Effective strategies for managing weeds

At Ferny’s we are big fans of implementing weed management techniques that don’t include the use of chemical herbicides. Our mild winter coupled with the pleasant spring weather has weeds on overdrive. Here are a few of our tried and true weeding strategies we use around the nursery and with our fine gardening maintenance clients.

Manual weeding

While manual, hand-weeding can be labor intensive, I have found it to be effective. It’s targeted, keeps damage to non-target plants at a minimum, and while the actual pulling of the weed does disrupt the soil, it’s much less damaging to the overall soil structure than tilling weeds under. I use a combination of tools for hand-weeding: a hori hori, a hand weeding hoe, and a garden fork are my all-stars to tackle weeds with deep taproots, creepers, and spreaders. Cutting blooms off of weeds that you don’t have time to dig up is another effective method of preventing the spread of weed seeds.

Broad-leaved dock trophies

Mulching

Using mulch in your garden beds helps to suppress weeds by covering otherwise bare soil between plants. Mulch won’t suppress all weed germination, especially if you have creeping buttercup, but it does help prevent new seedlings from starting. Mulch also has the added benefit of retaining moisture and preventing soil erosion that can occur with bare soil. I like to use arborist chips or a fine dark mulch. Avoid mulch products with dyes or that are synthetic to keep chemicals out of the garden.

Garden beds mulched with a fine, dark mulch

Groundcovers

Planting groundcovers helps to increase competition amongst the weeds and the desirable plants. Groundcovers can shade out weeds and take up space otherwise occupied by weeds. If you are growing vegetables, cover crops are a great solution to suppress weeds and add nutrients to the soil.

Groundcovers used in this garden not only add texture and interest, but also suppress weeds.

I know, nobody likes to weed, right? But if it’s a garden task that you can incorporate into a regular routine each week or each month, it will help you stay on top of weeding and prevent any out of control outbreaks. Put time parameters around it, reward yourself after with something fun, and do whatever you have to do to make it a regular gardening habit.