I use grass clippings to mulch around the plants and atop the walkways. The thicker the layer, the more effective it is. Vigorous weeds will still manage to break through, but they are seriously curtailed. When the clippings turn hay-colored, it even looks good. They also cut down on the soil drying out.

I weed very little--mostly tree seeds that fall into my raised beds, plus the ubiquitous oxalis and violet. The beds are lined with cedar and I mulch with straw, so that helps tremendously. Weeding is by far my least favorite chore.

I hardly weed. I mulch my beds heavily.

Dan

In Mid may I tilled and planted my new garden space 15x65. I didnt have time to mulch right away so in the following 2 weeks my garden was overrun with weeds (some of them a foot high). I used a stirup hoe to weed the entire thing (took about 3 hours) then mulched heavily with straw.

It has been 3 weeks now and I have only pulled a dozen weeds or so that have popped thru the straw.

If you mulch heavily your weeding efforts will be reduced dramatically.

Too much, but at the same time, too little. *sigh* That probably doesn't help, right? ;) I think how much time you spend weeding has much to do with the type of weeds you have to deal with. Those with wimpy annual weeds can mulch and forget. Those of us with perennial weeds, whose roots I swear originate in the centre of the earth, live in a whole different world.

Unless you really want the grass paths for asthetics (and they do look lovely), I'd get rid of them. You can lay down all sorts of tidy things instead - boards, mulch, flat stones or concrete slabs (round or square), etc. My garden is in-ground, but I have dirt paths and enforce the rule of NO stepping in the beds (just as if they were raised) unless you've got a hoe nearby to erase your steps when you're done. If you pay attention to trodding them evenly for the first week or so, they look quite neat and obvious enough that it's plain to visitors (even kids and pets in our case, too) that this is where you walk. I'd go out and take a pic, but it's been raining and I'm behind on the weeding. ;)

If it weren't for a terrible creeping jenny weed that sends runners into the beds, weeding wouldn't be too bad. I'm trying to edge the beds with layers of wet newspapers covered with grass clippings. That way the mower can do a better job. My favorite hand weeder is a Cape Cod style but I've lost my original. It can snag the long roots of witch grass and wild sorrel.

As those above, I mulch heavily (pinestraw) and spend only moments weeding. When I spot a baby popping out, I pull it as I pass by, as I'm picking, etc. Slugs are always there, but they don't do enough damage in my vegetable beds to worry about. I think that's because my beds are constantly being cleared, turned, replanted and remulched. Once a crop stops bearing, I pull it out. Perhaps that keeps the slugs and snails on the run. I am convinced, too, that keeping weeds and grass out of beds limits hiding places for all bad insects and that keeping the plants well fed and well watered (and in good soil) gives them the strength to fight off all but major damage.

I think getting an early start on weeding helps out through the season. I tilled very early (Feb) to break everything up, then almost a month later tilled again before I wanted to start planting. This helped get rid of the grass that came back after the first till.

After that I try to spend at least 2 hours on Saturday or Sunday pulling anything I can see. My garden is 14x60 so this barely covers it all. I focus my attention closest to the plants themselves letting some of the empty spaces between alone. And some of the weeds are easier to pull if you let them grow a few inches anyway.

Then there are the daily inspections. I pull the more enthusiastic weeds whenever they catch my eye while I am looking for wind damage or bugs.

Really I dont mind the weeding so much. I like being outdoors and refuse to spray preen in my garden like some people I know have advised. To me its just another part of growing veggies, like planting, watering and feeding.

@macky77

lol, Ive tried to dig out roots that went at least 18" down. Why cant our veggies have roots like that?

I have Bermuda paths and laid my raised beds down over Bermuda, which was creeping over a gravel/river rock yard. I laid down newspaper and cardboard when I built my beds. I still have some Bermuda coming up through the bottom, it's amazing stuff, but after my direct sown bed has gotten big enough and been mulched with pine straw, my weeding is almost zero. That's with over 1200 square feet of gardens, plus other garden areas scattered throughout my yard.

Weeds are definitely a hiding place for bugs. We don't have slugs down here. always used the beer in a tuna can trick to get rid of them up north.

Very little as I have a raised bed and container garden.

I do not weed my garden much, I mulch my garden.
Now out side of the garden plot, I fight Bahia grass, wild garlic & dew berry plants. You can not mulch these away.
I put down old carpet to see if it would hold the weeds down.
The Bahia grass grew under it & the came up on the other side.
I keep telling myself that round up is not the best way to stop invasive plants.

