How do you make a garden with no weeds?

I've never made a garden that hasn’t ben weed infested or covered in weeds.

How do you make a garden with no weeds?
This is what my neighbor does:



Step1 - kill all grass/weeds with a potent chemical

Step 2 - lay this sheet of black material (don't know what it's called)

Step 3 - cut holes in the black material where you want to put plants (don't think this works for seeds)

Step 4 - put your plants in the holes.

Step 5 - spread mulch all around to cover the plastic.



And he has a gorgeous garden. I personally have come to terms with my weeds.
Reply:Plastic hasn't been used to stop weeds in gardens for years. It 'sours' the soil and doesn't let nutrients and water in. Weed matting which replaced it is also now considered a problem for the same reasons.



When I start a new bed I use hay between the plants. If you you use a thick layer eg 4" you will find the weeds find it too dark to germinate and the plants you are growing get the benefit of cool soil, moist growing conditions and the hay eventually breaks down (probably after you have harvested your corn) and enriches the soil. A much better outcome.
Reply:Impossible, weeds grow on their own, you can try to get hey've grown, but you can't create one without weeds.
Reply:No easy way..just get out there as soon as you see some coming up and pull them...and continue to do this thoughout the season.
Reply:i put pre-emergence out in march, then when its warm enough to plant, dig hole,put in plant, less area where weeds can grow
Reply:lots of mulch, and hard work pulling the weeds when they come up.
Reply:g.w. carver said that weeds are flowers growing in the wrong place
Reply:you could use news paper to cover the area without plants. Then you can put mulch on top of it. I used to use grass clippings from the lawn that seems to work the best and its free. This will greatly reduce the number of weeds that pop up.
Reply:Some people use this plastic (I can't remember the name of it). It's black and you basically cut holes where you want the plants to come up and then the weeds can't grow through the plastic. Then you put woodchips or rocks over the plastic to make it look nice. I guess that's more for if you are growing a flower garden. Sorry, didn't know if your were talking about a flower garden or a veggie garden.
Reply:Well, it does take some time. What you do is you build up a nice compost pile over the years. Every spring and fall and a few times in between you go out and stir it up some so it "composts" faster. If you don't have a few years they now have composts that are like giant tumbles that you add your yard material such as leaves and grass clippings and some composting organisms into it and turn the crank a few times a week and in a month or so you have some compost.



Now that you have your compost, you apply that to your soil area or build up an area with landscaping bricks or lumber. If the soil is really poor then you should til in some of the compost the first year only. Ideally you will have 4 to 6 inches of compost for plantings over a Landscape cloth.



You plant your flowers, veggies or what ever and keep it watered and loosen the soil every now and then. This should keep your garden pretty much weed free. Because the compost forms a barrier that the weeds can't get through easily enough. It may also sound like a joke when I also say that you have to pull the weeds out early, don't let them go to seed but you are never going to be able to completely get rid of all your weeds.
Reply:put down some tarp
Reply:Vegetable, or Flower?

if its a weed free veggie garden, you are out of luck. ya just gotta keep up on the weeding.

for a flower garden, try one of the weed barriers you can get at a Home Despot, i forget the brand name, but it is basically a roll of cloth you place over the soil, and cover with mulch. you cut a small hole where you plant you flowers. Water can flow through, but seeds cannot. not practicle for veggies.

Also, try aggressive ground covers, like ajuga or bishops weed(not a weed), they will choke out even morning glory/bind weed.
Reply:By using anti-weed drugs available much in agricultural store drugs and fertilizers
Reply:You have to maintain the garden by pulling the weeds out frequently.
Reply:Space the plants (vegetables) so that you can hoe in between them thus keeping the weeds out. The weeds use the same nutrients as the plants so don't pull them, just hoe them up and let the organic matter filter back into the soil.
Reply:You can put down cloth that has been treated with a pre-emergent, and plenty of mulch.

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