How to Deal with Garden Weeds

Weeds are plants that grow where we do not want them to grow. Any plant can be a weed; our garden has chive weeds, delphinium weeds, and dandelion weeds. “It grows like a weed” is a saying that describes what is thriving. Weeds always seem to be there. How to deal with garden weeds so as not to lose the joy of gardening?

Change your attitude

Having a weed-free home garden is just a personal preference. I do not know of any benefit to the garden or the plants.

You are not a bad gardener if your garden has weeds, and your harvest will most likely not be affected. As in most cases, the middle way is the best way to go. Don’t let the weeds take over the garden; do not stress if there are some weeds. 

Join me on a mission to change our perspective on weeds and weeding. Most plants that we see as weeds are not weeds at all. Many of them are medicinal plants that benefit the garden and the gardener.

We observed an intriguing phenomenon in our country garden. Thistles appeared to benefit our crops. While we might not be fond of thistles, our seeds and plants seemed to do better wherever they thrived. It makes sense when you think about it; deep-rooted thistles bring moisture up and provide shade. Is the idea of a weed-free garden more about ego than practicality? It’s worth pondering.

You also might have noticed that pests often go after the weeds, leaving the veggies alone. 

What makes beneficial weeds so nasty is their ability to thrive and reproduce. In themselves, though, many of them are great for the soil, bees, and ourselves, too.

Get to know some health benefits of common weeds, which will help you see weeds more relaxed and even somehow enjoy them. A book suggestion: Backyard Medicine: Harvest and Make Your Herbal Remedies.

Nasty weeds

But Anna, you might say, there are nasty weeds, too. Those that take over the garden and even suppress other plants from growing. Quackgrass is a great example. 

Quackgrass is also known as couch grass, twitch grass, and devil’s grass. In herbal medicine, it is most commonly used for respiratory and urinary disorders and as a spring tonic. The roots can be ground to make flour for food.

In the garden, quack grass grows best in hard and heavy soil. It can only be removed by getting out all the roots. There is also no other way than to loosen the soil. 

If quackgrass could communicate, it would tell you: “Look, your soil is so heavy. I created a network of strong roots to loosen it a bit. Please help me so you can grow a beautiful garden.” 

You will have to dig out the roots regularly and mulch the garden heavily so that the soil gets softer over time. In soft soil, quackgrass can be pulled by hand. It seems like it wants to get out of it.  

Weeds point us to problems and help us build great, nutritious soil. Two interesting reads on the same topic are: Weeds as Indicators Of Soil Conditions and What Weeds Tell Us.

As with medicine, it is only needed if there is a problem. It is no different with weeds. Here, we will cover some important steps to discourage weeds from growing in the garden so you don’t need them, so to speak.

Build good soil

We cannot stress this enough: Building good soil is the most important factor in dealing with garden weeds.

There is a whole list on the blog of methods to build good soil; click on one that might interest you and keep reading:

To Till or Not to Till the Garden
No Dig or Double Dig
3 Great No-Till Gardening Methods
Starting a new No-till garden with tilling
Growing Legumes as companion plants
Maintaining a no-till garden

Mulch the garden

Nowhere in nature will you see healthy exposed soil. Why in the garden? Keeping it exposed, the way most gardens do is destructive for the soil. It’s like having an open wound that is not allowed to heal.

Natural mulch, such as compost, wood chips, grass clippings, straw, or hay, is great for the garden. It prevents weeds from growing and keeps the soil moist. The Back to Eden film is a great video to watch.

How much mulch will you need to prevent weeds from growing? 

Compost of any kind 4-6 inches
Hay or grass 6 inches
Straw 8 inches
Wood chips, shavings, and sawdust 6-8 inches
Source: No-dig Organic Home & Garden.

You can also use the weeds that grow freely to mulch the garden. Cut or pull the weeds and lay them down between the plants. When new weeds grow, do the same. This is also called Chop—N—Drop—Mulching Permaculture Style.

Permaculturists like to grow specific plants like comfrey to mulch with, but eh, any weeds that are already there can be used as long as they do not have gone to seed. Just mulch with weeds.

Cover the soil

As we already said, the best cover is a mulch that not only covers but also builds up the soil. In addition to mulch, it is beneficial to cover the soil in some cases to get even faster results. If you cover the ground with some cover, weeds will not grow. 

Brown cardboard or newspaper (15-25 layers) can cover the soil to prevent weeds from growing. It is most often used under the mulch, but it can also be used on top if you don’t have enough mulch. In this case, make sure that the plants get enough water. Cardboard can block a lot of it. 

Weed Control Fabric can also be used. It is especially great for heat-loving plants in cold climates since the black cover warms the soil. You do not want to use weed control fabric permanently under some mulch, just on top of the soil as a cover.

