I second and follow your advice, runktrun, of pulling weeds after a day or so of rain. It's much easier.

I have a "wall of flowers" around the front of the house bordering our swampy area that is basically what others would call weeds. I maintain it by selectively hand pulling the undesirables (wild "poison" parsnip and burdocks etc) and leaving the feral garden plants and wildflowers. Right now I have a pleasing mix of goldenrod, various milkweeds, loosestrife, Queen Anne's lace, and some sort of tall white fluffy flowers. Earlier the daisies, black-eyed susans, and blue vetch were blooming in the same strip.

I have one garden where I grow some annual flowers (mostly pink cosmos) and I deal with weeds there by the traditional pulling 'em up method. All my other annuals are in pots or containers, so weeds aren't much of an issue with them.

In my perennial beds I use your suggested method of mowing/clipping, which to me is easier than pulling weeds. I don't care for the look of mulch, so I just use a string trimmer to "mow" the grass between the clumps of plants.

I agree thoroughly with the "stitch in time" addage, but it's usually a "do as I say, not as I do" thing with me. The weeds always seem to grow faster than I can pull or cut them.

I am suspicious of this "annual" weed phenomenon. Somehow methinks it is just a ruse to keep us from descending into weed insanity, just the hope that they are truly annuals.

My garden spent one whole year under tarp, with the exception of a very few perennials. There's no telling how many legitimate plants I smothered since I didn't know they were there unless they were in flower. The perennials that survived had to be bare rooted. I must admit that I still like bare rooting. I think it is the thrill of watching all those evil weed roots untangle themselves from the plant hero, leaving the hero healthy and ready to begin life anew as a solo act, just as it's supposed to be. I tried to bareroot a Siberian iris yesterday, as they are the one garden remnant that were neither covered nor barerooted and are covered in weeds. It was impossible. The spreading iris roots had grown around the mint and grass roots, and it was impossible to free the hero plant from the evil weed clutches. I was so disappointed.

One area of my garden has kept the tarp down because my plans for it had to wait. It looks so pretty and weed-free (except for the Siberian irises). The rest of the garden was left uncovered without mulch after the tarp was removed because I wanted to encourage reseeding of my plants. Based on the huge amount of weeding I now do in that garden compared to the covered one I believe I'm going to have to go back to some sort of mulching until my plants are mature and big enough to provide better cover of the garden area. There's just too much exposed ground that the weed seeds have found.

I just this weekend removed the tarp from the covered area, and I have planted a few perennials from divisions. Knowing the weeds will have a field day with the rest of the space since it's seeding season for so many weeds, I also planted a cover crop of oats. They worked like a charm in the vegetable garden area. The oats were thick and didn't let seeds take hold, and then in the spring the dead oats provided a protective cover from weed seed germination. I'm hoping the oats will help keep the weeds down in that area. As I need to plant things the oats can be easily dug up. In addition, they'll be composted into the soil next year. I just don't have mulch material right now and don't want to purchase any.

First off, I have discovered that treating me systemically with a gin & tonic at sunset in the garden is far more effective than Round-up on weeds could ever be. It's all in how one views weeds. In my yard, the only difference between weeds and wildflowers is my judgment. Vines will always be a different story -- itch producing or not. Vines color my vocabulary.

Over all, wrangling weeds has simply been a life-long attitude adjustment. Like Spedigrees, if I can cut offensive looking border intruders with my new handy-dandy Ryobi 18v battery operated whacker, then off with their heads. If not, they get to live another day. Just this summer I learned the history of James-Town Weed (Jimson) because I didn't swing a scythe before it bloomed. Had I been an aggressive weeder and never seen the Jimson blossom, the remarkable history of this American poisonous gem would have eluded me.

Each of the iron, aluminum, and steel time-saving hand tools in my garage that came with an exclamatory statement that each implement would make me the victor of the perpetual weed battle, are now known to have carried false claims. None of them work without me propelling them, and that action is not always foremost when I wear my Buddhist attitude. Shrubs. I have learned to plant lots and lots of shrubs and I do make leaf mulch each fall with my half acre of leaves. Where there is no mulch in a garden, well, re-read First off, above.

Jane

Mostly mulch over landscape cloth in the brand new garden so it's pretty much weed free. This area is an entire city lot on the east side of the house about 5 feet higher than the house lot. It's not an area with "beds" but rather the whole thing is planted, with paved paths to wander around and two circular paved areas. It will need more plants to make it look better, but budget has to be restrained until next season. Nevertheless I've planted a lot of nice trees and several shrubs to start the backbone. I've also planted a few grasses and other things. I'm evaluating performance of many of these plants, and so when the funds are available again next year, I can add more of the "happy" plants and try some more new ones. It's a work in progress.

The front of the house is a desert-like landscape with several cacti, yuccas, ice plants, coreopsis, lavender and others. This area is stone over landscape cloth. Even though it's in full sun, the weeds are almost non-existent. If I see one, I yank it when it's tiny.

In the back yard and in the new boulder garden there is mulch but no landscape cloth. These areas have some annuals, perennials, and spring bulbs. So landscape cloth is not an option. Most of the perennials fill big areas when in bloom so much of the mulch isn't really seen. There are also some shrubs, mostly hydrangeas and camellias and they cover a lot of it too. So having spring bulbs and annuals there as well as the perennials that disappear in winter (Hibiscus, Dicentra, Heliopsis and so forth) I could not use landscape fabric. But with the mulch and some shading and crowding of the desirable plants, I need only keep an eye out for the few weeds that pop up.

