Gardening is a fun and relaxing pastime — until it isn’t. There are some moments where gardening can lead to a bit of frustration, and oftentimes it involves weeds. Weeds are plants that essentially drain the nutrients from the soil, preventing your own plants from growing as effectively. This can cause your own plants to either grow slowly or even die out completely due to a lack of nutrition. To keep these plant parasites at bay, you’ll need to employ some drastic measures, but what exactly should you be doing?
These days, there are a few ways you can remove weeds from your garden. Some methods are more short-term whereas others offer a more long-term solution that’s beneficial to your garden as a whole. Here are some methods you may want to take a look at.
HOW TO GET RID OF WEEDS IN YOUR YARD
Use weed killers
While you’re better off preventing weeds from growing in the first place, you may already have an existing weed problem. Rather than just removing them individually by hand (which isn’t always the best idea), you can use more potent methods to get rid of them. One of the most popular methods is the use of weed killer — a chemical that’s designed to kill any weed you spray it on. There’s just one catch — weed killers also have the capability to kill your own plants.
So, if you want to use weed killers, you’ll have to exercise a bit of caution. This means using weed killers on the weeds only, being as careful as possible to not apply any of it on your own plants. While this may not kill any potential weeds in the soil that have yet to germinate, it will at least get rid of the ones that have already grown. You can then use the next methods to prevent the growth of future weeds.
Weed shields
Weed shields are one of the most effective ways to prevent weeds from ever growing. But what exactly are they? Essentially, a weed shield is a thick layer of material that prevents any sunlight from passing through. This material goes over your soil so that any weeds beneath the soil won’t have enough sunlight to germinate and grow. It’s a simple yet clever design that often works, but of course, there’s a catch, as you’ll need to put a little more effort when you want to actually plant some plants on the same soil.
To plant your plants over a weed shield, you’ll need to cut out a bit of the material and leave just enough room for your plant. This can be a time-consuming process, but it’s worth the effort as you won’t have to deal with weeds anymore. If you’re looking for one right now that’s quick to place and long-lasting, you can’t go wrong with the Dewitt Weed Shield. This weed shield will allow rain and snow to absorb down into the root system without allowing even the most stubborn weeds to come up.
Dead leaves
Finally, here’s a neat little trick for those who end up with dead leaves in their backyard often, especially during fall. You can use dead leaves as a pseudo weed shield of sorts — by blanketing the soil in a thin layer of dead leaves, there won’t be enough light for weeds to grow. You can easily place the leaves around already existing plants, too, and the leaves can decompose and help fertilize the soil, so it’s a simple yet effective solution all in all, albeit a temporary one.
