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How on earth does one go about having a bed that looks like this? This photo is of the Idaho Botanical Garden in Boise. (I scalped it from their website:) But what I mean is this; how do they keep it weeded? Not at the botanical garden, they have staff and volunteers. But in real life if I am the staff and the volunteer. How do I do this? I have mentioned in earlier posts how I strongly dislike weeding. I rebuilt a few beds this last year that grass got into and I couldn't eradicate. Then all the new ones I built got weed cloth. Seems to be a moment of bad judgement from what I have read on many other blogs. Apparently it doesn't work that well and not for very long. Landscapers hate it. Home gardeners rue the day they installed it. I guess I boo-booed. I thought it sounded like a grand idea at the time as I have had major weed issues in every other bed I've had in the past. I want the pretty garden with the super fine edges, that looks realistic but fabulous. I know about mulch, I have tried newspaper under 4 inches of mulch. Then in 2 years, you have to remove mulch (sort of) and put down tons of new newspaper and reinstall mulch. I don't mind hard work, but when do I win the battle? Wait.... will I ever win the battle? Is it even possible without hired help? I am open for instruction and ideas. Maybe someone has written a real-life book on the subject of how a working mom and wife can actually have a gorgeous yard and garden while canning and doing laundry, without hiring it done. Let me know!Thursday, March 12, 2009
How On Earth Do You.......
How on earth does one go about having a bed that looks like this? This photo is of the Idaho Botanical Garden in Boise. (I scalped it from their website:) But what I mean is this; how do they keep it weeded? Not at the botanical garden, they have staff and volunteers. But in real life if I am the staff and the volunteer. How do I do this? I have mentioned in earlier posts how I strongly dislike weeding. I rebuilt a few beds this last year that grass got into and I couldn't eradicate. Then all the new ones I built got weed cloth. Seems to be a moment of bad judgement from what I have read on many other blogs. Apparently it doesn't work that well and not for very long. Landscapers hate it. Home gardeners rue the day they installed it. I guess I boo-booed. I thought it sounded like a grand idea at the time as I have had major weed issues in every other bed I've had in the past. I want the pretty garden with the super fine edges, that looks realistic but fabulous. I know about mulch, I have tried newspaper under 4 inches of mulch. Then in 2 years, you have to remove mulch (sort of) and put down tons of new newspaper and reinstall mulch. I don't mind hard work, but when do I win the battle? Wait.... will I ever win the battle? Is it even possible without hired help? I am open for instruction and ideas. Maybe someone has written a real-life book on the subject of how a working mom and wife can actually have a gorgeous yard and garden while canning and doing laundry, without hiring it done. Let me know!
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preen is awesome! if you want you can use organic preen or buy corn gluten from certain feed stores. its the same thing as organic preen.
ReplyDeleteI have an edger that i use a few times a year to keep the edhes cleaned up too. Thats all i can say cus my garden beds are never perfect either.
I use the black weed block fabric in my flowered landscaped areas and love it. For sure it gets weeds, but not nearly as many as without it. There may be no sure fix against weeds but I get much less weeds in the beds with the fabric than the ones without. Have never used it in the veggie garden though.
ReplyDeleteHeavily planted gardens have fewer weeds. Remember, botanic gardens have STAFF of many to weed, weed, weed. I'm teaching my little guy what is OK to pull. It's a risky endeavor but I hope some day he'll actually be a big help. I know what you mean though, it's just not realistic to have a perfect garden all the time. For now, I just think of weeding as therapy. I apparently need lots and lots of therapy!
ReplyDeleteOne thing they do is angle their shovels to form a good barrier at the edges. In other words cut a ditch with your shovel between the bed and the grass.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, go out and quickly hoe the beds several times a week.That's not as bad as it sounds. I have almost an acre and it takes me about 30 minutes a day if I keep at it daily. I spy a little green twin and then..... Chop off the weeds at the ground with a good triangle shaped hoe.
I don't like the weed cloth and don't use preen. Either will stop the germination of beneficial reseeding. Good luck. We all feel your pain.
I often tease my husband that I should marry the mulch man! We have a local business named "The Mulch Man" and I would love to have all the mulch I need for the flower beds. Hubby reminded me that the Mulch Man probably has the worst looking yard in town! ha
ReplyDeleteHeather,
ReplyDeleteYou might be able to get free mulch at your local landfill. If you can lay it on very heavy. I too like the weed as you go method, it takes just a few minutes a day.
The guy who fixes my lawn mower has a peony patch like this his is so full it hardly has room for weeds. Nope he wouldn't share as tiny division with me....
This is what I do in my gardens who have only me to tend to them. First of all, don't expect complete perfection such as in the garden pictured. It is OKAY if there are a few weeds. I promise you. Next, I do the newspapers with mulch. Doesn't matter what kind, leaves, shredded wood, or pine needles. This mulch and newspapers last about one year or so. Then you have to replace the mulch. I don't pull up the mulch to redo the newspaper. Nope. But! I do diligently walk thru the gardens at least once a day, maybe twice and pull weeds as I walk. Sometimes in one garden the weeds will get a head of me then I have to dedicate myself to fixing it. What a pain. But not so much anymore because after a few years of good gardening, the weeds are fewer and far between. Plus, as the season wears on and you have the plants fill in the weeds don't stand a change-even without mulch. So as summer comes, things here slow down. It is really the spring and early summer that you must work the weeds. But after that relax. The trick is to do a little at a time. That one garden would really be nothing. It is when you have tons that takes the most time. Just my two cents:)
ReplyDeleteForgot to say on the edge, I use this edge too. I am lucky in that I have fescue grass (it does not run) so it is not a big issue to keep it out of the gardens. I edge with a shovel about 2-3 times per year-that's it! An easy job! No weedwhacking; which I hate to do.
