Crowding Plants
Plants with broad leaves, such as squash and cabbage, do a good job of crowding out weeds. Vigorous lawn grasses that form a tight turf naturally crowd out weeds. To keep turf tight, apply a slow-release organic fertilizer during your lawn's most ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Mulching
Where weeds are numerous, try covering the soil with four to six sheets of newspaper. Then cover the newspapers with 2 to 3 inches of organic mulch. Pieces of scrap carpeting make a good weed-suppressing mulch to use in pathways between rows. ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Cultivating
After using either a hoe or tiller to cultivate weeds, go back the next day to nip out any survivors. When battling perennial weeds, you can weaken the plants by chopping them down with a sharp hoe, but it's best to combine hoeing with digging to ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Corn Gluten Herbicides
Powdered herbicides made from corn gluten keep crabgrass and other weed seeds from germinating and growing. They are typically spread on established lawns, but they also can be used in gardens where no seeds will be planted, such as in perennial ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Glyphosate Herbicide
Ready-to-use glyphosate sprays are another option, but spraying with this chemical should be done only in still weather. A small amount of wind can carry the spray to nearby garden plants. As an extra precaution, surround the weed with a ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Organic Herbicides
Soap-based herbicides dehydrate leaves by cutting through their protective layer of cutin. All of these types of organic herbicides work best on young weeds and pose only a temporary setback to well-rooted perennial weeds. To minimize damage to ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Flamers
Flamers are portable gas torches that produce heat intense enough to boil the water in plant cells. Killing a weed requires heat for only 1/10 of a second. Flamers are usually used to kill young weeds in prepared rows, just before seeds or ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Chickweed
Chickweed (Stellaria media) is a widespread, hardy annual often found in moist, fertile garden soil. In mild winter climates it begins blooming before winter ends. Edible but not very tasty, chickweed plants form dense 3-inch-tall mats of foliage ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Reducing Reseeding
Cutting back perennial weeds again and again not only reduces reseeding, it also forces the plants to use up food reserves stored in their roots. In a garden that has gone hopelessly weedy, mowing it down promptly, raking out the seed-bearing ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Woodsorrel
Woodsorrel (Oxalis stricta) is a weedy wildflower that grows either as a perennial or a hardy annual throughout North America. This member of the shamrock family thrives in fertile flower beds, lawns, and in the shady nooks beneath shrubs. Plants ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
White Clover
White clover (Trifolium repens) is a spreading perennial legume that often becomes a volunteer companion crop for lawn grasses. It also turns up in gardens, along with several other clovers that bloom pink or yellow. A little white clover in your ... [... more]
National Gardening Association |
Wild Garlic
Wild garlic (Allium vineale) grows in fall and spring in lawns, fields, and gardens in all but the coldest climates. Often called wild onion, this plant is native to Europe. Wild garlic is especially noticeable in dormant, warm-season lawns or ... [... more]
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