Raised beds are noticeable. Have grapes and raspberry bushes on the perimeter and strawberries in the front. These photos are before any sort of spring cleanup.

Those unwanted plants, what many call "weeds", are very adventitious and will grow anywhere the seeds can get a bit of soil. Putting some kind of "weed" barrier under those blocks may seem appealing but since dust and organic matter can and will accumulate between those blocks the unwanted plants will have some place to grow.

The best method of controlling that unwanted growth is to clean out any accumulated soil from around them. I have found that it can take 3 years for enough of that soil to accumulate for unwanted plants to grow.

kimmq is kimmsr

Thanks. How do you remove the soil? Especially when there is more dirt below. Does gravel make sense or will this just result in destroying the other planting sections when the wind blows?

We built a large community garden at our local food bank. We covered the paths with landscape fabric/weed barrier and covered this with gravel. The garden is now in its tenth year with no weed problems at all in the paths.

Community gardens in my area typically cover the areas between the raised beds with multiple sheets of newspaper or cardboard and then a thick layer of wood chips. The wood chips are usually available for free from tree trimming operations so easy to obtain and replenish as necessary. Also keeps mud down to a minimum on the pathways and are excellent at keeping weeds at bay. Provides a neat, tidy look as well.

When something sprouts that you don't want, it should be easy to pull at that point. Letting unwanted plants grow until they are large, and/or have dropped more seeds to sprout more unwanted plants is always going to lead to more unwanted plants & more difficulty removing them. To maintain control, you must first gain control. I'd smother everything unwanted under thick cardboard, (covered with mulch if you want.) Then be vigilant about pulling any unwanted growth immediately, or at least mowing before any new seeds can be formed/dropped. Putting it off until there's "weeding to do" is always unpleasant & takes more time overall.

The multiple raised beds look like a nightmare of tricky mowing/edge trimming to me. I would get rid of all of that, turn the yard into 1 giant bed with some paving bricks where I need to step to reach wanted plants & pull unwanted ones. I would never let gardening cause an increase in mowing time, difficulty, or equipment needed. Part of why I garden is to eliminate as much mowing as possible.