OUT IN THE YARD: Reducing weeds in your garden
Published 10:00 am Thursday, April 25, 2019
With spring comes weeds, weeds and more weeds!
This time of year, many weeds are beginning to wake up from their dormant state and spring to life. For a gardener in general, but especially in the vegetable garden, getting rid of these weeds without spraying harmful chemicals is not an easy task. Many vegetable gardeners like the thought of growing food organically without putting chemicals into the soil or groundwater, but pulling weeds is back-breaking work. Here are some chemical-free ideas to help reduce the number of weeds in the garden:
Mulching
Mulching is the first method that most gardeners use to control weeds. However, if not done early enough in the season, mulching will not work.
A 2-3-inch layer of mulch should be applied to the soil before weed seeds begin to germinate. This could mean mulching as early as February, depending the temperatures. If a garden is mulched after the weed seeds germinate, the weeds will grow up through the mulch.
Since it is already well past the time that weeds germinate, there is an extra way to improve your mulch layer. Before applying mulch to your garden, remove all the weeds, lay down 10 layers of newspaper, and then layer the mulch on top of the newspaper. Do not use the shiny newspaper in the vegetable garden.
Last year, I used a commercial weed barrier, which worked well, but it all had to be pulled up this spring. Newspaper will break down and compost into the soil without this added work.
Good mulches for vegetable gardens include leaf compost, pine straw, or rice hulls. Rice hulls can be obtained at Douget’s on Major Drive in Beaumont.
Design
Another way to reduce weeds in the garden is to have a thoughtful design. If you can find fungal disease-resistant plants, these can be planted closer together, which reduces the spaces where weeds can grow. Plants of different heights can also be planted close together to help shade the soil and reduce weed seed germination. Low-growing plants can be used as ground cover around taller plants.
I have planted watermelon next to okra. This gives the melons space to spread and helps shade the soil in the process. Just make sure the melon vines do not begin to climb the okra stalks.
There are many ways to control weeds, but prevention is always the best. Make sure to pull any weeds before they seed and you will help prevent the spread of hundreds of seeds. Follow these steps, and the garden will be more enjoyable and less back-breaking.
Reach Jefferson County Master Gardener Melissa Starr at melynstarr@hotmail.com or call the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service at (409)835-8461.