Your garden is looking nice. The flowers are blooming, and the sunflowers are happy as can be — they're having a great party...and then these weeds show up. They're not invited, but they show up anyway. And they're ruining your party by stealing nutrients from your plants and water from the soil. You can't just leave them there to annoy you; you have to take action!
So how to keep the garden weed free? Here are four simple ways to keep unwanted guests from ruining your garden party.
1. Pull Them Out as Soon as You Notice Them
Pulling weeds out of your garden is one of the best ways to eliminate them. When you see a weed growing in your garden, don't just leave it there. Take action and pull it out! You'll have to do this often if you want to keep your garden weed free.
You’ll get the best results when you hand-weed your garden after a good rain or soak the area with your garden hose the night before. After you pull them out, bury weeds so they won’t grow back. Do not leave them on your garden soil; they may root again.
2. Never Allow Them to Go to Seed
Once a weed has gone to seed and dropped its seeds, it will be back in your garden year after year. So, it's important to pull weeds before they can go to seed or remove their seeds immediately. If you have a really big problem with weeds and can't get them all out before they go to seed, hand-pick the seeds off as soon as possible after they fall from the plant. Use your fingers to pinch the seeds off, or just break them off. Then put them in a sealed plastic bag and throw them away.
3. Use a Weeding Tool
A weeding tool is a great way to help you get rid of weeds without having to bend over too much or get your hands dirty. There are all kinds of different weeding tools available, from old-fashioned hand rakes to fancy new battery-powered models that vibrate when they hit the soil, so you don't have to dig around and disturb the roots.
The best weeding tool for you will depend on the type of weeds in your garden, how much time you have to devote to weeding, and what kind of soil it is. For most people, using a handheld weeding tool is the best choice. They are sturdy and equipped with a long handle, so you won't have to bend while working. You can use this type of tool to get rid of small weeds or even larger ones if they're not too deeply embedded in the dirt.
You can find weeding tools at any home improvement store or garden center. Or you can order them online from places like Amazon.
4. Mulch Around Your Plants
Mulching is a great way to keep weeds from growing up through the cracks in the soil. It is a great friend to gardeners, and no matter what type of plants you're growing—trees and shrubs, perennials, annual flowers, or vegetables–a layer of mulch will come in handy. Mulch blocks light from reaching the soil, making it harder for weed seeds to germinate. It also helps to keep the soil moist and regulates temperature, preventing the roots from overheating in summer or freezing in winter.
The most common mulching material is bark mulch which is made from shredded bark. On the other hand, food gardeners often spread straw or shredded leaves to keep weeds down. You can also use different types of mulch, such as straw, grass clippings, or wood chips. Just make sure you don't use anything that has been treated with herbicides, as these chemicals can leach into the soil and harm your plants.
5. Create Raised Beds for Your Garden
Raised vegetable beds are a great way to fight garden weeds. You can place your raised beds along the edge of your lawn or in another area of your yard that doesn't get much sun. This will help keep weeds from taking over your garden and will also keep it nice and cool.
They can be made from just about anything, but you'll want to make sure they are at least 2 feet high and 6 to 8 feet long. This will provide plenty of space for your plants without having to worry about weeds taking over. You can also use wood pallets or old tires as long as they have been cleaned with a bleach solution.
6. Use a Soil Solarizer
A soil solarizer is a device that uses the sun's energy to kill weeds on your lawn. You simply place it over an area of your lawn and let it sit for several days until the weeds have died. Then, you can remove it and cover up the spot with mulch or grass seed, so no new weeds grow there again.
7. Mow Your Lawn Regularly
Mowing your lawn at least once a week will help keep it looking nice and healthy, plus it will make it easier to spot any weeds that might be growing there. You should also check your lawn regularly, looking for any weeds that might have sprouted up in between mowings. If you do find some, treat them right away before they get too big and hard to handle.
8. Use Herbicides
When all other weed-control methods fail, it's time to bring in the big guns: chemicals (also known as herbicides). There are two main kinds of chemicals or herbicides—pre-emergent and post-emergent. Pre-emergent chemicals keep seeds from sprouting and growing into seedlings. Pre-emergent products prevent the germination of all seeds, so don’t apply them to flower or vegetable beds where you plan to grow plants from seed.
Post-emergent chemicals are designed to kill growing plants. They're used after the weeds have sprouted, but before they can produce flowers and seeds. These products are best used as a last resort when all other methods of control have failed, or they can be applied to large, inaccessible patches of poison ivy or thistle that do not respond to standard treatments.
It is always better to consult a landscaping expert to identify which one is best for your particular situation.
Wrapping Up
We hope that you have found the ideas within this article to be helpful and you were able to learn how to keep the garden weed free. There are many different types of weeds in gardens, so you will need a plan to deal with each specific type. Look over all the suggestions that we have suggested, and hopefully, one of them will work for you.
But if you're still in doubt, hire a lawn care service that has proven results and experience in keeping your lawn weed free—while still maintaining its natural beauty.
Please let us know if you have any questions!