Time To Weed The Garden

Its time to weed the garden. It is a chore that is often dreaded by often needed and one that gardeners know well. The most important role of gardening is to not just pluck the top part but take the roots as well. Yanking only the leaves will allow the weed to grow back. To remove root and all grab the week close to the ground and pull straight up.

One of the best times to weed is right after it rains. This will make the job easier as the ground is moist. Be careful not to push the soil down. Using some old boards as a walk way will help make this job easier. Watering your garden prior to pulling weeds will have the same effect.

Pulling weeds when they are still young is another tip to make the job easier. Keeping a garden fork or trowel in your pocket will allow you to easily attack baby weeds when you see them.
Weeds will shoot up in places where they are not desired as well. An old screwdriver will be of good use to help remove the weeds.

Be careful of bare spots where weeds can move in. Plants should be spaced as the tag or label states. Using mulch will help to prevent weeds as well. Herbicides may be helpful but be sure of what type of weed you are dealing with. Using the proper product hang a spray bottle filled with weed killer in a place that you will see it . A short spritz will help out when the grass is cut

Mulch helps keep the soil cool, moist and fights weeds as well. Some mulches host crickets and beetles that help devour weed seeds. Be careful what mulch you use as some has weed seeds inside of it. When needed mulch should be added to keep mulch level around 2 inches.

The garden should be weeded about one time a week. Weeding on a schedule is very important for several reasons:

• young weed ruts are easier to pull out of ground
• fight those hard to kill weeds by keeping them out of sunlight 

Preventing weeds is one thing that may save you lots of time and hard work. A few ways to do this include

• Before planting the garden roll out landscape fabric down the rows that will soon be planted with vegetables. Hold the fabric down by "sod staples" or pins around the borders. 
• After planting the veggies in the garden its time to create a layer or two of newspapers on top of the soil and mulch over it. Straw is a great type of mulch to be used here. 
• Raking, tilling or turning the dirt over may uncover dormant seeds that can lead to weeds. No til methods will help eliminate this
• crop rotation in the vegetable garden will help to provide natural weed control
• if possible pull large weeds by hand pulling root and all.
• get rid of pulled weeds as they can take root again in wet weather.