Mulch!

Mulch is good, compost is good--landscape fabric is horrors and really doesn't do the job, either!

I think having plantings close together helps, too! :o)

I agree with Janice, if you plant close together there is no room for weeds. Some of you have seen my crammed gardens :)
Jen

generic roundup

ken

lol - I go with the crowded method also.
Pam

Lotsa rocks, cedar mulch and stone/pebble mulch are my weapons of choice. I do have landscape fabric under a couple of my gardens moreso to keep the stone mulch from sinking into the dirt. And since its been banned in canada for residential use I can't admit to using some roundup on the stubborns from time to time ;>()

I use a lot of mulch and it does a lot of good.The exterior of my beds are all lined with plastic edging to keep grass from growing into the beds.If you have weeds growing in your lawn than you are going to get weeds in your hosta beds.I tend to neglect the lawn and have learned that the more weeds it has the more weeds the hosta beds have.Also,if there are flowering plants by your hostas than you need to remove the flower stalks before they set and drop seed.
There tends to be the same 4-5 weeds that are causing the majority of the weeding problems.You need to figure out what these weeds are,where they are coming from and than eradicate the source(declare war on them).Phil

Back when I worked at a landscaping place when I was in college the rule of thumb was barrier with stone and 2" depth on the stone. No barrier with mulch and 4" depth.

Is that the ballpark that you also go in terms of depth with hosta specifically?

In my experience 1 to 2" depth is good.If you go too deep the hosta crown gets buried.Mulch(wood chips) are always breaking down,feeding the soil,maintaining moisture and keeping weed count down.But it is not a foolproof weed control method. It does help,it is wonderful for your soil but you need to figure out where the weeds are coming from and approach it from that angle IMHO.Phil

2-3" of free shredded mulch from our local elec.
power co. and regular hand weeding.
Peggy

Mulch. And elbow grease. The mulch keeps the weeds down and I deal with the resulting slugs as best I can.

Walk your garden and pull 7 weeds every day. Do it for a month and it becomes a habit. Once it's a habit, weeding is no longer that big of a deal.

Paul

Step 1: Cardboard or newspaper.
Step 2: Mulch
Step 3: Groundcover (to "crowd out" the weeds)
Step 4: Pull the suckers!
Step 5: Claim that you're "naturalizing" the area, and those are native species.

Jel I have a story about that one. LONG time ago my mother told my brother when working on some sort of household job to use a little elbow grease on it. He of course, asked where it was?

Paul, at 7 per day, I need a smaller garden/yard :) I do get your point tho

ptilda I like #5 LOL