Weeds can be a frustrating part of gardening and you may spend a lot of time weeding during the initial stages of gardening. This can be a challenging chore and it can be discouraging when you have to spend as much time on maintaining the plants as removing weeds.
There are different strategies to control weeds in your garden. This is an essential part of gardening maintenance. You have to remove weeds from the roots but make sure that the soil where there are dormant weed seeds is undisturbed. There are weed seeds everywhere in your garden but when you dig, it brings these seeds to the surface and it can lead to germination. So when you see weed seeds, let it be without opening up the ground. If you need to dig in that spot, use plants and mulch on the spot to disturb weed growth. You can choose certain tools to prevent the soil from getting disturbed too much. Look for narrow blades for digging and removing roots of weeds. You can use a fishtail weeder to remove bigger weeds. For smaller tendrils, you can use an old fork.
You have to prevent the weeds from seeing sunlight. So you have to mulch areas where weeds can shop up. There are many materials you can use for mulch such as straw, wood chips, pine needles etc. The layer of mulch will keep the soil cool and moist. When you choose organic mulch, it can contribute to the spread of beetles and crickets that will feed on the weed seeds. Sometimes the mulch you use may have weed seeds. You should make sure the layer of mulch is about 2 or 3 inches deep. You can also place a cardboard or biodegradable material on top of the soil before you spread mulch on it. You can add the weeds you have pulled out to the compost bin. A hot heap will ensure they rot faster. This will require remixing of materials now and then. There may be instances where you will not be able to remove weeds completely. In this case, you can cut the top of the weeds to ensure they don’t reseed and spread.
If you have just started creating your garden, you will spend the first season weeding. Make sure you have a weeding schedule so that you plan out the areas that will be done in one day. Sometimes you can be overwhelmed by the number of weeds and it can take some time to get to all corners of the garden. In this case, you can mow the weedy areas until you can pull them out by the roots. There are some conditions that will allow you to weed comfortable. After some heavy rainfall, the ground will be soft making it easier for you to pull the weeds out. Make sure you wear gloves to protect your hands and use a sitting pad so you don’t need to kneel. If you are weeding in dry conditions, you can cut the weeds off just below the line of soil. But make sure your hoe has a sharp edge.
