Ah, weeds. Try good quality weed-blocking fabric covered with mulch. Or space plants very tightly, so there's no bare earth. Or plant spreading ground covers.

Mulch, a small loop hoe, and patience. I use roundup on the sidewalk, and I PAINT it on the bindweed.

There are no such things as weeds, nature knows no weeds, we've created weeds. If it annoys us, it's a weed. If it's tough to pull, it's a weed. If it comes out easily with zero resistance, it's not a weed, it's a desirable plant you either a) Spent a pile of money on, or b) Spent a pile of time nurturing.

All that aside, check with your county agent and co-op extension before going overboard with chemicals. I like the landscape fabric and mulch idea, I'm not at all nuts about blowing herbicides all over the garden.

I'm not a fan of landscape fabric OR herbicides. The fabric prevents nutrients from getting to the soil and enriching it.

Sometimes you just have to pull the weeds by hand and then mulch well. That should keep the weeds to a mimimum. Shredded leaves are a great mulch and build up the soil at the same time. They don't look quite as nice as the wood chips, etc., but they're better at building up the soil. Another thing you can use for pre-emergent weeds is corn gluten meal. I have bought it from Gardens Alive, but I'm wondering if Rohrer's Seeds on Rt 340 would carry it. (I live in Lancaster Co, too.)

Jack, Lay down newspaper around your shrubs and plants and wet it down with a hose. Place mulch on top of the newspaper. The newspaper will block and kill the weeds underneath and will eventually rot away. Keep a thin (1"-2") of mulch around the plants and you'll have very few weeds. Yes, you'll always have a few.
Landscape fabric has it's place but most people don't install it right. They cut out a small hole for their small plant and forget that the plant is going to grow. The fabric is so tough that it can put a strangle hold on your plant and stunt the growth. The other problem with the fabrics is that plants can grow on top of the fabric. Weeds can really entangle their roots in the fabric. Landscape fabric is alright but newspaper is cheaper. Billie

Mulch, mulch, mulch. It has many benefits aside from keeping the weeds to a minium. I prefer a double shredded hardwood. I'd also stay away from the dyed mulches. It's a matter of opinion, but they don't look very natural and have other negative effects.
Mulch also comes in other forms such as stones, gravel, straw, buckwheat or cocoa hulls, etc.
Check out this mulch guide. It gives some ideas, but i'm not real sure about the aluminum foil, LOL! It's slightly helpful, but I find it amusing as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mulch guide