A flower garden is an attractive feature and a relaxing sight for sore eyes. When tired of the daily tribulations, having their fragrances waft around you as you relax, your mind can be refreshing. However, there are a few things that can destroy that aura and comfort that many seek when they decide to plant a flower garden.
One of the significant kinks of having such a garden is non-flowers or weeds. Any other plant growing on the bed that does not resemble your flower is a weed. These not only compete for nutrients with your flowers but also deplete and destroy the beauty that the beds hold.
Table of Contents
Ways to prevent weeds in your small garden
Cover the Ground
It is the most straightforward and most effective way of eliminating weed infestation, plant your flower close together, leaving no room for weeds.
The appearance of the flowers at a glance will also be level. Besides, they appear lush and healthy as they have no competition for nutrients in the soil.
Prepare Land before Planting
There is no better way than plugging the problem at the base. In this case, the land preparation process before planting should help eliminate any unwanted plants from your bed. The initial stage in which you prep the soil for planting helps reduce any seedlings and weeds that may infringe the plants once your water and add fertilizer.
Level the land and toss the soil to remove any weeds hiding underneath the top layer. When using organic manure, add the compost to the ground several weeks before the planting period. If there are any seedlings present in the slurry, they get a chance to grow and announce themselves for your removal, or they die before they get a chance to hold on and germinate.
Mulching
Different flowers have different needs. If you live in a sunny area or planning to grow your flowers during summer, you may need to protect the soil from direct sunlight.
Using organic materials such as dried up grass, sawdust, and others to cover the ground is what professional’s terms as Mulching.
This process protects the soil from losing too much water to the atmosphere, but it also prevents weeds from growing, keeping your flowers healthy.
Mulching has a few conditions for the process to be successful. First, you have to make a full cover by piling layers of organic materials. The depth should be approximately six inches. Wood chippings make excellent materials for Mulching as they kill any weed that tries to penetrate through the layer.
Plastic mulch is an additional mulch material that farmers are exploring. If the content does not appeal to your eyes and damages the overall appearance, consider adding chippings to accomplish a better garden flower coloring.
Expose Soil to the Sun’s Heat (Soil Solarization)
Extreme sunshine causes extreme heat on the soil, killing any weeds in formation. However, solarisation is an expensive process and can only occur for extensive farmlands.
One has to ensure that there is available time to complete the polarization process and have the means to cover any resulting costs. A lot of raking follows to smooth the land soil. Watering the considerable expanse and following it up with a new cover brings the ground back to a regular type that works for your flowers.
To ensure the plastic cover, you place on your small garden or vast farmland remains in place for the expected duration, place stones on top. Keep the environment surrounding the garden a little wet or moist.
Use Your Hands
If the weeds catch you unaware and you need to remove them entirely from your flower garden, the most logical solution is uprooting them using your hands. Hold onto the weed in question and pull while minding your flowers. The process requires you to remove the weeds earlier in their growth stage before they gain momentum and spread through the entire garden. Therefore, regularly monitor your gardens and pull out any plant that makes an appearance.
Weeding out using your hands can be fun, but it is also taxing and requires a level of commitment and consistency. Create a schedule that allows you to monitor and weed out your garden at regular intervals. Also, try to remove them as seedling before they mature and shed more seeds on your patio. Using a fork can help make the weeding process more straightforward and efficient.
Herbicides
These should be the last result as they can have devastating effects on the surroundings. First, they can kill the flowers you are desperately trying to salvage from the weeds, pollute the soil and environment making it inhabitable for pets and other small animals. Also, they may have no lasting effects on the plants.
It is advisable to use pure herbicides containing benign chemical compounds that do not have adverse effects on the surroundings. Follow the guidelines that manufacturers are providing in their packaging, including when mixing up the solution. Gradually progress to other types of herbicides, and be sure to check on your flowers to determine if the herbicide is working or not.
Cover up Top Soil
The topsoil or loose soil makes up the nutritious part of the land for any vegetation. Once a seedling is in the topsoil, all it requires is a bit of moisture, warmth, and sunlight to germinate. Therefore, when farming your garden, you overturn the topsoil. Any seedlings for unwanted plants in it begin to grow this the need for a cover.
Weed at the Right Time
Similar to other processes, weeding requires an appropriate timeline. If it rains, that is the best time to weed your garden full of flowers.
Arm yourself with the best fork, a sitting pad, and storage or bin for collecting the weeds in for disposal. Uprooting the plants when the ground is soft to the touch will save you energy and effort.
Using fishtail to weed out more enormous weeds, especially those with deeply sited roots, is advisable. It does not mean that pone cannot weed during summer or when the conditions are a bit dry. However, one should be ready to exert more effort and use a hoe instead of a fork.
Be Selective When Watering
Water is an essential part of plant growth, and if you want them to die, let them wither and dry by withholding water. Therefore, conduct selective watering for your flowers and leave the weeds to dry-up. However, it is a feat that is hard to accomplish as the flowers grow mixed up with the pots making it challenging to differentiate between the two when watering. However, using a soaker or drenching hose can save you the trouble as it is indeed selective.
Conclusion
A uniform bed with no weed in the site can be a dream come true for your garden. However, you have to select the right means of weeding it out. Ensure commitment and be consistent in monitoring and removing the weeds. Only then can you achieve a weed-free garden.
Andrew Wright here, I created Akgardenexpert.com to give people a better product insight before they make that all-important purchase.
I usually cover the flower beds with small pebbles. So the grass does not pass through stones, and it looks much more aesthetically pleasing than just the earth.
Herbicides not only can badly affect the garden due to chemicals, but also due to inability to use them. They are best applied to plants in the evening, when the sun has already set. Otherwise, under the influence of sunlight, the leaves will have chemical burns.
I want my flowerbeds were nice, so I’d like to use as safe means as possible. I’m afraid it’s dangerouse to use so hard chemicals
I am laying a special biodegradable flooring, first making a holes where the plant must be, and pouring some more earth and drainage on top. Weeds just don’t have a chance to break through such a layer.