Pacific Northwest Gardening: Taming the wild garden, 1 by Katye

Katye wrote:
You'd be surprised at how many people approach gardening as has been described. There are positives to jumping around (yes, i dug deep for these excuses - but they are logical!), such as limiting repetitive motion (less injuries if you vary what you are doing), and, being in the particular space at different times of the day allows you to experience what the plants would in terms of heat, wind, soil conditions & moisture content, not to mention the evil weeds that grow there.
I get bored quickly, so I hop around. I spend an average of 20 hrs on the weekend, and 10 during the week. I am on 1 1/2 acres, so there is always something that needs to be done.
Weeding is a huge time consumer: but Susy is spot-on about getting all the roots out. Short term pain = long term pleasure...
However, the time that is necessary to perform this endeavour is limited.

examples: I weedeat the orchard & let the sun dry out the remains. I can remove it, or let it stay in place: thinking of it as free mulch.
The borders get watered & then weeded from front to back - what is readily within view is what counts.

It really helps to know your weeds & what grows where. This can tell you lots about the condition of your soil, too.

Tap root weeds get Round-up; anything easy to pull, gets pulled. I work in the shade during the heat of the day, morning & evening are reserved for the hard, sweaty work.

Vegetable garden gets a going through every 2 - 3 weeks - this has been essential as it has the optimal conditions for producing excellent weed specimens.
Gravel paths get the burn treatment.
The perimeters of my property might get Round-up once a year, as do any blackberries that the birds have so lovingly provided.

I am not a human weeding machine - I am sick of it after 20+ years, but it is part of working/maintaining your land.
I also make use of a small & very sharp japanese hoe - works good for quickly skimming the soil surface in those areas close to plants that are too "tight" for a weedeater. A small hand rake is useful, too.

Although it is difficult to see the end of weeding and giving up entirely is not part of my mindset, I believe that keeping up with it is an essential to reducing weeding time.
I made a rule for myself too: if i move a plant, both the area that I am moving it from & moving it to, must be weeded to about 2' radius of the plant.
I think it is overwheming to see ALL that looks wrong or messy. Working in small increments has advantages, as long as you are aware of the priorities associated with growing plants well.
Watering takes precedence over pruning, but I always have my pruning shears with me, because I can prune while the hose is busy watering an area.
Same goes for weeding - what is seen first, then what is hidden. And get the thugs out before they flower & go to seed. Weed birth control...
Too much to think about, so back outside to continue my multi-tasking for the weekend!
I'll leave you with this so you don't have weeds on the brain: