Weeding the garden?

[GREENBACK]

I'm in the process of weeding my garden. I do it by hand and would rather not use chemicals though I occasionally do. I don't mind it all the time but It's a chore as you know if you garden much. Any good tips on weed control. I pull them by hand and sometimes use a hoe. I would really like to cut down the time spent doing this without spending a lot for something that doesn't work better than my hands. I've searched around but haven't found much that's more efficient than what I already do. Oh well, back out I go. Any tips would be appreciated.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Did you know there's a gardening section on SAvingAdvice? It is a category "Food, Recipes Coupons," I think.

What kind of garden? Vegetables? Annuals? Under trees? On you patio and walkways? a mixed garden?

Let me just throw out these ideas and I can respond more specifically later when you say where the weeding problem is.

Mulches (plant matter, rubber chips, plastic sheeting, landscape cloth, paper in various forms)

Different weeding tools. (Ex Japanese hoe, circular hoe, stirrup hoe, saddle hoe. I finally tried some of these after decades of gardening and found they were marvelous improvments over the hoes I had been using.)

Corn gluten meal. A natural germination inhibitor.

Strong vinegar over hard surfaces that aren't damage by a little acid.

Flaming (a long handled torch that can burn of the top of weeds and even certain seeds at the surface.)

Planting so close together that weeds that need sun don't germinate.

Being careful with what kind of mulches and soil additives you use. (Ex: no matter where I live, horse manure has always introduced yellow nutsedge to my garden--and that one is difficult to get rid of. Wheat straw sometimes comes with a lot of wheat in it and that stuff can be hard to get out without damaging tender plants around it.)

[GREENBACK]

Thanks so much Joan. Lots of advice there so I'll try to be specific. I have a roughly 140sq. ft veg garden with mostly tomatoes, jalapenoes, bell and other assorted sweet peppers, onions, snap peas, leaf lettuce, etc.. The garden is a typical patch of ground on the side of the house. I've stayed very basic in my gardening methods over the years. As the years go by it gets a bit more tiring bending over and pulling weeds. I'm just looking for a way to ease things a bit.


I have great soil and only fertilize with grass clippings, kitchen waste,mulched leaves and occasionally hardwood ashes. I get tons of lambsquarter and some crabgrass and as previously stated, I just pull by hand every few days. Of the methods you've tried, which worked best for a veg. garden? I have an herb garden but have few problems there and don't do much different.

I'm curious about the different types of hoes. Any links to where I can find info. on these. I think I started this thread at "food,recipes,coupons"but didn't see a gardening section. I'll look again. I usually plant far apart to get the tiller between the rows but maybe I should do the opposite.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Greenback, I'll get you some links tomorrow. Just came in from digging my new garden until 10:20 pm. So too tired to concentrate. But I'll say my two favorite methods of weed control in the vegetable garden are mulches and a saddle hoe.

[PrincessPerky]

So how terribly important is weeding?

I mean can I get some sort of ground cover thing that will grow in place of the dandelions that keep interfering with the flowers?

Mostly I have been ignoring the grass that sprang up with the sunflowers, once they were good and established anyway.

[scfr]

I'm no expert gardener but in the veggie garden I do believe keeping the weeds under control is important so they don't compete for the water with the veggies. (If the weeds drink all the water, there's nothing left for the veggies and they die.)

The Natural Gardener here in Austin recommends the Weed Popper:
The Weed Popper- Original

With that tool, you're still hand-pulling (so no chemicals) but no kneeling or stooping is needed. I've not tried it, but I'm also getting to the age where it's starting to get harder to kneel down or stoop (and I too weed by hand), so if you decide to try it I'd love to hear what you think.

I know that flaming works well for really killing weeds, but in a veggie garden the plants may be planted too close to use that, unless you want to go for garden-roasted tomatoes!

