0
points
Weeds choked my herb garden

General    NC

I planted a herb garden last year in my backyard and by the Fall, it was totally overrun with weeds and I couldn’t keep up with pulling them out. I would prefer not to have to use any chemicals on my plants is there anything I can do to prepare for planting or does anybody have any suggestions for keeping the weeds down during the growing season?


Posted by: Ann McIntyre (1 point) Ann McIntyre
Posted: February 21, 2013




Answers

3
points
The best method of dealing with weeds in a perennial garden is to keep them from germinating. Basically, when you clear your space for next year, make sure you clear out all the roots, runners, rhizomes, etc., from persistent weeds; then, after planting, make sure you mulch. (A layer of newspaper or cardboard beneath the mulch is helpful for keeping missed perennial weed pieces from reappearing.) A lot of the annual weeds are very aggressive and need to be kept from germination or else they'll rapidly take over (as you now know all too well!). If you have bare soil, the sunlight and open ground tells the many hidden seeds in the ground to jump up and "be fruitful and multiply!" By covering the ground with a healthy layer of mulch, you'll keep many weeds from appearing in the first place. The remainder need to be hand-pulled. There are always a few - keep on them, particularly before they go to seed. Regular topping off of the mulch is also helpful.

Good luck!


Posted by: David Goodman (69 points) David Goodman
Posted: February 21, 2013




3
points
A couple of other practices come to mind. First, do what you can each late summer and fall to limit weedy plants from going to seed as control the following spring is linked to the seedbank size. In a community vegetable garden I'm involved with many of the gardeners are mulching as David G suggested or are seeding cover crops (grasses, legumes and or mustards) in the late summer and fall to cover the garden over winter and suppress weed growth while at the same time increase soil tilth and fertility. Finally, getting into the habit of weeding on weekly or twice monthly intervals means that you're always hoeing smaller weedy plants rather than large onerous ones in the fall.


Posted by: Dave Mortensen (7 points) Dave Mortensen
Posted: February 21, 2013




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