new to gardening - Weeds

[olien]

Any non toxic way to minimize the amount of weeds in a garden. I feel like all I do is weed-weed-weed every moment i have

[moss]

get them when they're little and mulch mulch mulch

also look into lasagna gardening for any new gardens.

[mamadelbosque]

Yeah, hoe and mulch heavy. I hate weeding, but hoeing isn't nearly so bad - at least I don't have to get all bent over. I just mulched all my broccoli, brussel sprouts and my bed of beans this morning - and I used 1.5 nearly 2 bales of peat moss (4 beds total - 2 of broccoli, 1 of brussel sprouts and 1 of beans)!! But, I did it *WAY* heavy - in part to keep weeds down, and in part to help hold moisture in!!

[olien]

I didnt know you could mulch a garden. I thought of it, but my sister kept insisting that there are chemicals in the mulch that are bad. The mulch I use in the rest of the yard is black and the bag lists the colorant as vegetable based.

Mamadelbosque: when you hoe, do you leave the weeds to just die after their roots are exposed from hoeing? I was hoeing, but then bending over to remove all of the weeds I pulled up. Also you said you use peat moss. Is that better than regular mulch?

[adoremybabe]

I use straw or hay for mulch. After planting, a 6 inch layer goes down in between rows.

When you mulch your veggie garden, regular woodchip mulch is not reccomended as far as I know.

[mamadelbosque]

I just leave the weeds to die after hoeing... and yeah, we use peat moss to mulch around most of our stuff, though I think we'll be using some straw on the tomatoes this year too. We plant in beds though, not rows so theres not as much space to mulch around stuff (we plant everything pretty close together), hence the peat moss.

I don't think I'd use typical mulch like for trees and stuff in a garden. I'd buy peat moss or hay/straw, or look for plain woodchips without anything added for color/preservatives...

[goldfinches]

I like to mulch by laying down cardboard between plants and covering it with straw.

[annekevdbroek]

Mulch. I use newspaper topped with a heavy layer of straw. Its cheap and very effective. Its easiest to put it all down before you plant, and then rip or poke holes and rows for the seeds. Also, get out when the soil is damp and pull up weeds - they come out much easier then.

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

Over time, the less tilling you do, the less new weed seeds will make it to the surface.

In the early spring, I let the first crop of weeds sprout then use my scuffle hoe to cut them down by scratching up the first half inch of soil. There should be very few unsprouted weed seeds left in that layer when I plant my vegetable seeds so weeding isn't as overwhelming as that first bloom of weeds can be. By letting the weeds sprout before planting my crop I can just scrape them all down without worrying that I'm killing the plants that I want.

No matter how you started out, as your season progresses and your plants get bigger, there will be less weeding so hang in there.

Mulching is great too. I use straw if I can get it or leaves. As I weed, the weeds (unless they've gone to seed) get added to the mulch layer.

[Teenytoona]

Anyone use their lawnmowing clippings for mulch on their garden? In the absense of any straw or hay, that's what I've been doing for my vegetable garden.

I'm on a mission this year: yanking everyone of the beggar tick weeds that grow in and around my yard before they make those awful little seeds that stick to everything.

[operamommy]

Teeny (long time no see, btw!) I started mulching my tomato plants with grass clippings after noticing that a friend did it. She said just to be careful not to mulch right up against the plants so as not to "burn" them and to also watch because the clippings will form a map over time that will make it difficult for water to get through.

[goldfinches]

Originally Posted by operamommy

Teeny (long time no see, btw!) I started mulching my tomato plants with grass clippings after noticing that a friend did it. She said just to be careful not to mulch right up against the plants so as not to "burn" them and to also watch because the clippings will form a map over time that will make it difficult for water to get through.

And be sure not to mulch with clippings that have gone to seed! :

[MamaMonica]

I let my weeds get away this year and I'm embarrassed to say I just mowed half my garden with the lawnmower. The other half has cardboard and straw mulch I put down in spring. Mulch is the way to go.

[iowaorganic]

I have been scratching at my garden everyday that it is nice with either a hoe or a rake. My garden is fairly large and this only takes me about 10 minutes. The idea is to get the weeds when they are tiny and white and not let them get any bigger.

[lynchyk]

Originally Posted by goldfinches

And be sure not to mulch with clippings that have gone to seed! :

How do you know if your grass has gone to seed? I just mowed and collected the clippings hoping to use them as mulch. I put them in the wheelbarrow until tomorrow. I was wondering if the grass could go on damp or if I had to dry it out first. Then I started wondering about the weeds growing in my grass. I don't want to introduce a bunch of weeds into my lasagna garden that has no weeds yet!!

[alllyssa]

You can also plant through a weed-barrier or black plastic.

[Rebecca]

Originally Posted by goldfinches

I like to mulch by laying down cardboard between plants and covering it with straw.

I've done this too. Works well!

[JamieCatheryn]

Originally Posted by lynchyk

How do you know if your grass has gone to seed? I just mowed and collected the clippings hoping to use them as mulch. I put them in the wheelbarrow until tomorrow. I was wondering if the grass could go on damp or if I had to dry it out first. Then I started wondering about the weeds growing in my grass. I don't want to introduce a bunch of weeds into my lasagna garden that has no weeds yet!!

If the grass has gone to seed you'll see those tall stalks of grain looking seed things. It takes quite a while most of the time, couple weeks since mowing anyway.

[CarrieMF]

when you hoe, do you leave the weeds to just die after their roots are exposed from hoeing?

This is what I do. I hoe once a week & then go after to get the weeds around the plants. By August I stop weeding unless it's chickweed. We only had a bad problem with chickweed for 2 years when I was trying to pick up all the weeds instead of just hoeing & letting them fry.

[gr8tfulmom]

Originally Posted by Teenytoona

Anyone use their lawnmowing clippings for mulch on their garden? In the absense of any straw or hay, that's what I've been doing for my vegetable garden.

I have always used grass clippings, my ma did her garden this way for 30 years. Nice soft paths and adds a bit of N to green things up too :