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Some links and comments:

Japanese triangle hoe
Amazon.com: Japanese Hoe - All steel hand-held hoe and irrigation tool - American Made!: Home Improvement
This one looks like you can only use it in a pulling toward you motion, which could be very tiring if you have a lot of weeds. I'm sure there are both long and short handle versions of this.

rogue scuffle hoe
Scuffle Hoes
Can be used in both the pulling and pushing motion. Probably works best on soil that is very dry, perhaps even hard at the surface. Would work better if it had a little universal pivot on the head. Angle at which you hold the hoe probably matters more than with some scuffle type hoes, so would take a little practice to perfect.

circle hoe
The Original Circle Hoe - Rakes, Hoes & Mattocks | BackyardGardener.com
I've got two of these. They are pretty good for when the main stems of your plants are very close together, as is often the case in a veggie garden. For instance, I am using the long handled one to weed my onions just now. The short handled one is nice to carry with you when you are doing work sitting down, so you can just grab it and remove one or two little sprouts without getting up. I found this tool rusts, so don't leave it out! Despite the rust, I've never had to sharpen it.

stirrup hoe
Johnny's - Search Results
This is my all time favorite. This hoe changed my vegetable gardening life! I used to use the hoe that most Americans probably typically think of as a hoe and it took much more energy and too often forced me to chop at the soil to get out weeds. I'd really work up a sweat and it could take hours to get the whole garden done. This stirrup hoe just slices though the upper crust of the soil, separating most weeds' growth nodes from their roots below, which kills them. Leaving the roots behind is generally a good thing: It leaves micro-aeration channels and adds tiny amounts of humus to the soil. The growth point in most weeds is above the soil and it is no problem to leave the roots intact. You use this hoe pushing lightly forward and lightly backward. Way less strength and energy is needed. The weeding goes really fast and easy, so that I am not loathe to start the job and I keep up with it all through spring and early summer, then as needed. The good news-- later weeding is a lighter chore, too, because you have not brought up so many new seeds to the surface as you would with a regular hoe! My main veggie garden can be weeded in twenty minutes with this, though it used to take hours. Thus I get the weeds when they are tiny and they don't compete with the veggies. The soil is laid back down in the same orientation in which it originally lay so that you are not turning the soil, bringing new seeds to the surface--so fewer sprout later as with a "typical" hoe. I go over the beds and the paths both---anywhere I do not have mulch. In coarser mulches (like a bunch of sticks pruned from my hydrangeas), I can sort of nestle the blade down under it and slice off weeds growing up through the mulch.

I do still have to hand pull nutsedge with this tool, but if you're in a hurry, even slicing off the nutsedge will help sap its strength over time.

Bindweed is a huge problem in all parts of my garden, but I can deal with it better in the veggie garden than anywhere else with this stirrup hoe. Instead of trying to dig out those evil roots, I just slice it off every few days when I see it has resprouted. It's just so easy, that I actually do it.

Draw backs: You've got to get the weeds when they are small enough to pass through the stirrup. The hoe works best when soil is just a little bit dry, so weed before any watering. It would be frustrating if you have very rocky soil, though rocks up to about an inch in diameter are no problem. Once your plants have grown larger and it is more difficult to see their stems, you may need to resort to a short handled tool, or hand pulling. If you plant in rows that look similar to a tractor plowed field, the tool would be less useful. It works best on a flat surface. I plant in beds, and in fact the stirrup how works best after a rain when then chunks of soil have kind of melted to a more even top surface.

Oh, I mentioned on that rogue scuffle how that it might work better if it could pivot--Well, the stirrup hoe does pivot, or really more like sort of swing on a very short arc. You will see if you go to look at one in a store. They feel very loose at their head. If you did not know that it is supposed to be that way, you might think the factory had terrible quality control. But it is supposed to be loose like that, and it is an advantage.

If interested in this stirrup hoe, Home Depot carries a cheap version, the one I have and it has been marvellous for half the price as that in my link.

nejeri gama hoe
Nejeri Gama
This is another Japanese hoe. I have not used this exact one, but it is the closest I could find to another Japanese hoe whose name I cannot remember. My hoe has an even shorter handle, coupled with a larger, heavier, and much more curved blade. My hoe is like a work of art in the steel part. If you ever see one, I think you will recognize it from my saying it is like a work of art. Anyway, my handheld, curvy steel bladed hoe is most useful in a garden where you are just breaking ground for the first time. Its weight and very pointy blade allows you to use it like a short mattock. It point coupled with its curve enables you to form rows of heavy, deep, even we soil. The point also allows you to gouge out larger, more deeply rooted weeds. I'm guessing my hoe is meant for use in wet rice fields. I don't have much use for it. It was an impulse buy and is overkill for my garden weeds, except maybe pokeweed with its roots going down to hell.

