How can you prevent weeds in a vegetable garden?
Each year people with vegetable gardens—be it farmers or small plot gardeners—fight against the invasion of pesky weeds. Weeds compete with vegetable-producing plants for water and food and quickly take over a garden if left unchecked. So how do you prevent them from showing up in the first place?
To prevent weed growth in a vegetable garden, gardeners must first remove existing weeds down to the root by turning the soil before planting a new vegetable crop. Using ground coverings like paper, straw, and mulch can also help prevent weeds from growing.
By being proactive and using several methods to remove and reduce weeds, you can accomplish a weed-free garden. Let’s look at several tried and true methods for keeping weeds out of your plot so you can focus more on maintaining a healthy vegetable garden.
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Before Planting Your Vegetable Garden
One of the most effective ways to keep weeds out of your vegetable garden is to remove as many pre-existing weeds as you can before planting:
Turn the Soil
The most efficient way to remove weeds from your garden is to “turn” the dirt to gain the easiest access to the weeds’ roots for removal. Rakes and a hoe can be used for small areas, but you may think of renting a tiller for larger plots or those with a hard ground to work through.
With small gardens, you can also pull out the weeds by hand. While this may sound difficult, it can be quite effective if they haven’t bloomed yet. Just make sure that the entire plant is removed, especially the roots.
Use a Weed-Killing Solution
After tilling the ground and removing any weeds, this is an excellent time to use a natural herbicide to kill any remaining remnants.
Alternatively, you can try pouring vinegar over the weeds as another natural solution (Source: Best Pick Reports)
Place Clear Plastic Over the Plot
After removing as many weeds as possible after turning the soil, place a clear plastic layer over the dirt. Leave the plastic in place for a few weeks before planting to limit any sunlight from reaching the ground. The combination of sun and lack of air will effectively heat any seeds from leftover weeds to the point that they will not germinate and die.
When you’re almost ready to plant your vegetables, remove the plastic so the soil can breathe again.
Use Plastic or Fabric Ground Barriers
Both plastic and cloth garden coverings (more commonly referred to as landscape fabric) have been proven to reduce weed propagation in a garden.
Both are easy to work with and cost-effective, but you may prefer one over the other for these reasons:
- While landscape fabric will biodegrade over time, you will be able to use it and cover it with more cloth as needed; you won’t have to worry about removing it in-between seasons.
- Plastic is not biodegradable but will tear as it weathers; for this reason, it is best to replace any plastic covering every year to prevent contamination of the ground and prevent weed growth.
You can also use paper, cardboard, or old newspapers for the same purpose, although the cost of a roll of barrier plastic or cloth is relatively the same in the end. If you have old cardboard boxes you will otherwise throw out, you can recycle them here instead.
(Source: Today’s Homeowner)
How to Use Landscape Material for Weed Protection
Here is how you can use either plastic or fabric ground coverings to help with weed prevention:
Level Your Garden
Both the fabric and plastic materials come in rolls that can be easily spread across your garden before planting. Before laying your landscape material out, the first step is to make sure your garden is as level as possible.
Remember, at this point, you will have already turned the soil and removed any vegetation. Use a rake or hoe to level the dirt back out. Any low spots will allow water to puddle in one area under the material and not get to your plants.
Lay Out the Fabric
Next, roll the material out and over your garden, making sure the entire area is covered. Walk over the fabric or plastic to ensure there are no air bubbles underneath before securing the edges.
Secure the Material to the Ground
Before you plant anything in your garden, you need to make sure the material is secure to the ground.
Landscape staples, usually made of metal and about six inches long, should be placed through the material and into the ground every few feet along the edges. The staples will keep the plastic or fabric edges from moving while you plant and keep the material from being damaged by wind.
Place Your Vegetable Plants
There are two ways to place your plants through the plastic or fabric, and both require you to cut the material.
- One way is to cut a circle or square around where you will place the plant, leaving the dirt around the plant exposed. After you have your plants in the soil, you can cover them with mulch, rock, or dried hay.
- The other method is to cut an X shape into the material (do not cut the section out). Fold back the sheet where you have the X and place your plant through it. Cover with mulch or hay. Afterward, you can fold the material back around the plant’s base so that the ground is not exposed.
These two methods both work, but the one you choose to use will depend on your climate and the type of ground you have.
(Source: The Spruce)
Create an Irrigation System
Create a watering system that will not overwater a large area; overwatering will aid weed growth. If you make an irrigation system, set it up where only the vegetable plants are getting water.
After Planting Your Vegetable Garden
You can do everything you can to prevent weeds from growing before you plant your garden, but you still need to be diligent to ensure they don’t have a reason to come back while your vegetables start to grow. Below are a few things you can do to keep weeds away and your plants healthy.
Use Mulch
After planting, use a ground cover to help protect your plants and deter weeds. Two of the best products you can use for this purpose are mulch or dried hay. Both will help hold in moisture, protect your plants from cold weather, and prevent weeds from growing.
Keep Your Vegetable Plants Healthy
One of the best ways to keep your vegetable plants from being overtaken by weeds is to make sure they stay healthy. However, both plants and weeds are vying for the same water and nutrients to grow. For that reason, try to keep water and fertilizer close to your plants; this way, the weeds will not be able to benefit from it.
As we discussed earlier with overwatering an area, the same can be said for feeding and fertilizing your plants; by keeping plant food close to your plants, the weeds will not benefit from it.
Pull New Weeds Out
After taking all the other steps above, if you still find weeds growing, the only tried and true method to keep them from spreading is to manually pull them out, root and all.
Conclusion
Before getting started on your vegetable garden, you need to take steps to prepare the ground and remove any weeds that will compete with your plants. However, even after you have prepared the area, you will still need to regularly maintain your garden and remove any weeds that propagate through the soil.
One of the best ways to prevent weeds is to use landscape ground covering material. By installing the material in your garden, as we have discussed in this article, you give your plants the best chance to survive and produce the vegetables you want.
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