How To Defeat & Prevent Common Weeds

Natural Deterrents
Ensure the health and happiness of your garden by covering fertile soil with mulch. This popular deterrent not only thwarts encroaching weeds, but it also helps maintain the soil's moisture. To ward off weeds, simply apply a two- to four-inch layer of mulch to your garden beds. This thick layer of mulch will suffocate all potential weeds by depriving them of light, air and water.

If you want an even stronger weed barrier, use mulch in conjunction with landscape fabric. Made of porous, nonwoven polypropylene, landscape fabric enables air, water and nutrients to reach your desirable plants as it induces weed seed into dormancy. Prevent weeds from engulfing your entire garden by installing some landscape fabric on top of your garden beds. If you're applying landscape fabric to beds that are already brimming with blooms, cut a small opening in the fabric directly above each plant's location. Then, lay down the fabric and open the cut areas so they fit snuggly around each of your budding plants. Top off the landscape fabric with a three- to four-inch layer of mulch.

Manual Methods
One way to minimize future weed infestations is to properly pull depending on the depth of the weed roots. Shallow-rooted weeds can be removed easily—steady the soil with one hand as you slightly twist and pull with the other. If you find deep-rooted weeds in your garden bed, follow these simple steps to ensure full eradication:

Chemical Controls
Although natural deterrents are a great way to control weeds, you can also suppress weed seed and eliminate large weed clusters in your garden with herbicides. Not only are herbicides a cost-effective solution to both the growth and spread of invasive weeds, but they also increase your garden's rate of production. While garden herbicides are safe for the most part, they can be dangerous when used incorrectly. Here are a few ways you can keep yourself and your growing plants safe when using herbicides.

Since herbicides are solutions specifically designed to wipe out a whole slew of plants, you must be selective when choosing which herbicides to apply to your garden beds.


Preemergent Herbicides
Stop weed seed from sprouting by neutralizing it with a preemergent herbicide. Since preemergent herbicides only target undeveloped weed seed, your window of opportunity to apply them to your garden is limited. To determine the best application time, observe when weeds begin to sprout this year and count back two or three weeks; that's when you should add a preemergent herbicide to your garden next year. Typically, with one easy application of Preen Weed Preventer, you can stop over 200 broadleaf and grassy weeds from sprouting for up to three months.



Postemergent Herbicides
If you're looking to destroy weeds that are already established in your flower garden, consider using a postemergent herbicide. Even though postemergent herbicides can be applied any time, you must make sure that you're using the right kind on your garden. Selective herbicides target and kill specific types of weeds without disturbing or harming nearby plants. Nonselective herbicides, on the other hand, devastate all plants they come in contact with, including lawn edging and your preferred plants, so use them carefully.