A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Keeping ahead of the weeds

Season after season I try and take an area around my 1+ acre estate and clear/clean it out! OK so I'm not a phanic but I'm trying. But as I get older I wonder if there isn't a smarter way of keeping ahead of the weeds! It's discouraging to watch the fixed areas go down hill while I'm after the worse areas!

Mulch will help reduce the amount of weeds and if you till in the spring to soften the soil the weeds that do creep in are easier to pull. It's also much easier to pull them after a good rain.

I would also think about the type of gardens you are cultivating. Mulch is the number one deterent of weeds as well as the type of plants you grow. Are wild flowers an option for some areas? How about ground covers such as ivy and pachasandra?
weeds can be a pain in the neck .

You can take thick sections of newspaper..
and after you're done weeding...lay the newspaper down, I try to wet it all up first,
then I lay a layer of compost down...
*only cause I have a ton of..*

but, after awhile, if you get enough compost down,
it's sooooooooooooooooooooo easy to weed,
because the dirt is soooooo nice, and pliable and even if the roots get deep, they're soooooo much easier to pull out...

*I love to weed in the rainy overcast days
or after a good rain, they pull out soooooo easy then*

Mulch is my answer. And I Love that newspaper idea and Mulch! If your gonna do it- go for a look


I would be over flattered to call my work 'cultivating" it's more like hacking, lopping and hedgeing, Edward scisser hands I am not. Bushes 25 years old are overtaking the house if I don't brutlly cut back1

This was fun. Thanks for this messages.

Seems I have this problem, too. This year I started getting our at sunrise each day, pull and hoe for 30-45 minutes. Best time of the day, nice and cool. This has worked well for me. Good Luck!

I got my entire front flower bed weeded yesterday. It is rather large and we just cut the sod on it this year and didnt mulch as much as we should have. Well I feel great now it looks beautiful. I have a nice tan line from the elbow to wrist. T shirt and glove lines! lol I am gonna mulch more and put some news paper in some of the troubled spots. I hate weed barrier paper it prevents spreading and I put in alot of prennials in that I want to spread.