Ilikai asks: I need some gardening tips.?
I live in a Boston suburb. The weeds in my garden are overwhelming. Any advice? Would putting a ground cover instead of mulching each year be better (cost wise and work wise)? What ground cover do you recommend? sunny areas.
The answer voted best is:
Answer by Jim N
Mulching will certainly help. Many serious gardeners cover ground between their plants with black plastic, old carpet or wood. However, the old fashioned method of hoeing will eventually result in a cleaner garden as the dormant weed seeds in the soil germinate and no new weed seeds are added. You’d be surprised at how quickly you can run a hoe through a garden to clean up the weeds, assuming you have good quality tilled soil. Another option (non-organic) is to use a product called Preen. This is a weedkiller that acts as a pre-emergent to prevent weeds from growing. Read the instructions carefully, but this will be an incredible help in keeping a clean garden. Keep in mind that allowing the weeds to get out of control will produce an even weedier garden next year.
Add your own answer in the comments!
Powered by Yahoo answers!
Before attempting to install a garden you would need to remove the weeds ( manually, chemically or both. ) Adding mulch once the weeds are removed will have many benefits: Mulch reduces weed infestations by blocking light to the soil. Mulch improves the soil structure as it breaks down. Mulch reduces water evaporation wich inturn reduces the likelyhood of watering garden plants. Mulch adds a finishing touch to any garden making it more complete. Mulch has some disease inhibiting factors/properties that occur in landscape plants. Mulch reduces dust and water run-off.
Usually a 2 to 3 inch layer of mulch is reccomended to apply around landscapes.
You can use mulch in conjunction with a groud cover. if youprefer to use only a grand cover that would be fine also. If the function of the groundcover is going to be used to help surpress weeds then you would need a dense , tough, thick , and fast growing ground cover . Some suggestions would be Rosmarinus prostratus, Ajuga reptans,Juniperus chinensis procumbens, and Juninperus conferta. These ground covers live along time and are very durable.