Controlling the Weeds in Your Garden Articles | Gardening

By: Deena Leane Kevins

Getting rid of unsightly weeds is an important part of gardening. These weeds steal essential nutrients and soil from your plants and make your garden look messy and uncared for.

You could pull these weeds by hand, but it is extremely time consuming, not to mention hard on your knees and back. Luckily, there are many effective remedies for controlling weeds and keeping your gardens looking beautiful:

• Mulch - mulch serves several purposes for your garden; it looks great and gives your garden extra color especially red cedar mulch; it holds moisture so you won't have to water as often; and it acts as a barrier for those pesky weeds. They will still come up mind you, but less frequently. Mulch comes in several varieties depending on your taste and your budget.

• Weeds need sunlight in order to thrive; you can block this sunlight by spreading newspaper or special cloth fabric over your soil and then putting mulch on top of the newspaper. This adds an extra barrier and the newspaper will not harm your soil or your other plants.

• You can use an herbicide (similar to a pesticide) to kill your weeds. This obviously contains chemicals, so if you want to go natural or organic, this is not the best option for you. If you do not have an organic garden, an herbicide is the quickest and easiest way to get rid of weeds.

• If you pull weeds by hand, make sure you get the root, not just the weed; otherwise it will grow back in a short amount of time.

• You can use garden tools such as a spade or hoe to till your garden and dig up all weeds and their roots. This is best done at the beginning of your gardening season, so you don't dig up your desirable plants.

• Get rid of weeds when you first notice them, and definitely before they flower. Again, get rid of the roots where possible.

• If you have a vegetable garden, you can use black polyethylene film in between the rows of your vegetables like melons, eggplant and tomatoes. The film blocks all water, air and sunlight and is an extremely effective technique. It is not considered suitable for planting near perennials, shrubs or trees, however.

Weeding your garden on a regular basis will ensure that as each season progresses, you will have less weeds and more beautiful flowers to enjoy. You can enjoy a completely weed-free garden with just a few years of work and supervision. [http://www.landscapegardeningtips.info/]Landscape Gardening : Build a water Feature, Tips on Raised Bed Gardening, How To Get a Full Bloom and much more! We have an extensive collection of articles and resources at your fingertips. Visit our Gardening Articles section for great advice, or visit our [http://www.green-fingers-gardening.com/]Gardening Resources section for extended information

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