The worst part about weed control in flower beds is that it never seems to stop. As soon as you kill weeds, others grow to replace them.
Once you remove one series of invaders from your lawn, then there seems to be a new patch in another area of your garden.
The question on many gardeners’ lips is, what kills crabgrass and weeds permanently and can help keep pulling weeds on a weekly basis?
You can find many solutions for preventing weeds in garden flower beds and lawns, although the best way to stay weed-free is being consistent and using various strategies.
When maintaining lawn integrity, you can find the degree of weed infestation will be the primary influence on your weed control game plan. Organic weed killers such as vinegar can help; they can also kill your desirable flowers as well.
Now, you need to know if you need spot treatment, all-over application, or whether you need to use a selective herbicide when treating weeds in flower beds.
By the end of this guide, you can learn the best way to deal with weeds and weed seeds in your garden, so they are no longer as much of an issue in your flower bed.
How Do I Get Rid of Weeds in My Flower Beds Naturally?
There are many natural ways to get rid of weeds naturally in your garden, yet some are unsightly to use even if they are free. (Find the Best Weed Killer That Won’t Kill Flowers)
Newspaper
One of the earliest is to make a blanket of newspaper around your flower bed. This stops sunlight and oxygen reaching the weed seeds, and will also prevent any sprouted weeds developing any further.
Shower Curtains
You can make a weed barrier using old shower curtains or bits of carpet around your flower bed liker the above. However, with all these, you need to cover them with mulch to hide them and to prevent your layers of newspaper blowing away.
Corn Gluten Meal
You can spread corn gluten meal around your plant that has established, as this can prevent weed germination. You can also apply late in the growing season to stop late-season weeds.
Hot Water
For a quick fix and one that won’t harm an existing plant in boiling water. You will find it kills weeds by cooking them, yet cools down by the time it reaches any other plants. Hot water is free and effective, yet you will still need to hand pull the weeds that are dried up.
What is the Best Thing to Put Under Mulch to Prevent Weeds?
Mulch is one of the best ways to stop weeds; however, there are perennial weeds such as nutsedge that can’t be prevented, so you may still need to use an excellent organic weed killer to keep weeds at bay.
Mulch though is a great way to deal with weeds, and you can add this every time you prepare your plant area and flower beds early in the year.
One downside being, as it is organic matter, you could find you are planting weed seeds that found their way into the mulch ready to grow.
Mulch stops light as does your old newspaper, yet by itself, it can still be home for weeds. To stop them even more, you can add a layer of landscape fabric, weed control fabric or black plastic sheeting (poke holes for water drainage).
All these prevent all light from reaching the soil when mulching. However, most of these are biodegradable and will break down over time.
Weed barrier cloth will let air and water and nutrients to pass through to the soil. While it stops weeds, it doesn’t harm your landscape or your plants.
Another advantage is once you add a thick layer of mulch around three to four inches deep, you don’t have to top it up as often around your garden.
When you use landscape fabric, it breaks the contact of garden soil and mulch, thus preventing the mulch sinking in the soil.
One mistake gardeners often make is to hand rake their mulch to make it look nice and tidy. Not touching the surface is one of the top tips and one of the better ways of keeping weeds from sprouting. (Learn How to Mulch Flower Beds)
Every time you rake or disturb the top layer of mulch, you are creating ideal growing conditions for the weeds seeds that are dormant on the surface. These will quickly grow, and although weeding is quick as they are easy to pull by hand, it is more work.
How Do You Prevent Weeds Permanently?
The best way to stop weeds in your flower bed permanently is to use a combination of tactics.
First, you need a good pre-emergent weed killer. There are many you may like to use that won’t harm your plants. However, you do need to check the best weedkiller that won’t kill flowers.
With an application of this, you can add a good layer of your weed control fabric of choice. Just remember these stop weeds growing, yet will break down over time, and need to be replaced.
Add your thick layer of mulch and spread it evenly. Remember not to touch is once applied at any time weed roots can sprout. Hot periods in summer could be Okay as the weeds wouldn’t germinate at this time.
With this, you may find small amounts of weeding are necessary, yet the roots won’t take hold, and you can pull them easily.
One last tip to help is to fill your flowerbed with annuals and perennials. Once you have thick plantings, these easily overpower a solitary weed or two, and weeding is hardly required.
Weeds can’t get the light they need and will miss out on the much-needed nutrients. (Learn How Much Sun Do Roses Need)
Besides, your plants can help cut down on your work. The soil can remain moist as the sun can’t dry it out from the colorful foliage, and you won’t need to soil the water as much in your garden flower beds.
You can also find, planting flowers in this way means you won’t have to work as much and add mulch cover as much as you would previously.
Read more: What Kills Chickweed
