of weeds after I got this weeder:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-7870-Uproot-Garden-Weeder/dp/B0030MIHAU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303249273&sr=8-1

 

It's fun to use and works well. Our neighbor's daughter even jumped in to help because my boys were having such a good time using it.

[JEMama]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I will try the newspaper thing along with more mulch. When I say ground cover, I meant plants that are supposed to cover the ground to prevent weeds from coming up. I probably didn't plant enough of them, which gave the weeds space to come up.

 

I was hoping I wouldn't have to go out there often, as it rains quite a bit here. Guess frequent trips out to the garden is still what is needed then.

 

I also like the idea of sending the kids out there... they're a little young now, but once they're old enough to distinguish the weeds from the plants, I'm sending them out with little buckets! =)

[emmn]

I have heard of people using landscaping fabric and cutting a hole where you plant your plants.

[missmoe]

Weeding,weeding and more weeding. An old saying "One years' seeds are ten years' weeds".

My Dh has found doing a little weeding every day, just a few minutes every day really makes a difference, and is more manageable than spending hours once a week.

 

This is what I was thinking. Make sure to weed before the weeds get to the seed stage--before they flower. Constitent weeding for the next year or so will cut down on the weeds you see later on.

[Hedgehog]

I have heard of people using landscaping fabric and cutting a hole where you plant your plants.

 

:iagree: either that, or a thick layer of bark chippings. I've used it around my berberis and it works a treat. :001_smile: (And as a bonus, the cats don't like the smell of bark!)

[Trilliums]

Corn meal gluten can be used as a pre-emergent (prevents new weed seeds from sprouting). It is derived from corn and described as a natural herbicide.

 

http://www.hort.iastate.edu/gluten/

 

IF you have existing perennial weeds though, they either need to be removed 9as much root as possible), killed with boiling water/vinegar/chemical herbicide or smothered as many people mentioned with cardboard and mulch.

 

I use the cardboard and mulch initially, plant heavily and then use the corn meal gluten.

Best of luck!