Weeds

I realized this week the I haven’t posted in quite a while. I feel like I am doing a lot but not getting a lot done. Do you ever feel like that. My baby is getting big, he’s tripled in weight in 5 months. Which is great because he started out at 5 pounds, which was way too small. So that pretty much explains where a majority of my time and sleep has gone to. The other thing I have been doing a lot lately is pulling weeds. sigh.

The thing about having a garden is that you are always going to have to deal with weeds. It is just a constant thing. We do have a lot of strategies that help keep the weeds down to manageable levels but I realized a few years ago, that I just need to accept the fact that pulling weeds is a regular job with a yard or garden. I started planning to spend at least an hour each week pulling weeds. Often I spend more like an hour a day.

I don’t know that you can ever get rid of weeds completely, at least in a permanent way. Maybe if you buy your dirt, or sterilize it. Which was not realistic for us. But there are a few things we use to make them less of a problem. We still have weeds, but they don’t take over, usually.

Ground cover

The first method I will mention is covering. We use ground cloth and cover it with mulch, grass clippings or leaves. This makes it so the weeds never see sun, which makes it harder for them to grow.

However, there are some weeds that will still grow through the cloth, like morning glory, so annoying. So we still have to pull up weeds around the ground cover occasionally, but not nearly as much. Another benefit to this method is that it keeps the ground from drying out so fast, which is helpful when you live in the desert, like we do.

This works really well around plants like tomatoes or peppers which grow like a bush, because we cut a hole in the cloth to plant them. We also use a drip irrigating system to get water to the base of each plant. Which brings me to the next method.

Selective watering

The next thing that helps keep weeds down is limiting water to them. Plants need water to grow. So, we try really hard to only water where we have plants growing. This isn’t a totally perfect system, it wouldn’t really work if you live in an area that gets plenty of rain. We don’t get enough rain for our garden to grow without irrigation, so we can do it.

We use drip irrigation when we can, because it takes the water directly to the plant. Some of our crops grow in rows, like corn, peas and carrots. So we put water in a ditch next to the plant. Which means more weeds will grow in the ditch than in other places, but that is just the way it goes.

There are a few plants that are native to the area that do survive just fine without getting much water, but they would do better if they had water. If you look at our garden when it hasn’t rained in a long time you can tell that it makes a difference. If we have had a lot of rain recently, you will see weeds growing everywhere.

Hoeing

You might be surprised to know that I had no experience hoeing until I started gardening with my husband a few years ago. Even though my parents had a garden when I was a kid. I guess I just avoided that chore. If you have never done it you might need to go buy a hoe. They make some that are specifically for weeding, rather than making furrows. Basically, you take the hoe and drag it through the weeds, cutting the roots under the dirt. This method is great for the large areas that are in between plants. You wouldn’t want to do this right next to your plants or you might accidentally hit something that’s not a weed. But it is great for getting big areas done quickly.

Hand pulling

For most of the rest of your weeds, you just have to pull them out. It may or may not surprise you but this is probably how we deal with a large majority of our weeds. As long as you get to them early and often you will be able to keep your weeds in check. But if you don’t keep an eye on them they can quickly get away from you.

I know it’s a little depressing, but hang in there, it will be worth all the effort. Your plants will thank you. And when you finally get to harvest the fruits of your labors, they will be all the sweeter.