How To Control Garden Weeds

Get Control Of Garden Weeds Before They Control You

Weeds In Your Garden Are As Inevitable As Death And Taxes

If you were to name the worst garden task you need to do, I am willing to bet you would say weeding. Let’s face it. It is no fun, hard on the body and never ending. Weeds are tougher than your desirable plants that you worked so hard to grow. Weeds can grow just about anywhere and thrive. Weeds will win every time.

Here are 6 tips to help keep weeds under control.

Get Them While They’re Young

This may seem fairly simple and straight forward but smaller weeds are easier to pull than larger ones. Kind of goes without saying. Besides that, there is a better chance that the weed will not have the chance to seed if it is pulled when young. Once the seeds are dispersed, it is an uphill climb to gain control.

Mulch, Mulch, Mulch

A good 2”-3” layer of mulch not only protects our plants and looks great on the garden, but it also helps suffocate young weeds. It also blocks the light out which helps prevent young weeds from growing.

Quality Counts

As stated above, mulch is a good weed control, but only if it is good quality, aged mulch. Why? Simple. Poor quality mulch can actually contain weed seeds. If you thought you had a garden weed problem before, wait until you put down a weed seed infest ed mulch! Also, the aging process produces enough heat to kill off weed seeds. Non-aged mulch could still be loaded with weed seeds just waiting to germinate in your garden.

Only Water The Good

Yes, you need to water your garden plants. But why water the weeds too? Overhead watering with a sprinkler waters everything, including the weeds. Using drip irrigation will only water the good plants.

Weed When Wet

Old farmer saying: Pull when wet, hoe when dry. It is much easier to pull and remove weeds when the ground is wet. When it is hot and dry in mid-summer, cutting off the weed with a how will also work as a control measure.

Off With Their Heads

So the weeds got away from you. It happens to everyone. At the very least, cut off the seed heads from the weeds before they get spread all over your garden. This way you will be preventing new weeds.

Squeeze Them Out

Competition with larger, more desirable plant makes it harder for weeds to establish and grow. Shrubs, ground covers and perennials compete with young weeds for water, space and nutrients. By making sure there is little or no room for the weeds, it may be possible to never let them get going.

Weeds in your garden are as inevitable as death and taxes but with the right preparation and cultural practices, the impact and nuisance of them can be minimalized. By utilizing the above practices, maybe your time can be spent on the more enjoyable aspects of gardening other than weeding.

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