weed control

This is my first year with a garden, we got it tilled up this spring and the weeds are just terrible now, I have been told that since this is the first year it will be better next year but what can I do in the meantime to help control the weeds without hurting the garden?

If you haven't already, you can put down a thick layer of mulch, that ought to stop some of them from coming up. Otherwise I always hand pull mine because I don't like chemicals (plus there's too much chance of getting them on the plants I want to keep!) It's a lot of work, but once you get things clear if you keep up on it, pull a few weeds every day as you see them come up, then you can keep things under control.

If you think there are seeds in there that are still germinating you could find a pre-emergent herbicide (corn gluten is a natural/organic one but there are synthetic ones as well), that will prevent any seeds that are in the soil from germinating if they haven't already. You'll need to reapply if you get a lot of rain though since it'll wash out. And if you were starting things from seed and they haven't sprouted yet then don't do this since it'll prevent your seeds from germinating too.

I would recommend putting thick layers of newspaper under the mulch. This will smother the weeds and keep them at bay better than mulch alone. You can use other mulches over the paper before the finishing mulch. This is called Lasagna Gardening. I plan to layer several established beds with just the paper and mulch because the weeds are getting out of hand. I've done this before and it really helped. You can do it with new beds and wait till the next year to plant or plant right through the layers--no digging needed. Just make sure you keep the area moist while layering to keep the papers in place and afterward the mulch will hold the moisture in so there is less need to water.

I agree with Kmm44--this is what I do as well. I like the newspaper much, much better than that weed fabric stuff because the newspaper will compost itself, you can do it each time you put in new mulch, and your perinneals will come back through them if it is something that you want to spread or get larger.

Out of curiosity are you talking about a veggie bed or flowers? And are you planting seeds or plants?

Seeing you are a fellow Wisconsinite, I too have very heavy clay soil. The good news it is full of minerals. If you are planting a flower bed your easiest solution is to plant natives (prairie plants and the like) that enjoy our climate and soil. The disadvantage of this plan is that they tend to be a bit invasive so you have to keep an eye on them.

As a landscaper to control weeds we have a trick that we use -
you would put on a rubber glove and then cover that rubber glove with a brown cotton jersery glove. Using round up, pour into a wide container. Dip hand into container of round up- squeeze off excess so it dosen't drip but is slightly wetter then damp.
Touch weeds or smooth hand over weeds- when you notice that the round-up is no longer showing on the weeds- re-dip hand and proceed again. This method on a none windy day can also be used for tall grass that has invaded clumps of perennials. Just touch the tips of the blades of grass- it takes a few weeks for the round-up to get all the way to the roots but kills the entire root of the grass without damaging the perennial plant.
Yesh-yeah, i know- for all you naturalists...your gonna dislike me alot!-LOL
But there is nothing natural about a showcase garden! It takes lots of work to make it look natural!
Garden Hugs,
Sandy

it is a veggie garden, and nice black soil. I do have paper around the the plant's that I either purchased or grew myself but I did alot of stuff by seed too. Thanks everyone!

Hi Sandy,
I used your method to smother the weeds in the vege patch .....
now after 24 hrs the weeds are wilting and browning
what I wanted to know is ....do I pull the weeds out or do I leave them there and mulch the patch ...first with a layer of newspaper (nicely watered down ) then followed with mulch.

Since you used Roundup on them I'd probably remove them, no sense in leaving any residual Roundup to get into your soil when you can avoid it.

Hi Mgowali,
It will not hurt anything to leave the dying plants in there. they will disappear into nothingness, in a short while.
Even when spraying with round-up, if it hits the soil it becomes inactive.
Hope this helps. D-mail if you have any other questions.
Since I also have a roadside stand and eat my own veggies( and I am healthy as a horse) and have been doing this for years...I think I would know it it where harmful to the soil or myself. We have done perodic soil tests on our property and have not had any content go up at all from our pro samples. Frogs, toads and the gallizion birds here also the bugs, butterfly and humans co=exisit in beautiful harmony together in our 2 acres of grassless paradise.... we have been blessed!
Sandy

Forgot to add- it also takes 7 days to completly kill the root system- that is why you leave them alone to wither and croak!-lol
Sandy

It may become inactive in the sense that it's not going to have herbicidal activity after it hits soil, but the chemicals in Roundup do not magically disappear, they will get in the soil, maybe not in a form that can kill plants, but it can get into groundwater, streams, etc. That's why I recommended removing the weeds once they're dead rather than leaving them there to return all their chemicals to the ground. If you google Roundup or glyphosate, you'll find plenty of info about its impact on the environment. It's obviously your personal choice though what to do, it's not going to kill your plants if you leave the weeds there.

Wow, this is a great thread, I'm going to try the newspaper technique!