One of the most important things we can do in our gardens is to keep weeds out of our garden beds.\u00a0 Weeds can crowd plants and force them to compete for water and nutrients.\u00a0 When a plant is “fighting” to stay alive, they have less energy to put towards things like growing and blooming.<\/p>\n
Weeds can also provide a hiding place for insects and cut down on light or air circulation, which is essential to minimize the risk of diseases, especially fungus.<\/p>\n
A weed is ANYTHING growing where it doesn’t belong.\u00a0 A rosebush in your driveway could be considered a weed.\u00a0 In my backyard, dandelions, wild violets, and clover are NOT considered weeds because they feed pollinators.\u00a0 In my vegetable and flower gardens, they are.<\/p>\n
Make sure your garden area is weed-free before you plant.\u00a0 You can spread a tarp over the area a couple of weeks before planting.\u00a0 This will cut off sunlight to the weeds there and help hasten their demise.<\/p>\n
Once you plant, mulch your garden.\u00a0 Do check the pH of your soil before applying pine bark mulch, as it can acidify the soil slightly.<\/p>\n
Leaves are a good mulch, but it’s best to shred them with your mower first.\u00a0 Whole leaves can cling together when they get wet and actually mat down and keep the soil too moist.<\/p>\n
Newspapers work great as mulch, but you might want to top with an inch or two of bark mulch for looks.<\/p>\n
Grass clippings are okay to use as mulch.\u00a0 Just DON’T use clippings from lawns where you’ve applied weed killers or weed preventers.<\/p>\n
Pour boiling water over tough weeds to get the roots.\u00a0 Just don’t go too close to “wanted” plants.<\/p>\n
You can also “flame weed” them.\u00a0 My neighbor has a flame weeder and it seems to be very effective. You should only use it on well-watered gardens; you should not use it too close to your flowers or veggies, and you need to have a hose nearby.<\/p>\n
Believe it or not, some of your weeds you can actually eat! Dandelions and wild violets are edible.\u00a0 So are a number of other weeds.\u00a0 Just be sure to identify them first.<\/p>\n
An ancient Chinese proverb says, “The best fertilizer is the shadow of the gardener.”\u00a0 How true!\u00a0 What better way to get close than hand-pulling your weeds?\u00a0 Then you can turn over the occasional leaf on that vegetable plant to check for insect eggs, appreciate the delicate beauty of that first baby cucumber or first flower bud on your geraniums.\u00a0\u00a0(Hint–watering your garden first makes the weeds easier to pull).<\/p>\n
Stop by here and talk with us about the best way to care for your gardens.\u00a0 That’s what we’re here for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"