I love to garden! It is like therapy for me. But I know not all people love it or want to have a garden. In talking with people and reading different articles, I think the two main reasons are #1 They don't have enough space for one and #2 they don't want to deal with weeds.
Today I want to talk about ways to control the weeds in your garden so you can enjoy gardening even more.
Weed Cloth Or Mulch
For the first few years we lived here I used weed cloth to control the weeds in my vegetable garden. I started out using the black cloth that is a little more plastic like. I used metal U shaped stakes to keep the cloth in place. I reused the back cloth the next year to try to save money, but it really isn't made to be reused I found. Then I tried the gray colored cloth which is much more like fabric. I didn't like it as much. It torn more easily and the weeds grew more underneath it than the black stuff because it allowed more light to get through. The reason I ended up not using weed cloth any more is that it became too much of an expense. Our garden is 80 feet by about 25 feet and it took a lot of rolls to cover that much square footage especially since I had to buy it year after year. But if you have a small space, I recommend the black weed cloth for sure!
I know a lot of people who use mulch in between their rows. I tried that one year and it didn't work well for me. I have such a large garden that it required a ton of mulch. It was also a pain to rake it all back up in the fall when I needed to till my garden in preparation for the next year. Be careful if you chose straw or hay for your type of much. It can germinate causing a whole new problem.
If you have a small garden and don't mind the clean up when you are done, then mulch does do a great job of keeping the weeds out.
Tilling or Hoeing
I now own a small tiller that can till in between rows. I make sure and plant things so they are 10-12 inches apart so I can maneuver the tiller through all the rows. It is so nice! As long as I don't go too long in between each tilling, the weeds are small enough to do a quick run through and I am done. I do it every time we mow. If you wait too long, some weeds may be too big and you will either have to hoe ot pull them.
If you have a smaller garden, a tiller may be a bit of an overkill. You can get away with just a hoe. Again, you will want to do it often enough that the weeds are still small and then it will be easier and faster to attack them. A hoe always you to stay standing and lessens the pain associated with bending, kneeling, and squatting.
Pictures of my garden from a couple of years ago. I didn't take any last year for some reason.
Weed Preventives
I am in love with this product. No, this is not a sponsored post in any shape way or form (although I only do sponsored posts for products I love...). I heard about this product from a friend years ago and have used it faithfully ever since. It is my secret weapon. I also use it in my flowers beds and my secret garden.
You sprinkle the granules in your garden and it prevents new weeks from germinating. If you have planted your garden from seeds, you will have to wait until they are a few inches tall at least before applying this for the first time.
If there are existing weeds (even weeds that you tried to pull out that some of the weed or root stayed) it will not kill them. It only prevents new ones from sprouting.
There is a regular formula and an organic formula. I have used both and they both are awesome. One thing to note, the organic needs to be applied once a month while the regular version is good for 3 months.
This is what it looks like when applied.
There are a lot of different options when it comes to controlling your weeds. I would love to hear what has worked for you and what size of gardens you have! Have you planted your yet for this year?
Your garden looks great - I prefer mulch for weed control. Also discovered that raised beds are great for depleting weeds. I didn't believe it until I switched over. The climate where I live can get really hot in the summer and those beds also help maintain moisture in the soil. Great post! - Carole at GardenUp green
Hi there! Thanks for this! I hate weeding (big surprise), so I'll try the Preen. I used it years ago, without much luck, but I did not weed first.. so this time I will do a big super weeding session and then try the preen... :) Julia
This is my 4th year of having a garden. Our veggie garden space isn't very big (approx. 12' x 17')...the first year we added a couple cubic yards of compost and a couple bags of steer manure and tilled everything in. We are lucky to hardly get ANY weeds! We had to put up a chicken wire fence from keeping the neighborhood cats out...that's pretty much the only "pests" we've had, lol.
At the end of the summer growing season, we pull all the garden plants and rake the ground over again. We usually add a bit of compost every other year (we will buy some from the local compost yard if we don't have enough from our compost bin at home), some steer manure (from local garden center), and worm castings (from our vermicomposter) to the soil every year prior to planting new seeds. I'm not sure if it's from the organic fertilizers we use or what, but we hardly get any weeds around our lawns, fruit trees, and ornamental plantings as well.
I have a 10' X 20' garden with raised beds. We used thick black plastic and cover the entire ground and put pea gravel on top, when we get weeds around the beds they pull right up root and all. We lined our garden beds with thick black plastic to keep any vegetation killer such as Lily Millers Noxall from seeping into our garden if we use that on the pea gravel that kills everything up to one year.
This is great information. I have used Preen before a few years ago. I have a small raised garden that I planted the middle of March. I heavily mulched and as of now have not had any weeds. I also covered my tomatoes with clear plastic while the weather was still chilly. I must be doing something right because I have a ton of tomatoes on 4 plants. My previous years have not been this encouraging. I am always looking for new ideas. There is nothing more rewarding than growing your own fruit and vegetables!