The last large area that USED TO BE a real pain has now been paved as a large terrace on the west side of the house and below. There is only a small planter in one corner and another raised one along one side against the steps and retaining wall. These are easy to take care of.

But from reading this thread, I think all of you have much larger properties to take care of. Being in the city, I have only three city lots, so only 120 feet by 100 feet, or approximately 1/3 acre. You must all have a lot more than that. Good luck to you all, and to your vertebrae as well!

Sorry but I think landscape cloth is the Devil's child. It doesn't stop tree roots from penetrating it from underneath, and it certainly doesn't stop weed seeds from germinating in the mulch above it. The result is an absolute mess. Try removing this stuff after it has been in the ground for a while. It will take a months amount of work. A better solution for a barrier is newspapers. These will break down but give your plants a head start. As for weeds put down mulch or use a scuffle hoe.

Steve

Steve, over 15 years in one area has had none of the problems you mention. I can only say what I know from my experience here. There is the occasional weed in the mulch but they can pulled with very little effort. As I mentioned in my previous post, maybe because of the urban setting here I don't get the weed seeds that many others have to battle.

I have a weed pulling adage from Henry Homeyer, a noted New England garden authority. He wrote an article once about weeding where he said something to the affect "if you can hear it snap, you missed!". Everytime I pull a weed and hear a snap, I think of that article.

I found his website of article archives (link below), but I didn't see the article I was recalling.

Also, my other ideal weapon is mulch. I have not been using as much lately because of the dang voles. Less mulch really triggers the weeds. I used to mulch regularly and thickly and I hardly ever had weeds. Those days are over!

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.gardening-guy.com/stories/storyReader$11

Steve, I haven't had the weeds-in-the-mulch issue, either. A very small number of weeds did try to pop through, but they were extremely easy to pull out because they couldn't establish deep roots. Even when the weed had been able to punch through the mulch is was easy to pull, as if it wasn't healthy. Overall it's been good. I do think problems arise for people who think they can throw down tarp and mulch and live the rest of the years of their life in luxury. One of the forums had a thread with a picture of a neglected tarped bed covered in weeds. It's not magic, but for gardeners like me who will pull the occasional weed that pops through it's been great. My main beef with it is not weed growth, but how it hampers the increased spreading of desirable perennials. But, if you have a serious weed problem like I did, a year or two of hampered growth was such a small price to pay for DEAD WEEDS!!

This year I've got to get some leaves and more newspapers. Do you realize in a few years we'll be talking about how impossible it is to find newspaper? maybe garden centers will start selling rolls of newspaper, no print!

Deanna, you just connected the dots. . .which is why I grabbed three big
rolls of newspaper printing paper at a recent yard sale - they had used it for
packing when they moved - for just $5. each !

And if you're using shredded leaves, as I do, I find that by the late Spring,
they are almost completely composted and I can just lay down more newspaper
and leaves for the coming season. . .although as the shrubs and perennials
expand, I can usually dispense with the paper and just add leaves. It's a
symbiotic relationship, folks. . .GW. . .Gardening = Weeding :>)

For some reason as I while away the hours pulling weeds from my mulched beds, I ALWAYS fantasize about my fairy godmother offering to rid my yard of every bit of exactly one weed, and I think about which one I'd most like to eradicate. It's either dandelion, sweet autumn clematis, or nimblewill (aka Muhlenbergia shreberi, aka the grass from hell). SAC might be 20' tall before you spot it strangling a nice young Franklinea, so that's definitely in the running. Dandelion has a nasty habit of coming up in the root ball of favorite perennials as well as ruining the lawn, and that nimblewill is not only devouring a couple of mixed beds, it's taken over the lawn. There's nothing short of a magic wand that's going to eradicate it... I guess that one wins, hands down.

Does this count as a "weeding tactic"? Other than that, all I've got is mulch, newspapers, and a little blessed nearsightedness, which works wonders in a weedy garden.

on the first day of school vacation, I had 8 kids in my yard and I promised them a nickel for every weed they pulled. Luckily they were old enough to count and young enough to think a few dollars was awesome! But as they kept pulling and counting, a few said they were up to $10 already! I was starting to suspect they weren't as adept at counting (or at identifying weeds) as I first thought. So I suggested they could have a choice between ice cream or the money. All chose the ice cream!

Please tell your fairy godmother to keep her mitts off MY dandelions, Digging! I do pull them out of the flower beds but welcome them in the lawn and pasture. Apart from the glorious display of sunny yellow in the spring, they are nutritious for my little herbavore and a ready supply of greens for salads, stir fries, and a spinach substitute for us.

Yes, near-sightedness works wonders, as does Jane's method of de-stressing with drink in hand. Kids as garden workers, not so much!

I have two more suggestions - some garden gloves with a rubber coating. I got mine at the farm and feed store (Blue Seal in Bow NH). The rubber coating is rough so it gives you a better grip on tough weeds.
2) a good weeding tool. Mine was originally a Cape Cod weeder but I got a second (and lost the first) that is basically L-shaped. That little blade is good a getting under and pulling up those wretched long running roots like witch grass. I am surprised that it is so hard to find a decent hand weeding tool. OK, soon I'm going to have to loosen the purse strings to buy a replacement. Maybe I should paint the handle shocking pink.

I kind of like weeding. Everything looks so much nicer when it's done. My vegetable garden (built using the lasagna method on old sod) is in pretty good shape. Since there is a creeping plant with pretty leaves that keeps trying to invade (creeping charlie?) I put a thick layer of wet newspapers along the edge of the beds and cover with grass clippings
Also, pouring boiling water on grass etc growing up between the bricks in my walkway kills the grass, making it easier to pull.