I have a neighbor who always has a pretty nice looking (pretty weed free) garden. When I complimented him on it he shared his secret: Before you plant spray everything down with an herbicide. Well I would rather find a different route to eliminate weeds.
Weeds are something that I struggle with not having but I have found something that does help a lot however to keep weeds at bay and that is using mulch.
Over time it breaks down and so throughout the summer I keep added more layers on. It is not perfect but it is free, I can do it a little at a time and it is pretty natural.
We still have weeds in our garden but these methods do help a lot to reduce how many.
Another great method is to hoe and pull!
What do you do to reduce weeds in your garden?
11 comments:
I am a little afraid of using newspapers in the garden. The print is toxic and I am not sure if the plants (and therefore we who eat them) could be affected in any way. I was told it makes good compost, though.
Thanks for this post! I have a few spots in my garden that the mulch (thick grass clippings) still have weeds poking up through-- I'm going to put down a few newspapers under the mulch right now. :) -- Your blog continues to be a blessing= so practical and encouraging.
http://ourfamilymemories1996.blogspot.com/
I am an organic gardner. Grass clippings have nitrogen in them and are great. I use only black ink newspaper, never color.
I don't have a garden yet, but for weeds in odd places where a weed eater doesn't work well, I found this recipie. Dissolve 1 cup salt and 2 tablespoons in 1 gallon white vinegar and spray on. This will kill grass too, so be careful! It works great and I don't have to worry about my toddler being around chemicals.
Oops, the 2 tablespoons in that recipie would be liquid dish soap! Sorry about that!
I haven't tried this for weeds yet, but I too just read a post a few days ago on another website that said pure vinegar does two things: it helps keep the weeds down and also helps control ants! Ants hate it! I did just pour some vinegar all around our back patio area where we had an issue with ants and the ants are now gone, so I am hoping to find it working with weeds as well! Thanks for the post!
Thanks so much for all the comments! I love being able to learn from all of you too.
About newspaper ink: in our area anyway the black ink is soy based and should be safe. I was trying to use only black ink but hardly found any as our newspaper seems to really love to use color. I am hopeful that it isn't to big of deal as I do like this method.
I'm new to your blog, but I just had to comment on your wanting to eliminate weeds from your garden or yard. I read in First magazine that a natural way to get rid of weeds altogether was to combine 1 cup of salt to 1 gallon of white vinegar, pour into a spray bottle and spray away. It did note, however, NOT to spray the solution anywhere where you want plants to grow because it works so well!! I haven't tried it myself, but I will be.
Straight vinegar works well, but do not use anywhere that you would LIKE things to grow.
Best weed-free gardening is lasagna gardening! Check it out at the following: http://ourgardengang.tripod.com/lasagna_gardening.htm
My mom and I have been using this method for 3+ years with GREAT results and hardly any work!
The colored ink in newspapers used to contain lead but it has been many years since they have used that type of ink. Consequently the papers with colored ink shouldn't be a problem. Dad
Hi, This is really amazing post. I never heard of that thing. Will definitely try this at my garden
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