I have garden that desperately needs weeding?

I put in a new garden this spring. Unfortunately I didn't get all the grass up. Now I have a garden full of beautiful flowers, lots of mulch and weeds everywhere. I have been trying to just pull them as I see them but we have had alot of rain so getting out in the garden regularly has been difficult. Does anyone know how to get rid of them permenantly without using weed killer?

I have garden that desperately needs weeding?
Not to be rude or anything but I drove by a neighbors not far from me in the country and they put a sign up in thier driveway that read: Free weeds pull all you want! I thought I would just share that I thought it was a good one!*
Reply:It will take a bit of work but after its done its good for a while, i would take up your mulch and flowers if they are new ones such as annuals and lay black landscaping plastic down cut holes for your plants and then lay the mulch back down, if its weedy already i would get fresh mulch, but this works most of the time its just a little rough if you want to lay it in a perennial garden because it cant prevent them from coming up unless there are holes cut for them, but it will take away your weeding problem. Unless your problem is just in your mulch, it needs to be quite thick atleast a few inches. if your mulch isnt i would say about 3 inches thick the weeds will come through. i hope this helps, i think of weeds as...well life i guess they are always there unless you take some pretty drastic measures, i think of weeds as a reason to get out of the house away from dirty dishes and laundry! :)
Reply:If you do not wish to use weed killer, you have no choice but to go out and pull them up, one by one. Then you have some choices - you can put down landscape paper to keep weeds from implanting themselves around the plants and flowers you want to keep. Mulch heavily over this and you will not have the same problem next year that you are having now.



I wish I had better news for you, but the key to regaining control of your garden is weeding it as soon as possible, before the weeds and grass are too difficult to manage. I don't like weeding any more than the next gardener, but here is what I do. I wait for a really good rain and weed right afterwards because the weeds come out of the wet soil very easily. Use a little hand tool to help you get underneath the stubborn weeds. I play a little music to keep me going and before I know it, it's all over.
Reply:Depends on the grass. If it is just an annual grass, then pulling/hoeing will eventually work. If it is a perennial grass or worse, a nutgrass, then "rotsa ruck." Perennial grass has extensive roots that when broken as from pulling/hoeing/rototilling will send up new plants. Only takes a tiny root piece to start a new plant. Eventually you'll want to carefully use Roundup....yeah, I know no chemicals.



If it is nutgrass......each time you pull you leave behind the nuts in the soil which start a new weed cluster.



The mulch will help, but consider putting a liner under it.......say several thicknesses (5 pages ??) of newspaper then apply the mulch. Make sure that liner overlaps by several inches, no unprotected edges. The newspaper breaks down by season's end so must be renewed. Most paper ink is soy based, so not a toxic problem.
Reply:I picked up a great little tool at the local gardening center--it's a long (about 12") screwdriver-like tool that has a small fork at the end (not much wider than the shaft). You stick it in the ground right next to the weed and turn it--it pulls out the weed, root and all! It even works on weeds that have taproots, like dandelions.
Reply:Put landscape fabric on the weeds. This deprives them of light, but still allows water through for your flowers. Add mulch on top of this to make it look nicer. Newspaper layers also work, but I prefer the fabric.

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