{"id":2143,"date":"2011-04-23T17:14:43","date_gmt":"2011-04-23T17:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bodynsoil.com\/blog\/?p=2143"},"modified":"2020-04-15T08:50:57","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T12:50:57","slug":"keeping-organic-gardens-weed-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bodynsoil.com\/blog\/2011\/04\/keeping-organic-gardens-weed-free\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Organic Gardens Weed Free"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keeping Organic Gardens Weed Free<\/h3>\n

Weeds, we all have and have spent too much time removing them from our gardens.\u00a0 Over the last few years I have discovered a few nice ways to keep my gardens weed free and my time pulling them significantly reduced.<\/p>\n

\"weed

weed free garden<\/p><\/div>\n

Here is a list of the things I have done to reduce the amount of weeds in garden:<\/p>\n

1. Designated walkways<\/strong> : In my permanent vegetable garden I have walkways that don’t ever see a tiller or turning fork, why bring fresh weed seeds to the surface.\u00a0 I keep all my walkways covered in mulch material.\u00a0 Turning or agitating the soil introduces seeds to sunlight and allows them to germinate.<\/p>\n

2. Effective use of mulch<\/strong>: Once my plants start growing I lightly mulch around them, this helps keep the weeds down and preserves moisture. I tend to mulch with chopped leaf mulch or dried grass cuttings. I avoid heavy sawdust layers in my vegetable garden; sawdust can rob the soil of nitrogen as it breaks down and I just don’t like the look of it blowing around.<\/p>\n

3. Direct watering your plants<\/strong>:\u00a0 I installed a nifty drip irrigation system a few years ago that allows me to save water and water each plant type according to need and climate desired. This has a double benefit as I am saving money and the environment by not wasting water and not watering the weeds.\u00a0 (more details on that system with my next post, I promise)<\/p>\n

4. More efficient weeding<\/strong>: Using the standard farmers hoe is nice but there have been some nice advances in equipment.\u00a0 Using a weeding hoe, shaped like a stirrup<\/strong>, that passes just below the soil to cut the weed off from the root is a quick way to work larger areas. I have also made good use of a gas flame tool<\/strong> <\/a>to “cook” the tender weeds in their beginning stages, this can’t be used around tender spouts you would like to keep but works well in larger areas or walkways. (use care with open flame, pay attention to fire hazards and conditions, I use my flamer after a light rain or in the early mornings)<\/p>\n

5. Corn Gluten<\/strong>:\u00a0 The by-product of making corn syrup is corn gluten<\/a>, which can be purchased at your local farm store.\u00a0 This product is a yellowish powder that is spread heavily over the soils surface to smother the weeds before they can germinate.\u00a0 The corn gluten breaks down into nitrogen rich fertilizer to feed the plants, I use this when transplanting in the spring and not when planting seeds for obvious reasons.This is an excellent lawn care item, we have used corn gluten for years and have seen our sandy soiled lawn improved dramatically since.<\/p>\n

5. Layering with Paper<\/strong>: Years ago I was cleaning the yard and noticed that paper smothered plants, both good and bad plants.\u00a0 Now when I plant flower gardens I will layer newsprint under the mulch as a super effective weed barrier.\u00a0 Not only does it block out the weeds but breaks down easier and is easier to place your plants through in future plantings.\u00a0 I have used this method for starting new gardens for over twenty years, recently I have read more than one article regarding lasagna gardening that also uses this paper method. I’ve noticed they call it lasagna gardening these days.<\/p>\n

6. Organic battle the bulk<\/strong>: There are plants that you have to remove both above ground and below ground portions: dandelions, crabgrass, vetch and wild strawberries just to name a few.\u00a0 If you take time to remove all of the plant then over time you will have a weed free garden space.<\/p>\n

If you know of any other methods not mentioned here I would love to hear from you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keeping Organic Gardens Weed Free Weeds, we all have and have spent too much time removing them from our gardens.\u00a0 Over the last few years I have discovered a few nice ways to keep my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[846,847,176,845],"class_list":["post-2143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-garden","tag-corn-gluten","tag-flamer","tag-organic","tag-weed-free"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bodynsoil.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/passthepeas.jpg?fit=464%2C577&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1qEFP-yz","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1613,"url":"https:\/\/bodynsoil.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/spring-clean-up-in-the-garden-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":2143,"position":0},"title":"Spring clean up in the garden","author":"Bodynsoil","date":"April 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Spring clean up in the garden Ah spring, time to throw open the windows, air the house out, and start the spring cleaning process. 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