I weed only a little around the edges where stuff tries to creep in. I have permanent, non raised beds and permanent paths. Beds are permanently mulched with hay, not straw, and the paths with wood chips.

Another vote for mulching with grass clippings or straw. That allows me to concentrate my weeding efforts on my nemesis, creeping charlie, which laughs at the mulch. I also have been using plastic IRT mulch for 2 years now. I live in Maine and the triple benefits of weed supression, soil warming and moisture preservation make it worth it even though I hate to look at it. At least in a few weeks the luxuriant growth of the cucurbits and tomatoes hide it.

Thanks for the ideas! It sounds like mulch might be the way to go.

Do you mulchers find that the straw provides a hiding place for slugs? Do you need to check under the mulch periodically for perennial weeds and grasses?

Do you mulch right up to the base of each plant? Do you leave the mulch off when you're direct-seeding a bed, and then weed and add it back after the seeds have germinated?

All mulch provides an attractive place for slugs:dark, cool, moist. However, healthy plants will fend off all but the worst damage. If you're really worried about it, sow crushed egg shells around the perimeters of your plants. They are said to cut the slugs' bodies.

Honest. If your (organic) garden is in a healthy balance, frogs and other small critters will come and eat the slugs and keep them from getting out of hand. (The exception to this might be the Pacific Northwest. I have read that they have monster slugs...)

If there are perennial (or annual) weeds growing in the mulch, they will work their way up to the sunlight. When you see them first appear, pull them. The thicker your mulch the fewer will be the weeds.

Since your paths are grassy, you will definitely have to fight grass encroachment. You might try a cut edge around your beds like perennial gardeners use. Personally, I have mulched paths with nothing growing in them.

You should not mulch right up to the stem of the plants. Leave a couple of inches of bare space around each one to avoid rot problems.

I have horsetail and morning glory so I'm busy for the next 20 years :)

5 min. on all gardens
10 min. on gravel driveway to southwest of gardens

I use mulch when soil is warmed (about when tulips fall). Mulch of choice is dried grass clippings from the lawn for most crops. Straw for strawberries, potatoes, & large plants like tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cucumber, etc.

Also, use burlap bags to cover any bare ground.

Boiling water used on gravel for weed control & fingers.
Dry summer weather after 4th of July usually keeps them in check.

Corrine

Macky- LOL! Maybe it has something to do with our long winters and long days in the summer, but I'm constantly weeding. I have a totally organic garden, lots of aged horse manure and I water too much, I'm sure :)

That being said, it's better this year than last year. The weeds literally grow 10" in a few days. I don't mulch most of the beds, but I am going to try hay mulch in a few of the veggie only beds this year. I'm still planting squash, melons, tomatoes, because it's been too darn wet and cold to put them out, before now.

Nygardener- I have grass paths, too and I love them. My garden is a mixture of veggies, herbs, flowers and fruit, so it's pretty and functional. Grass is the softest thing for the nieces and nephews to run around on and we really like it. Best of luck with your expanded garden and remember to add a few flowers, for color, to bring in beneficial bugs...and just to make the garden a little more lovely :)

madferret - I don't think you have Morning Glory (Ipomoea sp). They are quite hard to grow well here, only open in sun and are not perennial in the UK. I think you probably have Hedge Bindweed which was originally introduced as an ornamental. The bane of my soft fruit patch.

Otherwise I don't mind weeding - it's just another gardening activity and involves getting down to plant level which I enjoy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Calystegia sepium - hedge bindweed.

I like to tell visitors that I've made peace with weeds: They don't bother me and I don't bother them.
It's not entirely true...but with 5 big vegetable gardens(rural), 5 flower beds and a yard that takes a 8 hours+ to mow, I'd lose my mind trying to keep it weed free ;)

This year? Lots and lots of time. But I am turning a section of old field into a garden, so it's unavoidable. Much of my time is spent removing the perennial grass that has stolons like a bamboo. I keep thinking I've hit a rock with my trowel. Nope, it's that darn grass! It's gotten so I've changed the words of the "Cops" theme to "Crab grass, crab grass, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when I dig for you?" and sing while I remove it. Really. It helps.

I also have paths, but mine are white clover (also with other weeds but they are getting weeded too). I am mulching the beds as I get the material to do so, otherwise a good hoe makes pretty short work of things. Past experience says that if you can't get them while they are little, get them before they set seed and things will be much easier for next year. But then I'm aiming more for a "reasonable" amount of weeds and not weed-free.

Yes, Hedge Bindweed that's the one :) anyway it's going slowly, the horsetail is the real pain.

I WANT to be out weeding today, but the ground is still too muddy.