What is the best way to keep weeds out of flower gardens?

i live in northern oklahoma and this is always a problem each year. mulch is not an answer as the wind blows most of it away.
What is the best way to keep weeds out of flower gardens?
Preen
Reply:I'm in Northern Oklahoma too! I work at a nursery and have had customers ask how to keep weeds out of their gardens. It's not easy! Your best bet is probably a quality landscape fabric. Or to spray for weeds BEFORE you plant in the spring. There are some weed killers that won't hurt some other plants but with tender annuals it's pretty risky. Unfortunately even with the best products you will still have to pull some weeds. Locally owned nurseries tend to have employees that are a lot more knowledgeable than the big 'box' stores and are always happy to answer questions.
Reply:I think that you are going to have to pull them yourself. There is a gadget that is called a weed hound if getting down is hard for you. I really works great and costs about $20. I bought mine in Home Depot.
Reply:Depending on availability I love the product called:



Preen and Green it does keep the weeds out and flowers thrive on it!
Reply:I agree with laurmas. Pick them out by the root. Forget chemicals, they're wasteful and bad for the environment, plus they usually end up killing everything.
Reply:Here is what I do.



I dig out about 2 feet of soil, and put in nice topsoil that is easy to dig in and holds water well. I plant my bulbs.



I get wet newspaper, and put it down over the top of the soil, and on top of that a thin layer of a heavy mulch that will not blow away, such as rocks or broken pottery pieces



Bulbs will come right up through the newspaper and rocks, but weeds will not. Any weeds that do come up, like nutweed, can be pulled out easily by hand because the nice topsoil is kept soft and moist by the mulch.



Planting other flowers is simple, you simply poke a hole through the newspaper.



Of course, you have to do a new layer of newspaper every year. Technically, the newspaper is mulch as it peforms the function of mulch, keeping the moisture in and weeds out.



Please understand that when I say heavy mulch that won't blow away, I mean rocks, or your old broken pottery pieces is even better as it is heavy and holds moisture. Don't go breaking pottery just for this purpose though.
Reply:go to the feed store and buy some weed killer and that should do it and then after that keep it cleaned out and watered
Reply:You may want to try a landscape fabric if you have trouble with weeds in your beds. It helps a lot. My husband put it down in all of the beds around our house and secured it with pins. He got a huge roll of it at Sam's Club. It was more than enough to do all of our beds.
Reply:i do mine the old fashion way... i dig the weeds out (trying to get the roots) usually once a week after i mow the lawn. i just make it part of my routine (although i did hear of a weed killer/flower fertilizer recently but i have not bought and tried it yet) good luck