A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Clearing Flowerbeds without Spreading Seed

Phew- long title!

Hi everyone,

I am trying to relandscape a way overlandscaped yard. (Obviously, I am a new gardener). I do not want to take everyone's advice to use and herbicide kill everything in the beds, but I learned a nasty lesson about how seeds spread when I "cleaned up" this spring.

Any suggestions? My garden is very cluttered, prolific, and hardy. I heard that I can use the plants' dormancy periods to my advantage. If true, how do I find out when they are?

Sorry for the long post, and thanks for any tips!

Jen T.

Heavy mulching should kill the weed seeds off. They should rot away under the mulch. Be careful not to put the mulch hard up against the trunks/stems of woody plants as they may rot too.

We love pictures.

The first thing to do in any garden seems to be to identify the plants that you are going to work with.

As far as seeds go if you dead head the blooms when they are finished blooming you won't have a problem with spreading the seeds around. But of course that's for next year.

Next see if there is an organization in your area that will come and rescue your unwanted plants. There are several that I have seen on different programs but I've never remembered their names since I'm still gathering plants for my garden.

And of course follow longy's suggestions. He is tops when it comes to organic gardening.

I'll put together some pictures. In the meantime, thanks so much!