Imagine you start your yard work early in the morning, making your way outside to rid your garden of the weeds that have seemingly taken over the soil. You spend hours out in the sun working your way from weed to weed, the trimmings bag quickly filling. Finally, you’re done, and you look back at your garden with a sense of satisfaction. You walk back inside, hang up your hat and gardening gloves and think the job is done.
Not even a week later, your garden doesn’t look like you were out there; weeds are everywhere.
Weeds are one of the most tedious, frustrating parts of gardening because it seems no matter what you do, they keep on coming back. We want to preface the rest of the article by saying, unfortunately, there’s no way to rid your garden of weeds permanently, but there are some tips and tricks to make them stay at bay longer.
How to Weed Your Garden in Four Steps
As mentioned above, weeds are just one of the unfortunate things that come with having a garden. We understand they are not fun to deal with, so rather than trying to conquer them with zero direction, here are four steps.
No matter how many there are, don’t be discouraged, just start pulling. When you begin, it is best to start from the edge of your garden and work your way across rather than in the middle. This tip will help make weeding feel a little less daunting as you can see your progress easily.
Dig up the weeds using a long neck screwdriver or shovel and make sure to dig far enough in the ground to get the roots.
Rake the weeds and their roots into a pile and place them in a green waste container or bag. Keep in mind that depending on the weed, some roots may take up a lot of soil and therefore the trimmings bags will grow heavy quickly. While filling up the bag, make sure to check the weight so you can still carry it to the curb.
Use a three-prong cultivator to aerate the soil and catch any roots you may have missed in step two.
Insider tip: If your garden is next to the lawn, Eternal Spring recommends to line edge going counter-clockwise. When you go clockwise, it sprays the grass seed heads into the garden, which will lead to grass growth in the soil.
How to Keep Weeds Out of Your Garden
Now that you have a step-by-step look at how to rid your beautiful garden of weeds, how can you go about keeping them out?
Here are several tips on guaranteeing your garden remains weedless longer:
Make sure to get the roots every time you pull out a weed
Pull the weed as soon as they start to germinate
Remove weeds as soon as they pop up to avoid them going to seed
An expert rule of thumb: weed once a week to maintain optimal appearance to your garden. If this isn’t possible, the most you can get away with is two weeks.
Again, we understand weeding is one of the most tedious parts of gardening, but it is essential to stay on top of it to protect yourself from the overwhelming, hopeless feeling that comes from a yard full of unwanted weeds. If you don’t have time to get out in your garden weekly - or even bi-weekly - we are here to help with a team of expert weeders.
Feel free to contact us at eternalspring@shaw.ca or by phone at 604-971-4844 to receive a free quote.