Want to get rid of your garden weeds and the never ending chore of weeding your garden for good? Would you believe it’s easier than you ever thought? In fact, it’s so easy that you can actually work less than you ever have before in your garden!
It’s hard to find a gardener who doesn’t complain about weeds or weeding. The complaints are certainly understandable. After all, whether you are pulling weeds by hand or constantly tilling them under, keeping weeds out of your garden space can seem like a never ending chore.
After a few torturous hours of weeding, your garden can look beautiful. But then, within just a few days, here come the weeds again. For most, the cycle goes on and on, until they finally give in by mid-summer and let the weeds rule.
But here is some really good news, it really doesn’t have to be that way! In fact, believe it or not, it really is possible to eliminate garden weeds from taking over your garden – and your life each and every summer – all by working far less than you have been.
Unfortunately, as crazy as it sounds, most of the weeding issues a gardener ends up dealing with are actually the result of their own hard work. And by simply working your soil and your garden less, you can actually make most of your weeding chores completely disappear.
How To Get Rid Of Garden Weeds – 2 Simple Ways To End Weeding Chores
Weed seeds, just like vegetable crops, need “planting” in order to sprout and grow. Although gardeners intentionally plant their vegetable seeds, weed seeds arrive all on their own, and through a variety of ways.
Most weed seeds fall into place via the wind. Air currents simply pick the ultralight seeds up and scatter them accordingly. The heads of dandelions and thistle are both excellent examples of this. In fact, their seeds are so light, they can be sent flying for miles by a single big gust of wind.
But weeds are also spread quite easily by wildlife. Birds, squirrels, rabbits and other animals deposit weed seeds via their manure, or when seeds cling to them and then drop off of their paws, claws and fur. And even us gardeners spread them as well as they cling to our boots or clothes and fall to the soil below.
But just because seeds can find their way in without trouble, it doesn’t mean you have to let them sprout. And by simply eliminating their ability to ever come to life, you can instantly and forever keep weeds from becoming an issue.
How To Stop Weeds From Sprouting – How To Get Rid Of Garden Weeds For Good
A gardener carefully plants their vegetable seeds. But how do the seeds of weeds find their way into the ground?
There are actually two ways a weed seed can germinate and find life. First, it has to find open soil where it can at least partially bury or make contact with soil. Or, it has to be turned under the soil where it can find the moisture and soil it needs to sprout with even more gusto.
Unfortunately, this is where the gardener usually helps bring those weed seeds to life. Because every time the soil is disturbed, whether by tilling, raking or hoeing, the weed seeds that lie on the surface find a way into the soil – either partially or entirely. And when that happens, the next wave of weeds are born.
It is the start of a vicious cycle that never ends. The gardener hoes or tills to get rid of the first weeds that appear. In doing so, the next round of weed seeds are planted, and in a few days, it’s time to hoe or till again. More work – and the result is more weeds!
Listen In To Our Podcast On Stopping Garden Weeds Below!
That action, of course, plants the next round of weed seeds that lie on top of the surface, keeping the process going in perpetuity. So how do you put an end to it all? Quite easily – by actually working less and not more!
With that in mind, here is an in-depth look at two simple and completely effective ways to end weeds in your garden for good.
On that topic, we can speak from experience. Because we have been practicing both of the simple methods in today’s article for going on 14+ years – and have watched weeds and the chore of constant weeding disappear. And it all starts with secret #1 – and that’s to stop working your soil so much!
#1 Stop Working Your Soil – How To Get Rid Of Garden Weeds
It almost sounds impossible, but the first secret to fewer weeds is to stop working in your soil. Hoes, rakes and rototillers are some of the most prolific weed planting tools in the history of gardening.
With each draw of a hoe or rake and with ease pass of a rototiller in the garden, weeds that were dormant on the surface find a new home in the soil. A rototiller might be a terrific tool for ripping up sod and preparing soil for a new garden, but beyond that single effort, they are a weed planting machine.
Rototillers actually create a tremendous amount of work and problems for an established garden. Not only are they expensive to buy and maintain, they also destroy soil structure, kill beneficial life in the soil – and of course, plant weeds!
Stop The Weed Planting Cycle
Stopping weeds forever means stopping the planting cycle that gives them life. That means the less you dig and disturb your soil with a tiller or a hoe or a rake – the better. All of these implements plant huge amounts of weed seeds as they turn over the soil.
In a traditional garden, once the garden is planted, most of a gardener’s work is spent keeping all of that soil they worked free of sprouting weeds. The tiller is used again every few days to till under the weeds in the rows. And a hoe is then used to work weeds between the plants. All of which simply re-plants more weed seeds.
So how do you work the soil less? By putting away all of those digging machines and tools and using one incredibly effective tool against weeds – mulch!
#2) Use Mulch To Help Plants & Stop Weeding Chores – How To Get Rid Of Garden Weeds
The best way to stop working the soil so much is by covering it – and then leaving it alone. Mulch in the garden is the most underrated and underused resource to having less weeds and healthier plants. Period!
It really is that simple. When the soil is not open and has a coat of mulch, very few seeds ever find their way to germination. During the growing season, start by covering all of your walking rows with mulch. This way, you simply never ever have to maintain them. Ever!
For us, we use a heavy 6″ thick coating of bark chips. But you can use straw, grass clippings, shredded leaves, or even newspaper or cardboard. The key is to cover your walking rows for good.
Next, mulch around plants to keep the weed seeds out. For these areas, we use a heavy 4 to 5 inch mulching of organic materials such as straw, grass clippings or shredded leaves around our plants and in the rest of the space of the growing rows.
The organic material keeps out weeds, and as it breaks down, provides added nutrients to the plants. You can even grow your own mulch – which is something we have been doing the last few years by planting and harvesting clippings from rye or oats. See our article : How To Grow Inexpensive Garden Mulch – No More Costly Straw!
Don’t Turn The Mulch! How To Get Rid Of Garden Weeds
One final note about mulch and keeping it effective against weeds. Remember those weed seeds that live on the surface? Well, turning your mulch or raking it to “freshen it up” will indeed plant them too!
Never turn or fluff your mulch up. As soon as you do, weed seeds can find their way to the soil surface. Instead, simply add a light fresh coat of mulch on top to keep the protection going.
It may sound all too easy – but by simply stopping the practice of digging, tilling and overworking your soil – and using mulch to keep your soil from being exposed – you really can put an end to weeding chores forever! Happy Weed Free Gardening – Jim and Mary!
Old World Garden
Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.
As always, feel free to email us at thefarm@owgarden.com with comments, questions, or to simply say hello! You can sign up for our free email list in the subscribe now box in the middle of this article. Follow us on Facebook here : OWG Facebook. This article may contain affiliate links.