I have not yet mastered time management in the garden. It always seems like I spend more time working on it than I do enjoying it. Although, I must remember all the times I’m out there weeding and stop to watch an insect do something amazing. Below, I have put together a short list of ways to prevent spending hours in the garden weeding.
Plant groundcovers:
Cover all bare soil with groundcovers so weeds can’t grow. Kill any existing weeds first and then mulch or plant a living groundcover to fill in the vacant space. If there is an idle part of the garden, cover it with a groundcover until planting time comes.
Simplify path maintenance:
Cobblestone paths either need to be hand weeded or poisoned. I don’t use poison in my garden so I don’t have cobblestone paths. I have decided that mulch paths, wide enough for the lawn mower to mow down in summer, are the best solution for my garden. Before putting in a path, think about maintenance and remember that paths are necessary to do maintenance on the rest of the garden.
Avoid difficult to care for borders:
It is popular to use the chain link fence as a border, but this area can become a weeding nightmare as they tangle in the fence and only one side can be reached. When the garden boarders a lawn, use border material such as brick that is easy to mow against. Design the garden to avoid unmowable lawn spaces that will just get out of hand and invade the flowers.
Expand the garden slowly:
New garden beds should only be as big as you can weed. It is always best to underestimate this area because weeding in midsummer is unpleasant. Keeping a garden well weeded the first few years will cause it to be less maintenance in the long run.
Prepare new beds with care:
No matter which way you prepare a new bed make sure all the weeds are good and dead before planting. Some lawn grasses can be very difficult to kill and may need to be killed more than once. Roots like clematis, star of Bethlehem, and dandelion need to be dug out. It may take more than six months to be sure all weeds are dead.
Be wary of free plants:
Do not take in a free plant you can’t identify. Plants given away from another garden are most likely aggressive quick spreaders and should be selected carefully. If the free plant is going to be a good fit for your garden, you should still clean all soil off of free plants to prevent hitchhikers.
Limit weed seeds entering the garden:
Don’t let weeds seed. Monitor the garden frequently to remove all weeds before they can spread their seeds. Rainwater can also bring weed seeds from uphill properties. Hitchhiking seeds come in on clothes and pets. A less preventable way that weed seeds appear is from birds pooping them into the garden. Some weed seeds will enter the garden and germinate. Monitor frequently to pull them out while they are small.
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