When asked what is one of the most frustrating things about gardening, a follower of mine said weeds. Weeds in a garden or a homestead are devastating. They can detour us from being the most purposeful we can be. Last summer I felt like I just wanted to pretend the weeds weren’t there.
I realized, however, that there are many ways to prevent weeds and keep them from coming back. I had just forgotten. I was just procrastinating.
Identifying the Enemy
Weeds can be a gardener’s worst enemy as well as your crops. They steal nutrients, water, and light. As a gardener or homesteader, we should know what is a weed and what is not. Also, if it is a useful plant for foraging, then deciding whether to keep it or not is a personal decision.
My chickens like to eat weeds, so if I haven’t prevented the culprit from sprouting, I try to cut it back or pull it and throw it to the girls. Knowing if the plant is a perennial, annual, or biennial is also beneficial. If it is an annual, you can just cut it to the ground. Perennials and biennials will just grow back from the root, so you need to yank those out or cover them with cardboard and sheet composting materials. Three inches at least of compost or layers of compost will smother the varmint.
Learning about how the weed spreads is important as well. If it spreads by seed, runners, suckers, etc.
Forgetting Those Seeds Lying Dormant
Before weeds start to seed, take care of them, either by pulling, cutting low, or adding mulching materials. I wouldn’t recommend using a Pre-emergent chemical, but if you do, realize that it will also prevent your wanted seeds from sprouting.
When you go to pull or hoe weeds, try to disturb the soil as little as possible, because light and moisture will cause undesirables to sprout. There can be seeds just resting in the soil for years, waiting for you to bring them to the surface.
Misusing Herbicides
If you are going to use a weed killer, there are some safety things you should know. I prefer to prevent the problem in the first place or to use organic methods, but you do you. When using a weed killer, you should not do this on a windy day. Preferably spray in the evening, when the winds have died down. Wear clothing that is a protectant (long sleeves, long pants, socks, gloves, and eye protection). This is toxic, thus why it’s called a weed ‘killer’.
Check the instructions and use the chemical wisely. Make sure to have the right one for the needs of the plant, some are for broad-leaf plants and some for grasses. A non-selective means that it will kill any plant, it doesn’t care if you planted it or not. Label the sprayer. I label everything in my house, you should too. We don’t need someone in our homes mixing bleach with vinegar. Your plants don’t want to be accidentally sprayed with a weed killer someday. (Sad face here.)
Weeding With the Wrong Weeding Tool
Plants like Dandelion or Burdock should be pulled when the soil is wet. This will help you pull out the whole root. My take on dandelions is that they are a wonderful foraging plant. All parts of the plant are useful and edible. I let some grow in my yard in some places. Burdock is poisonous to Chickens, so I don’t throw those into the chicken run, but they can have Dandelion and they love them! Use a hori hori knife or a dandelion weeder for perennials.
For annuals like chickweed, purslane, and lamb’s quarters ( all edible for chickens, by the way), you can just use a long-handled hoe. I try not to aggravate the soil too much. Or if you have raised beds or have a tight area, you can use a short-handled tool. I prefer my hori hori knife. It’s my go-to for everything. One side is serrated and the other side has a smooth knife edge. You can find one here. I think my son bought me the one I have. I am also thinking of purchasing this. It doesn’t have to be from Amazon, either, I might look on eBay which sometimes has the same items. And, they are all from small companies.
Forgetting Gloves
Sometimes I just go outside to do one thing, and I end up pulling weeds and if I pull the wrong weed I regret it. I think I get the itch like my mom did, she just can’t walk by a weed, even if it’s not her yard. If that ever happens to you, you’ll wish that you had brought your gloves out with you. I have this gardening bench that has an inner compartment and I try to store some gloves inside, just in case. But again, if we do some preventive weed blocking, hopefully, there won’t be as many weeds next gardening season.
I found a business in town that offers to bring you wood chips from their leftovers after grinding down the remnants from cutting down trees. You must find a local company and ask them. The big proud companies just sell their mulch. This idea is genius! This will save us so much money this year.
Relying on Landscape Fabric
If you have landscape fabric, which I don’t in my veggie garden, it will deteriorate at some point. This is recommended to be replaced each year! What a pain. I started ripping out the fabric in our flower garden last year and it was a bugger. I couldn’t even dig in the compacted soil to add plants because no compost could be mixed in since the landscape fabric was in the way.
I found out the landscape fabric creates this barrier where the organic matter and weed seeds accumulate and then they can sprout easily on top. At my house, the barrier had broken down so much that weeds were coming through anyway, and it was harder to weed through all that fabric. Landscape fabric is better for paths, and under outdoor playsets for kids than it is for a garden that is always changing. It is also much cheaper to buy a bag of compost which will enhance your soil, than ripping out all the landscape fabric and laying new down.
Procrastinating Never is a Good Thing Where Weeds are Concerned
If I wait too long to pull the little volunteer seedling of trees, well then, I have a whole other issue. Now I have woody weeds to mess with. They are so much easier to pull when they are young. Once the root is established and the mini tree gets so tall, I have to make sure to pull all the roots or I will be fighting it forever. We’ve been having so much unseasonable warm weather lately and I’m tempted to go out with some cardboard and lay down some mulching layers in my flower garden. A little bit of prevention each day and there won’t be many weeds when spring is finally here.
I don’t want to make the same gardening mistakes I made last year. How about you?
Pin for Later!
Do you do anything to prevent weeds at your house or homestead? What do you do when there are weeds? Do you have any tips or tricks that would help our community? Let us know in the comments below.
Blessings,
Kimberlee
Here is an article on the best gardening gloves in 2024!
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