Keeping Weeds out of Flower Beds

RE: Keeping Weeds out of Flower Beds Post By Katherine (Guest Post) (05/23/2007) Does anyone know if the newspaper or ground cover approach work on garlic mustard? It's a big invasive in my area. As I understand it, the garlic mustard spreads toxins through the roots to kill out the native plants. Thanks RE: Keeping Weeds out of Flower Beds Post By t.williams (Guest Post) (03/26/2007) someone told me to use roofing paper. I will try this and let you know how the out come is. RE: Keeping Weeds out of Flower Beds Post By Albert (Guest Post) (03/19/2007) I put plastic bags around the edge of my flower bed and also put round-up. that should keep the weeds out for some time. I also pulled out the roots of grass that came into the bed. I put my flowers down and I will add mulch and be ready to go... RE: Keeping Weeds out of Flower Beds Post By (Guest Post) (10/25/2006) A friend of mine uses old carpet padding in hers.. its been yrs since she had to weed hers RE: Keeping Weeds out of Flower Beds Post By Ann (Guest Post) (10/10/2006) A friend of mine is also partially disabled. I suggested to her to get a good long-handled hoe to keep the weeds at bay. She could reach a lot of them this way, since she couldn't bend down to pull them herself. She was so pleased, and it really helped. She also has her husband add a lot of mulch and soil around her plants thoughout the year. It seems to choke the weeds off, but the perennials just love it. RE: Keeping Weeds out of Flower Beds Post By Chris (Guest Post) (10/09/2006) You can use a weed pre-emergent such as Preen or any other on the market. I believe Scott's makes one and markets it under their Miracle Grow label. Basically it is a small granual that comes in a shaker can. you shake it around the areas you don't want weeds. It releases a gas that is heavier than air so it lays on the ground and prevents sunlight to get to the germinating weed seeds. It does eventually dissipate and needs to be reapplied 2-3 times per season. You could also use a landscape fabris which is a black woven fiber that allows water to pass through (unlike plastic) but creates a barrier for weeds. It can be difficult to put down around exisiting plants as it would need to be cut , but it is usually worth the effort. It significantly reduces weeds for a few years until the mulch or soil above it gets too deep and then another layer could be reapplied. Request: Keeping Weeds out of Flower Beds Post by moderator (1001) | (10/08/2006) Profile | Blog! | Contact How can I, a physically disabled women, keep grass and weeds out of my front flower bed (consisting of over 200 gladiola bulbs). The flower bed is surrounding my front deck. Also, I have many other plants and flowers throughout the yard? The grass, weeds and wire grass just about ate them all up this past year. There is too much demand on our watering supply to water daily, so I had a deep layer of mulch (that the bulbs wear planted/set into which would and did retain the moisture for the flowers). I hired help to plant the bulbs in mulch that had been sitting for a two to four years BUT the grass, weeds etc. came up making the flower beds looking nasty/dirty and unkept. I do not recall my grandparents having any trouble with their bulbs being over run by grass and weeds. Perhaps I was too young to notice them out daily weeding to notice why their flower beds always looked fantastic! Please help with some sort of deterrent for me to use for this problem. Laying a layer of water soaked newspaper and covering it with more mulch was suggested to stop the weeds/grass from growing. I haven't tried this yet, has anyone of you done this sort of thing or anything else to be a deterrent to weeds & grass growing in the flower beds? Any help or suggestion will be greatly appreciated and used next spring in 2007 as I am sure that the over 200 gladiola bulbs will nearly double (or I am hoping they will). Thanks and God bless you & yours. Hardiness Zone: 7b Paula Answers: RE: Keeping Weeds out of Flower Beds That was going to be my suggestion... using newspapers to help block the weeds. This fall, I'd suggest cutting the weeds as short as possible. If you wait until the glad foliage dies back you can cut them down too. Then just lay a 4-6 sheet layer of black/white newspaper over the area, water it down and then mulch with chopped leaves or shredded bark about 3" deep. If you have other perennials, then you would want to lay the newspaper around those plants before mulching. I use this method all the time, and can really kick myself when I don't. It usually lasts me 12-16 months before I start to notice weeds again. I have one bed that just has a few shrubs, so I used a much thicker layer of newspaper and it has been two years since I put down the newspaper under the mulch. You may still have weed seeds drop into the bed, but they are very easy to pull if the sprout in the mulch. If you have a lot of creeping weeds, make sure you edge the bed with some sort of barrier. I like metal edging, but plastic works too if you don't have to compete with any tree roots. (09/14/2006) By adina72 RE: Keeping Weeds out of Flower Beds If you can deprive the weed seeds of light, they wont be able to sprout. Newspapers are great for this. They are what I use. Some people purchase a plastic made for this purpose. Plastic doesnt break down after several years and need to be replaced. (09/15/2006) By Carol in PA Tip: Keeping Weeds out of Flower Beds Post by moderator (1001) | (09/10/2006) Profile | Blog! | Contact Over the past several years I have become very careful with the environment and what pesticides and the like can do. When I want to make another flower bed, instead of spraying roundup, I put down several layers of newspaper and plant the items, and then mulch. Works everytime and is much safer. By Sandie Jones Answers: RE: Keeping Weeds out of Flower Beds Be careful if you use newspapers around your house's foundation and walls. The papers on the ground could attract termites. These termites could possibly transfer over to the wooden structure of the house and make it one of their snacks! (09/22/2005) By P.