The Removal Of Weeds Promotes Growth

Weeds not only compete with desired plants for light, water, nutrition and space, they can also carry certain diseases that may spread to other plants. The key to weed control is a two-pronged approach: Prevention and elimination. Using a two to four-inch layer of organic mulch in cultivated beds will prevent weed seeds from getting the sunlight they need to germinate. The weeds that do sprout will be easy to remove from the loose mulch layer.

Removing weeds from a lawn presents a different challenge. Don't mow the grass too short as this allows sunlight to reach weed seeds. Healthy grass has longer roots than most weeds, so deep, infrequent watering of the lawn forces grass roots to stretch down further, thus beating weeds for this resource. Corn gluten meal is a natural pre-emergent herbicide that kills seeds. Scatter it over an established lawn in early spring to kill weed seeds organically.

Sometimes there's nothing for it but to prepare for hand-to-hand battle, especially with weeds that have long tap roots, like dandelions. It's best to weed regularly before weed’s roots have a chance to become established. Wear gloves to protect your hands. Weed a few hours after a deep watering to loosen the soil around weed roots. A couple of useful weeding tools are a small garden fork and a sharply pointed V-shaped tool used for weeds with long tap roots. Try to get the entire tap root; any broken pieces left behind will regenerate. When all else fails, try spot-treating with Roundup.