Today’s Garden Ideas

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As much joy as our beautiful gardens bring us in the spring and summer months, weeding is a never-ending task, and one that gardeners like the least. Weeding is necessary so that our flowers and plants don’t get choked out by weed roots and so that aesthetically, there will be no detraction from our wonderful blooms. There are ways to make this summer chore a little easier on yourself and on your garden!

The first step is to till the soil that will be used for your garden. However, simply turning the dirt and breaking it up is not a good enough till job to help you stop weeds. There can be many grass and perennial roots hidden within the dirt that you have turned up and so, it’s best to go through the dirt with a digging fork and take out any roots that you find. This will reduce the number of weeds that will spring up in your garden. Another great way to get rid of weeds that have sprouted since you’ve last been in your garden is to use an herbicide that will kill the roots for you. Using an organic herbicide will not only help the environment but will provide you with organic fruits and vegetables out of your vegetable garden! You can also cover the ground with black plastic to kill off weeds. Of course, only do this when there are no flowers in your garden and it can also take up to a year to be effective.

No matter what method you choose, the chances are that you are going to have at least a few weeds rearing their heads. Keep careful watch on your garden and continually look for weeds. If you can pull them when they first sprout, they will not have gone to seed yet and therefore, you won’t have dozens of weeds coming from just one that sprouted. Getting rid of weeds while they’re still small is easier on the gardener as well! Also, try to weed just after you have watered or it has rained. Wet ground makes the task of weeding much easier!

How you mow your grass also plays a role in how many weeds you will find in your garden. As beautiful as grass is, you don’t want it showing up in your garden and mowing your lawn can cause this. When you are mowing by your garden, make sure that the chute on your lawnmower is pointed away from your garden. This is because the lawn clippings can still contain some grass seed and that will cause roots to form in your garden if they find their way in there. Also, never place lawn clippings in your compost. The grass will decompose but the seeds may still be alive when you put them back in your garden.

Lastly, when trying to get rid of weeds in your garden, mulching is a very important step. Using a good quality mulch is very important for your garden. Not only does it trap water in, making it unnecessary to water too often, it will also block the way for any weeds to crop up. Weeds are just like other plants. They need sun to grow and by blocking that sun, you are blocking the weed from growing.