Learning how to keep weeds under control can save you a lot of work later in the growing season. Weeds have an impressive way of showing up exactly where nobody invited them. One week your garden beds look clean and freshly mulched. The next week, crabgrass, chickweed, dandelions, and some mystery vine are acting like they paid rent.
Here at our plant farm in Dallas, Georgia, weeds can grow quickly once warm weather, summer rain, and Georgia sunshine get involved. The good news is you don’t have to spend every weekend pulling weeds.
A few simple habits can make a big difference.
Quick Answer
The best way to keep weeds under control is to prevent them from getting established. Add a good layer of mulch, pull weeds while they are small, remove them before they go to seed, avoid leaving bare soil exposed, and fill open areas with healthy plants or ground covers. If you use herbicides, follow the label carefully and protect nearby shrubs, flowers, and other plants you want to keep.
Why Garden Weeds Become a Problem
Weeds are more than an eyesore.
They compete with the plants you actually want for:
- Water
- Sunlight
- Nutrients
- Root space
That competition can be especially hard on newly planted shrubs and flowers that are still trying to develop strong roots.
Weeds can also make it harder to see what is happening around the base of a plant. Thick weed growth may hide insect problems, fungal issues, poor drainage, or damage from string trimmers.
The easiest weed to deal with is usually the one you stop before it gets big.
Use Mulch to Keep Weeds Under Control
Mulch is one of our favorite ways to reduce weeds in landscape beds.
A good layer helps block sunlight from reaching many weed seeds. It also helps the soil hold moisture and keeps the root zone cooler during our hot Georgia summers.
Good choices include:
- Pine straw
- Pine bark
- Shredded hardwood mulch
- Wood chips
The University of Georgia Extension recommends mulching as one of the most effective ways to prevent weeds from becoming established in garden areas.
For most of our shrub and flower beds, we want enough mulch to cover the soil without burying the plants.
Keep mulch pulled slightly away from stems and trunks. Don’t pile it against the base of a shrub like a volcano.
Mulch should be a blanket for the soil, not a turtleneck for the plant.
Pull Weeds While They Are Small
A tiny weed usually takes a few seconds to remove.
Wait a few weeks and that same weed may have deeper roots, multiple stems, flowers, and seeds.
We try to catch weeds early whenever possible.
Walk through your beds once or twice a week during the growing season. If you see a young weed, pull it before it has time to settle in.
Weeds are often easier to pull after rain or watering when the soil is softer.
Try to remove the root instead of snapping off only the top.
For stubborn weeds, a small hand weeder or hori hori knife can make the job much easier.
Don’t Let Weeds Go to Seed
This is one of the most important habits you can develop.
One weed may not look like much of a problem until it produces hundreds of seeds.
Once a weed begins flowering, remove it as soon as possible.
If it already has mature seed heads, we usually prefer putting it in the trash rather than adding it to a home compost pile. Some weed seeds can survive and come right back when that compost is spread around the garden.
Stopping one weed today may prevent dozens of weeds later.
Avoid Leaving Bare Soil
Weeds love an empty space.
If sunlight can reach exposed soil, weed seeds have a better chance of germinating.
Once a bed is planted, cover open soil with mulch.
You can also use shrubs, perennials, and ground covers to gradually fill larger areas.
If you have open spaces where weeds keep coming back, our guide to choosing the best ground cover plant for any area of your yard can help you find plants that fit the sunlight and growing conditions.
Just remember to check mature size before planting.
Crowding plants together too tightly may reduce airflow and create a different set of problems.
Avoid Disturbing the Soil More Than Necessary
Garden soil contains plenty of weed seeds that may remain buried until they receive enough light to germinate.
Deep digging and repeated tilling can bring those seeds closer to the surface.
That doesn’t mean you should never dig.
If you’re planting a shrub, dividing perennials, or improving a bed, digging is obviously part of the job.
But once the bed is established, try not to turn the soil over constantly.
For routine weeding, shallow cultivation is usually enough.
Then cover the disturbed area with mulch again.
Fill Garden Beds With Healthy Plants
A well-planted bed gives weeds fewer places to grow.
Shrubs, perennials, and ground covers eventually create shade at soil level and reduce large open areas.
This doesn’t eliminate weeds completely, but it can make them much easier to manage.
If you’re trying to fill an awkward sunny, shady, wet, or dry part of your yard, see our guide to the best plants for problem areas in your yard.
Matching the plant to the conditions usually works much better than planting something just because the space is empty.
Use Landscape Fabric Carefully
Landscape fabric can be useful in certain situations.
It may make sense under:
- Gravel paths
- Decorative stone
- Areas that won’t be replanted frequently
We don’t consider it a perfect solution for every flower bed.
Leaves, mulch, soil, and organic matter eventually collect on top of the fabric. Once that happens, weeds can germinate above it anyway.
Landscape fabric can also make it harder to add plants, divide perennials, or improve the soil later.
For many shrub and perennial beds, we prefer good planting, mulch, and regular maintenance.
Be Careful With Weed Killers
Herbicides can be useful, but they need to be treated with respect around desirable plants.
Non-selective herbicides can injure or kill almost any green plant they contact.
That includes your shrubs.
Spray can also drift on a breeze and land on nearby leaves.
Always:
- Read the product label
- Follow the mixing and application directions
- Avoid spraying on windy days
- Protect nearby flowers and shrubs
- Keep products away from children and pets as directed by the label
When a weed is growing right beside a shrub or perennial, hand pulling is often the simplest option.
If you do use a treatment, apply it only as directed.
What We Do Around Our Plant Farm
We’ve found that weed control is much easier when it becomes part of normal garden maintenance instead of a once-a-summer project.
When we walk through beds, we’ll pull a weed here and there while checking plants.
That might not sound like much, but five minutes today can prevent a much bigger job next month.
We also rely heavily on mulch.
Here in Georgia, mulch gives us more than weed control. It helps protect the soil from summer heat and slows moisture loss around shrubs.
That combination makes it one of the most useful things we can add to a landscape bed.
A Simple Weed-Control Routine
You don’t need a complicated program.
Try this:
Once a week:
Walk through the beds and pull young weeds.
When weeds flower:
Remove them before they produce seed.
As mulch gets thin:
Refresh it where soil is becoming exposed.
When planting new areas:
Choose plants that fit the location and leave enough room for their mature size.
Before using herbicides:
Decide whether hand pulling would be safer and easier.
That little bit of regular attention can save hours of work later.
Final Thoughts
Keeping weeds from taking over your garden is much easier when you stay ahead of them.
Use mulch, pull weeds while they’re young, don’t let them go to seed, and avoid leaving large areas of bare soil.
You don’t need a perfectly weed-free yard.
You just want weeds controlled well enough that your shrubs, flowers, and other plants get the water, light, nutrients, and space they need.
Around here, we’d much rather spend a few minutes pulling small weeds today than spend an entire Saturday fighting a jungle next month.
For more practical gardening tips based on what we grow and see here at Bobby & Lynn’s Plant Farm, follow us on Facebook and check out our other garden guides.
