Weeds in garden
Return to DiscussionsNow that I have my garden growing and still planting more seeds I am getting a lot of weeds. Over the winter it was covered in red clover and oats. I plowed that under and tilled it. It kept them at bay but this wet spring they came on. How do you keep the weeds from growing? I have a lot of wild morning glory, quack grass and typical weeds. Working nude is great as it keeps me cool but it being hot the sweat does help cool me down some.
I have found no way that works well. My composted garden soil mix was full of weed seeds and sprouted just after my veggies started to take off. There were literally hundreds of weeds nestled in with the squash & others. I found if I pulled the weeds near the plants, it disturbed the roots and even would uproot them. Now, a month later, I can carefully pull up the weeds and diminish them, but it is a lost battle. I am considering black plastic like commercial growers but will have to research it first. Let me / us know if you find a good answer.
Same problem here. Weeds were taking up so much time and of course taking water and nutrients out of the soil.
We got the idea to put a plastic tarp down on the freshly turned soil in the spring. Cut holes for plantings and to let rain water into the soil. A few weeds still find their way through the openings of course, but cut the problem down by maybe 90%.
In autumn we lift the tarp and turn the dead plants and autumn leaves into the soil so they can decompose.
Not sure how orthodox this method is, but it has worked well for us. Would be glad to hear of other solutions too.
Happy Nude Gardening!!
Three words for combating weeds - mulch mulch MULCH! We've been using cypress mulch from Lowes for the last two years. It works pretty effectively and has a pretty long lifespan, eventually breaking down and adding its bulk to the soil. Most effective if you put it down right after you plant, water the bare dirt and then apply, water once more to really soak everything. Added benefits include retaining moisture longer and keeping the soil cooler when the heat is on. But a word of warning I learned the hard way this year ~ don't apply mulch too heavy or at all if you're trying to plant before the temperature is where the plant can thrive because of the cooling effect. I mulched our early tomatoes and we had some cold nights and those first five plants simply couldn't cope because the ground stayed too cold and the roots suffered. Better to leave the mulch off until nighttime temps are up.
If you've got a big garden you'll be spending a bunch of money to cover the entire area, so alternative mulches if you have access to them for cheap or nothing include shredded newspaper, straw, pine needles. I have always shied away from newspaper personally with worry over the chemicals they use to make the paper and the inks, but some organic gardeners swear by it, so I include it in the list but I won't use it because I'm going to eat things from that dirt.
Other caution - don't overdo the thickness of your mulch. A little goes a long way. Mulch will not end your weed-pulling but it will help control the story. And water deeply before you weed so the roots come up easier when you yank gingerly on the green parts, making things that send out root shoots less likely to keep coming back to haunt. Don't let the weeds grow so tall that they broadcast seeds.
I don't have to say it but I will anyway - just because Roundup is still being sold doesn't mean it isn't a terrible thing to use in the environment and for a bunch of reasons. The million dollar lawsuits are rolling against Bayer, the company that bought Monsanto, the company that developed Roundup. Glyphosate - the chemical herbicide in this and other similar products will eventually be taken off the shelves, but science has spoken already - the deep pockets of chemical companies are the only reason this shit is still being sold. If you've got some in your shed, dispose of it properly now by bringing it to your local hazardous waste disposal effort. Mother nature will breathe a sigh of relief when you do.
Good bare gardening to you all!
One additional mulch is free...leaves! When you collect them in the fall, put them in a big pile. Turn it over a couple of times during the spring and fall so the roots from trees do not grow up (yes, up) into the pile. My leaves compost cold, meaning the pile is not big enough, nor do I add the right mixture, to get hot in the middle. So it takes almost a year to break down. I use it to incorporate it into the soil. It makes my clay soil much better. I also use some of the whole leaves around the plants as mulch. Any weeds that grow have very shallow weeds...only in the leaf mulch... so the pull out very easy.
I asked my local nursery expert & he said be careful with the leaves. If you have any fungus or bad critters, they can hide in the leaves and come out & attack the new growth. I havent used any leaves for mulch but will be sure and sun them well if I do.
is Preen ok to use in your garden to help fight weeds? Preen is a weed and feed type of granulated weed killer and plant food.
I've looked at Preen online and tried to read the ingredients on the label, can't quite make it out. Even if you are only looking for what you're putting on your grass or flower beds and landscapes (meaning not going to eat) I'm not sure of environmental impact. I would never use something artificial like Preen on a vegetable garden.
Okay, the main active chemical in Preen according to Wikipedia (usually better to verify anything there elsewhere before moving forward) is trifluralin - the EU has banned that chemical since 2008 due to its toxicity to aquatic life and is on the EPA's list of hazardous air pollutants. Sounds a little anti-fishy to me!
Do some more research I say, especially if you are uphill from any close water source or using a septic system. Be part of the solution, not the problem, especially for something like weeds that can be dealt with in so many other more innocuous ways.
Well I don't have many weeds in the garden. Since it is so hot out the weeds haven't taken off as bad as last year. Plus I go out every evening and pull the new weeds up. It is hot out at that time and even nude the sweat is running off me. I am also watering the plants so a good few seconds in front of the spray nozzle sure helps cool down. Then when done watering I pull hose back to wind up and wash the dirt off the hose and me. So a quick cool down again then air dry.
I put down thick straw between my rows and mulch around my plants. So there is very little space for weeds to pop up. Mainly just my little walking path down the side of the garden where I get to the rows. I'll just till that over as they grow in. I have done this the last 3 years with the thick straw and it has worked well.