Gardening with Allen: Keep fall weeds at bay with fresh mulch, preventers

I kept most of the weeds from going to seed this summer, but I have a lot of small weeds right now. I am tired of weeding. Is there anything I can do to get rid of these weeds more easily and prevent new weeds?

Weeding is one of the most constant and time consuming gardening jobs. There are ways to make weeding seem easier and also ways to prevent most weed growth.

One of my favorite ways of weeding is to devote a small amount of time each day early in the morning to weeding. 10 minutes every day seems like a lot less work than an hour on a hot Saturday afternoon. If I do want to devote more time to weeding, I try to weed in the shade, picking morning for the west and south sides and afternoon for the east and north sides.

Mulch is perhaps the best way to reduce weed growth. A thick layer of mulch will prevent 95 percent of weed growth. Light is required for most weed seed germination and mulch prevents light from reaching weed seeds.

Create your own mulch by raking up those leaves or better chop them up with a mulching lawn mower blade. Put them in a pile and sprinkle with a little soil to provide a source of micro-organisms. Also sprinkle a little lawn fertilizer on each layer to speed up the breakdown. Then sprinkle some water on the pile and turn it once a month with a fork or shovel. Lawn clippings are another excellent source of composting material.

Bark dust is the least expensive organic mulch you can buy. If you don’t have a way to pick up your own bulk load, nurseries and other suppliers will deliver it for you. Two inches of bark dust will eliminate 90 percent of weed growth.

Fall is an excellent time to apply weed preventers. Casoron applied to beds with woody plants will prevent weeds for an entire year. Preen and other brands of Trifluralin (Treflan) will provide about 6 weeks of protection for non-woody plants such as flowers and vegetables. Corn gluten is a natural organic weed preventer which can be used around any plants. It prevents about 80 to 90 percent of weed growth.

This time of year, plants are busily transferring food accumulated in the leaves down to the roots. Weed killers are quickly transferred also. Lawn weed killers, which are available in liquid spray form or granular weed and feed products, will kill broadleaf weeds without killing the grass.

Be careful to keep general purpose weed killers off of desirable plants.

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