Make a weed barrier

Some weeds are more aggressive than others. If you have many weeds that spread by roots (like quackgrass), it is helpful to separate the garden area from the rest of the yard by installing a weed barrier border about a foot deep. This will help to have fewer of these weeds coming into the garden.

We used recycled sheet metal. In some of our garden beds, we used recycled garage door panels ripped in half. Whatever is non-toxic and will not rot right away can be used.

Digging a tranch around the garden can work the same way; keep the tranch itself weed-free. 

Establish permanent garden beds

To have a big garden patch is a traditional way to garden. In the past, there also was a big family to tackle the weeds.

It does not matter if you build raised beds or just rows, but by separating beds and paths, you can build the soil in the beds with some good compost and mulch the pathways to suppress weeds. The soil doesn’t get compacted since you do not have to walk in the growing space. 

You can make the pathways as narrow or white as you like, but those are pathways, not garden areas. By eliminating at least half the space for keeping weeds out, you will eliminate at least half the space for keeping the garden weed-free. A weed trimmer can be used in the pathway if weeds grow. 

Never let weeds go to seeds

It’s OK to have some weeds, as we have seen, they might be good companion plants and help us build up good soil, but we want to make sure that they do not go to seeds. One weed plant produces hundreds of seeds.

Especially at the end of the season, there is a temptation to just let things be. What we are actually doing is allowing a garden of weeds to grow! However, if we prevent the weeds from going to seed, we will notice a significant decrease in the number of weeds next year. Often, all that is needed is to cut off the growth point or flower head.

Leaving no space for the weeds

The more space you leave between the plants, the more the weeds can thrive. Weeds are always eager to cover the soil. In nature, nothing is uncovered.

The Square Foot Garden planting system is helpful to space plants so that there is no room left for weeds to grow. In a cold climate, I find making the squares a bit more generous than just a foot helps to get more sunshine to each plant. 

Weed by hand

A fresh hoed garden looks very nice. However, hoeing breaks up the soil, and more and more seeds come to the surface and germinate. Even worse is hoeing for root-propagated weeds. The more you chop the roots, the more plants will multiply.

Weeding by hand also allows you to feel the quality of your soil. Weeds should be easy to pull. If that’s not the case, the soil is too compacted, and more mulch is needed. In some cases, if the compacted soil persists, consider double-digging next spring. 

The weeds you pull by hand and use as mulch or collect in the bucket are gone!

You can fill that weed bucket with water and make some nutritious tea for the plants. Next time you go into the garden drain out the weeds and water the plants with it, then fill the bucket again, repeating the process. The garden will thrive like never before.

The weeds can also be composted. Remember that your compost should be hot enough to kill strong roots and/or seeds. Otherwise, discard those things into the garbage can or burn them. Weed tops can always be composted.

Kill some weeds

I do not suggest killing all the weeds. As we have seen, many weeds are beneficial and make great companion plants. But sometimes, you just have to kill some weeds.

If you pull a weed with all its roots, the weed is gone, of course. Weeds with a massive root system might need to be dug out. We find the fork to be the best tool for this. We do not want to turn the soil; we just want to loosen it to get the weeds out.

If your soil is mulched and healthy, getting all those roots out is not difficult. Ensure you get them all at planting time; there will not be much to worry about during the growing season. If you have never had a mulched garden, it will be hard for you to believe the difference it makes.

An easy way to kill weeds or almost any plant is to cut off the top. A plant that has no leaves above the ground will die. This starves the roots to death because no photosynthesis is taking place. No RoundUp is needed.

For thistles, it’s best to cut them off before a good rain or water the roots after cutting. My favorite hand wedding tool is a DIY cape cod weeder.

Natural weed killer

Sometimes, you want to kill everything in an area, like pathways. A natural weed killer works. It does kill all plants, so if you want to kill only some and leave others, use one of the methods mentioned above.

1 gallon (3.79 liters) of 20% industrial-strength vinegar
1 tablespoon dish soap
1 tablespoon orange oil

You want to apply it on a sunny day.

Be aware that even natural weed killers are not beneficial for the soil. So, it is the last remedy to use. 

Be consistent

On a beautiful summer morning, it is a real joy to go into the garden to see the plants and to remove some weeds. No, not weed the whole garden. Just set yourself small goals, such as one bed, one row, or filling one bucket with weeds.

If you don’t have time to weed, remove weeds taller than the plant within 12 inches of the plant you planted will do. 

It helps not to see the weeds as an overwhelming evil but to celebrate small successes true to the progress principle. Then you will enjoy doing it again. If you weed regularly a little, you will never have to weed the whole garden.

Be realistic

Just because Aunt XYZ has no weeds (at least not visible), it does not mean that you and I shouldn’t have any. It is only important that you master the weeds and not the other way around.

With these important tips on how to deal with garden weeds, you will build good soil and have fewer weeds to deal with without feeling overwhelmed.

Enjoy your garden!

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