Regarding lambsquarters--A few years ago, I finally tasted these as a cooked vegetable, a "spinach." For years I had read that they were good. Well, I am a convert! After finding how good they are, I now deliberately let a large are of the sprout in my garden. I use my hoe to thin them out, because they will sprout thick as fur. Then I use my hoe to weed out paths between them. Thus I end up with what looks like deliberately planted rows of lambs quarters! I make the paths so I can get in to harvest. One can eat the leaves and the tender stem tips. They have became a favorite greens. My German friend and my Afghani friend both know all about lambsquarters as food, so they are the only ones who were not sceptical and they come to get some from me. Use them anyway you would use spinach, except not raw. They are very nutritious according to the FDA.

Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Lambsquarters, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt

44% of your needed vitamin A in just one ounce, cooked. 17% of vitamin C in the same. All nine essential amino acids for a high quality, complete protein food. Yum, yum, time to eat!

[GREENBACK]

So how terribly important is weeding?

I don't think it's critical but does help things a bit plus it's kind of a pride thing for me.

As stated weeding does keep your desirable plants from competing for nutrients and water with plants that are already adapted to living in your soil.

[PrincessPerky]

I can see where veggies would really need weeding.

and I do weed the garden while my flowers are young, just when they get knee high I kinda get lazy...

interesting info on hoes thanks!

[GREENBACK]

Thanks for those great links. My mom and dad used to add lambsquarter to other wild greens they picked when I was a kid. I don't think I've eaten it since then. Maybe that will be my revenge against the weeds....eat them!

[toys]

again forgive me for the zombie bump... still catching up

Mulches (plant matter, rubber chips, plastic sheeting, landscape cloth, paper in various forms)

I can not agree more... very good advice. If the goal is to not break your back and not use harsh chemicals. Mulch control is the best manner.

My two personal favorites are those extra large pine bark nuggets (which can be hard to find at a decent price) and river rock. Check with local mulch/soil delivery companies for the best price, otherwise Home Depot / Lowe's / Garden centers usually have a decent sized nugget/rock. When I say rock, I do not mean that tiny pea gravel stuff, rather the slightly bigger size, commonly referred to as 2" river rock (although it's actually an inch and 5/8 or above).

If you already have an existing garden, both of these have to be gingerly added with great care as to not disturb/break/bury your plants. If your main concern is good drainage, go with at least 2 inches of the river rock. If drainage is not an issue and you would rather add more nutrients to your soil, add a few inches of the pine bark nuggets. There will be minor settling over time with the river rock and the nuggets will take between 3 and 5 years to break-down. Do not skimp on the depth, otherwise it will not help with weed control; the idea is to completely block any unwanted plants from growing.

[Gina23]

I accumulate all that junk mail that I get all year into a box.

When it comes time to plant, I take out the box.

I lay the junk mail about .25 of an inch thick anywhere I don't want weeds.

Then I put mulch over the top.

Organic, green, free, and it works better than any herbicide I've ever used.

[vips]

You can try some following tips if it will be useful for you...
Try to get the whole weed i.e., including the root. New and younger weeds are very easy to pull as they does not have a strong root. Wet the ground with drip irrigation hose and try to pull weeds it will be much easy than normal things.

[MakingVanilla]

+2 on a slightly wet ground and +2 on the stirrup hoe. We've got about 500+ sq/ft of garden and we do it in several different sections. In two parts (tomatos/pepper plants/etc) was lay down black vinyl from home depot and then cut holes/X's to plant. This cuts down weeds there. We keep only a 6-10 rows w/ 2 foot spacings. This can be hit with a small tiller or kept up w/ a hoe if done regularly. The last section we save for pumpkins and water melons. We don't spend too much time on these.