Okay, here is the lazy person's way and I know a lot of folks won't agree, but.....

In some of my beds where I am not worried about little seedlings coming up I put down thick layers of newspaper or cardboard and then put a really thick layer of mulch on it. If the weeds come back up I do it again the next year:) If I weed by hand the weeds and grass just comes back anyway so it makes more sense to me just to cover it and don't worry about it. I get my mulch from a tree service for free/gas money, and it is very economical and quick.

Also I do paths with mulch and stepping stones and I just plunk down the paper/cardboard/mulch and Whallaaaaah, instant pretty path:) I figure eventually the weeds will have to give up as I will have mulched the suckers to death. Use a thick layer of paper if you don't have cardboard.

Also, if you want to plant in this just take a little spade and dig a whole through paper/mulch and put the plant in.

I also believe there was an earlier thread which said that if you have weeds you dont have enough plants :-)

No dirt! No dirt! No dirt!

That doesn't mean there isn't soil, just that I don't want to see it. I'm with NY Trini - I put the plants so close together that there isn't room for weeds. Well, that's the theory anyway. In real life it doesn't work quite that well and I'm struggling with weeds myself. In large areas I like the newspaper and mulch formula but that's hard to do in a cramped bed. Sometimes I pull, rarely I use weed-killer in a few selected areas, sometimes I re-mulch to take out the majority of weeds and then hand pull the few that come up through the mulch. (Lazy Gardening 101)

And if I see dirt!?! I just put another plant in there to take up the space and smother out the weeds.

Kate

You have my complete sympathy! I too have neglected my yard lately. My daughter has been in and out of hospital, my favorite kitty has been dying of cancer (requiring constant clean-up,) work has been busy and I had to go out of state to my niece's wedding. Well, the wedding's over, daughter's home, I said good-bye to kitty Tuesday, and went out to weed on Saturday. And discovered that my herbicidal neighbor has been spraying the edge of my yard to keep the weeds from travelling to his yard, and damaging my hedge in the process. Now I don't expect him to weed my hedge, but if he'd keep the edge of HIS lawn neatened up, it wouldn't be an issue. Instead, he lets it grow through the hedge, and sprays. ARGHHHHHH!!!

Evak - so sorry to hear what's been happening in your life. I'm sending you all my good thoughts and prayers.

Hey, I'm all for Lazy Gardening if I can get it. Dang - my back hurts today and I'm sunburned on one place that I couldn't reach with sunblock.

I have done the paper/mulch thing - it does work like a charm....but, I have bulbs and other plants that are in the weed infested bed. I don't want to dig them all up and have the plants go into shock.

I guess this is one of those things that just has no simple answer--other than time consuming hard manual labor.

Yes- you are correct, you can see dirt in my yard...must need more plants. Everything seems to die right now though...nothing seems to survive this heat.

The weeds are overwhelming here.. I get discouraged at every turn. The best areas (weed-free) are those deep beds that have 4-5" of pine bark on them. I did them this winter, and they are fine. But the beds I did in spring are covered in weeds, since I did not mulch immediately after planting. Now I have 3' weeds, towering over the young plants that were supposed to be visible.

The bog is covered in Wedelia. The Pear hill is hard to mow, so it is out of control too.

The main problem is it is too hot for manual labor! I wilt after only an hour. I will have to resort to RoundUp or a flamethrower.

I see the value in close plantings, but how do you have close plantings with fruiting plants, that need to be sprayed/pruned/picked? Treefrog does it well, but I cannot match his talents in controlling plants. When he came out to pick Chaya, he could not even see the whiskey barrel the Chaya was in, due to the tall grass around it.

I prefer to weedwack over chemicals, but it is too hot to be lugging the wacker for long, which blows hot exhaust on me, and weighs a ton.

Does anyone know how to train chickens to pick weeds instead of kicking out mulch??

Gripe, grumble, complain... Gee, I sound like an old lady... Heehheeheee..

Lisa

about the weeds that send out the grass like runners...try baking soda. i have a master gardener friend that uses it. my grass (in the back) is almost solid weeds so i don't want to kill my "lawn". i'd worry about it more if we weren't fixing to move.

Hey Lisa,

After reading your post I think you just don't have enough wedelia to fill in the bare spots. How 'bout if I send you a refrigerator box full. It's a really "rare" kind, really. (would I lie:)))?

Pat

Pat, what in the world is a "bare spot?" (G)

I have Wedelia 6' tall in the Banana bed! It is purty, but man, it sure takes over quickly. Looks good when mowed though..

If I had to choose a weed, I'd pick Wedelia. It doesn't stink, it is easy to pull out, doesn't cause a rash or have thorns... A rather pleasant weed!

Now the stubborn grasses, and thorny weeds, those I hate!
The Morning Glories are getting quite out of control too.. The birds planted them on the fenceline, and they reach 30' into the lawn and orchard..

Lisa

lisa's right about the whacker -- it's my best friend this time of the year. i had to replace my old one recently, and i bought a super lightweight one (gas powered) -- very powerful little machine, and i can whack all day with it. about $50 more than a standard one, and worth every penny.

with a little practice the whacker can take out a serious infestation of matchweed or camphor seedlings in a bed. i've gotten it down to an art -- any plant i can't spray with roundup (which is pretty harmless stuff, ecologically speaking), i whack; any weed i cannot whack, i pull. any weed i cannot pull, gets a reprieve.

i came back after three weeks to find my garden totally weedy and overgrown. i piled the weeds into a 3' by 3' by 3' heap. it was hot and sweaty and (in the rose bed) very prickly... i got through it by imagining the weeds as future compost for my veg.

What do you mean by baking soda? I have this same problem and the weedy grass stuff is winning! What do you do with the baking soda?
Thanks,
Jo