ReplyDeleteHeather, I agree with all the above but would add - Know thy enemy! Know which weeds seed very quickly and must be got out first, other weeds can be left a little longer until you have time. I do emergency weeding - pull chickweed (grows and seeds in 7 weeks!), pick flowers of dandelions (don't always have time for the tap root) and ignore all other weeds. Nice to be able to go around every few days but life gets in the way or the weather.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes Sylvia (England)
Hi Heather. It seems to me the older the bed, the better it will be to care for. And yes, I plant heavy to fill in and mulch. I also have a good 10 inches between my Edge and the grass. I have rock in my border and CAREFULLY spray them down with roundup as soon as I see anything near them. I struggle the first year or two with a new bed, and know that is where I have to watch, but the older ones are mostly problem free. I have a hillside that is a bear though.... and I feel your pain! Hugs...Brooke
ReplyDeletePreen will only affect seeds. If you use it before the spring seeds germinate it will practically eliminate weeding. I use it in my iris beds and its really amazing. Just follow the directions for use and it will work great. Im going to try the organic version too this spring.
ReplyDeleteI dont use preen in my regular perennial beds because i like my plants to reseed but in the iris beds its perfect.
I agree with Tina. Spring is our worse time for weeds, after we do that pulling, the rest of the year is not so bad. And, don't expect perfection. No one is paying admission to your garden, right?
ReplyDeleteWeeds will happen. I am known as the queen of mulch since I buy bags upon bags every spring.I have landscape fabric down on a couple and like it until I have to cut holes to add new plants.I have used newspapers and even plastic trash bags with holes poked into them. I still get weeds :) No way around it unless we have hired gardeners like they do.I even have a sign which says "free weeds pick your own" but can get no takers :)
ReplyDeleteThere will always be weeds, and there's no perfected method to preventing weeds forever and ever. Don't forget what Malcolm said in Jurassic Park: "Nature will find a way."
ReplyDeleteI've noticed a few things in my beds though. Weed barrier and mulch make a big difference, but so does sun. My sunniest beds are the most prone to weeds, and my shady beds are the least despite my weed barrier and mulching techniques being the same. No wonder amateur shade gardens always look better than amateur sun gardens - very little weeding required.
I've also noticed fewer weeds in my native/naturalized beds as compared to my vegetable garden. The vegetable garden needs more watering, but the native/naturalized garden hardly ever gets watered. The native perennials will out-compete the weeds especially during the summer, but then again, summer is our dormant season here in Central Texas.
I asked that same question at the Wildseed Wildflower Farm and was told about a spray called ornamec. There is also a spray called Over The Top II (which can also be used on edibles. It is sprayed over your flowers & etc. & kills only the grass. It works great. Can be ordered at http://feedseedbarn.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteThis is a huge problem with me, too, Heather. I am glad to see I'm not the only one! I have seen that cutting the bed edges with a sharp spade really helps, but it's an ongoing battle here. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHeather, Hi.... I think we can have a bed like this one if it's the only one we have and it's not as large! It is a beautiful garden bed and surely was cleaned up for the photo shoot! Our botanical garden has plenty of weeds in the beds! I like my plants to seed about and fill in so it will never have the empty spaces that this garden bed has. I love header photo! gail
ReplyDeleteOh, it's lovely! What? It isn't yours? Oh, not to worry! My gardens don't look like that either!
ReplyDeleteI was going to make some suggestions, but I see most of them have been mentioned.
ReplyDeleteCutting the edge, and having a small trench inside filled with mulch helps to keep the grass out. It needs to be redone periodically.
Getting an early start in the spring on the weeding really helps too. I do some longer stints in the spring, and then the weeding for the rest of the year isn't as bad.
I find underplanting shrubs and tall perennials with shorter plants and groundcovers helps keep the weeds down, and looks pretty too.
If the ground isn't covered, then something will grow, so adding mulch each year helps.
We all have a few areas where weeds get ahead of us for a while, so some selective vision helps too. Looking at the pretty peony flower, instead of the ground is more enjoyable.
Guess it's all been said. My hubby put down that cloth and it just got in my way. He does the biggest majority of weeding around here - I'm pretty slow and have to take more breaks than do work because of my back and the surgery I had. I just keep plunkin' away and I get there.
ReplyDeleteI did use Preen and another one I can't remember the name of and really loved it. And it WON'T hurt your flowers like some things. I just threw it like chicken scratch. But now I've quit using it because I also heard it would make the ground sterile and no reseeding. Besides now I get to see my hubby down on his knees more. hehehe
Not a big fan of black plastic, how is the soil supposed to do it's thing if it is being suffocated.
ReplyDeleteThere is no such thing as a maintenance free garden but mulching and a quick walk around the garden every so often pulling weeds seems the best thing I have found so far.
Digging the shovel into the edge of the lawn and making a small groove between lawn and garden also seems to work quite well for me.
Regards Penelope
Thank you all so much for your awesome advice and comments. I already spend a while every morning walking and pulling weeds. That seems to be a good method. I just wondered if there was a better way. As my beds grow and there is less grass, I want to keep up on it well. I think I will also try the trench and add even more mulch. Preen is in the garage and ready to go. Thank you all again! I beg, you all came running with good suggestions.
ReplyDelete-Heather
Honestly, I consider it my free gym membership. You just have to get out there and do it. I suppose round-up is good at killing weeds if you like chemicals...I stay away from preen, I think it is really toxic to the water ways...and I get a head ache when ever I go near it.
ReplyDeleteLandscaping your lawn and garden can get rid of and prevent further weed growth and Aerating your soil regularly can stop the growth of some weeds.
ReplyDeleteHope the above helps!