3 Weeding tips for your garden

Weeding is a gardener’s favourite pastime… said no one ever!

Thankfully there is a lot of ways to limit the amount of weeding required to keep your garden looking great, and over time it will get easier and easier if you implement some of these techniques.

1- Mulch, mulch, mulch – Straw, wood chips, shredded leaves… any organic matter will help your soil over time as well as stop weeds from growing.

Mulch pathways early to stop weed problems before they start – a layer of cardboard underneath the mulch will stop any perennial from growing through the mulch.

Any exposed soil left bare is a weed magnet, so make sure plants will cover it or cover it with something else if you don’t want to weed it.

2- Black plastic is a great way to rid yourself of any weeds, but anything that doesn’t let light through will work (old swimming pool liner, tarp, old carpeting, sheet metal). Just make sure it is secured to the ground, as wind can pick it up and potentially send it flying (except for carpet!). It’s the lazy way to weed, and the only way to work on perennial weeds that are hard to kill by just pulling them out. 

Take weed patrol walks frequently to catch flowering weeds before they produce seeds – Over time there will be less and less weed seeds in your soil and weeding becomes a breeze. Make sure that there isn’t any around your garden since seeds can be blown away and potentially land in your soil!

3- Cultivating, hoeing and hand pulling are still the major control methods for weeding. It might sound like a lot of works and is usually still needed even if you use mulch. But over time it will be less and less necessary if you make sure that no more weeds go to seed and perennial weeds are under control.

Some weeds that you don’t want to be tilling are dandelions and quackgrass, since they’ll grow back from any tiny piece of root left in the ground.

Hoeing can be a fast way to get rid of tiny annual weeds starting to grow. Doing it at the right time with a sharp hoe makes weeding easy. Make sure you hold it properly and keep your back straight so that it doesn’t become painful.

And then hand weeding is always necessary to get the weeds that grow really close to your plants. It doesn’t have to be time consuming and boring, as you can see the progress you’re making right away. But if it’s a large task, it’s a good idea to break it up in smaller parts than to get discouraged or trying to get it all done in one go and get really sore. The key is to not get overwhelmed by waiting too long to get started – weeds can grow really fast in the summer!

Boiling water can also be used on annual weeds, but it will also kill life in your soil. I would only advise using this method when uprooting is really difficult, like between blocks or on a stone walkway.

And remember that some weeds are actually useful. You can feed them to the chickens, or eat them yourself – Lamb’s quarter and purslane are very nutritive, plantain and dandelion are highly medicinal. My favourite thing about gardening is that I can snack there all day without planning to bring any!

Want to learn more about growing vegetables? Sign up for my free workshop ‘’ How to get started growing a vegetable garden’’ happening March 28 at 6pm. Click here to register!