Looking for a few simple tips to keep weeds out of your flowerbeds for good?
There is nothing more frustrating than constantly battling to eliminate weeds from your flowerbeds. You work and work pulling weeds to clear and clean your beds, only to watch the weeds come back stronger than ever in mere days!
It’s ironic that gardeners spend so much time, effort and expense on planting, watering and fertilizing the plants in their flowerbeds, only to watch helplessly as weeds thrive without any planting effort or care at all.
Unfortunately, weeds cause far more problems than simply making flowerbeds unsightly. As they grow and establish their roots, they steal valuable nutrients and moisture from the soil. Nutrients and moisture that your plants need desperately to grow, flourish and flower.
But here’s the good news, keeping your flowerbeds weed free isn’t difficult. Nor does it have to be an ongoing effort all spring, summer and fall. In fact, by simply avoiding a few common mistakes, and implementing a couple of simple techniques – you can eliminate weeds and keep weeding chores to a minimum – all year long!
How To Keep Weeds Out Of Flowerbeds – 4 Simple Secrets To Weed Free Success!
#1 Keep Your Soil Covered, Always!
The number one way to eliminate current and future weeds from finding a permanent home in your flowerbeds is to keep the surface of the soil covered at all times. And not just in the spring, summer and fall months, but all throughout the winter too.
Open soil in a flowerbed provides easy access for weed seeds to self-plant. Just as with most annual and perennial plants, weeds produce flowers with seed heads. And those seeds can quickly and easily be distributed and deposited into open bed spaces by the wind, or by birds and other wildlife.
Unfortunately, once they find bare soil, weed seeds can quickly sprout and take root. But by simply covering your soil with a thick coating of mulch, you can prevent that cycle from occurring. And in the process, eliminate one of the biggest sources of weeds in your flowerbeds.
But as you will see in the next section, how you mulch and how you maintain it can make all the difference between weed-free beds, or flowerbeds that need frequent attention.
#2 How To Mulch For Weed Free Success – How To Keep Weeds Out Of Flowerbeds
Mulch actually serves a whole slew of beneficial purposes when properly applied to flowerbeds. Not only does it provide a barrier for weed seeds, it also helps regulate soil temperature and conserve moisture. It can also add valuable nutrients to the soil as it breaks down.
But just using mulch isn’t enough. It also needs to be put down and maintained correctly to help eliminate future weeds from your flowerbeds.
One of the most common mistakes made when mulching is failing to put down a thick enough layer into the beds. One or two inches of mulch is simply not enough. Not enough to protect plants, and certainly not enough to keep weed seeds from finding a home in the soil below.
Listen To Our Podcast Episode On Weed Free Flowerbeds Below!
To be effective as a weed barrier, the layer of mulch in a flowerbed needs to be kept at a minimum of four inches in depth, with six inches being an even more ideal depth. Anything less, and weed seeds will continue to cause havoc.
#3 Don’t Turn Your Mulch – How To Keep Weeds Out Of Flowerbeds
Once your thick layer of mulch is in place, don’t disturb it! One of the biggest mistakes made by gardeners in their flowerbeds is to rake, turn over, or “freshen up” their mulch. Believe it or not, this actually is one of the best ways to create more weeds!
Unfortunately, although raking or turning the mulch may give it a fresh look, it also creates weeds. And a lot of them! Every time mulch is disturbed by raking and turning, all of the seeds that have been trapped in the layer of mulch get turned over to the bare soil underneath.
On top of the surface, seeds struggle to find the ability to sprout. But as soon as the mulch is stirred, they quickly find a home underneath the surface. Even worse, once turned under, the mulch now actually serves to help them survive and thrive – much as it helps your flowers do the same.
Resist the urge to turn over mulch. Keep the mulch barrier intact to keep weed seeds from finding soil. Instead, freshen up with an ultra light coat of new mulch every few months if you think your mulch needs spruced up. This also helps keep the layer thick enough to repel future weed seeds.
Finally, when planting new plants or digging out a stubborn weed, try to disturb the surrounding soil and mulch as little as possible. Remember the more you disturb both, the more likely weeds find a home.
#4 Fill Your Flowerbed With Plants! – How To Keep Weeds Out Of Flowerbeds
Want to know the best way of all to keep weeds completely out of your flowerbeds forever? The answer is to simply not give them any room at all to find a home in the first place. And the best way to do that is to fill your flowerbeds chock full of as many plants as you can!
Here is even better news, filling your beds with plants doesn’t have to be expensive. As late summer and fall approach, divide and split overgrown perennials to fill in open spaces. It not only adds to the beauty of your beds, it also cuts future weeding chores greatly. See: How To Divide Your Perennials In The Fall – Create More Plants For Free!
When it comes to covering bare soil, the absolute best mulch of all is a living mulch. And it also happens to be the number one way to eliminate future weeds from flowerbeds!
Instead of having wide open spaces that constantly need mulch for protection, fill your flowerbeds full of plants. The more the better! Thick plantings of annuals and perennials are the best defense for crowding out and preventing future weeds.
Even better, the benefits don’t stop there! Dense planting helps to conserve moisture in the soil, meaning less watering time for you. It can also save huge on your garden budget. After all, the less you need to mulch, the less mulch you have to buy!
Here is to eliminating weeds from your flowerbeds this year, and freeing up more of your time for the gardening chores you love best!
Follow Our Facebook Page For Great Gardening Tips And Advice! This Is My Garden Facebook Page
This Is My Garden is a garden website created by gardeners, for gardeners. Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books and speaking for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. They publish three articles every week, 52 weeks a year. Sign up today to follow via email, or follow along!