Easy Methods for Preventing Unsightly Weeds:

Weeds in your gan a real pain. They take over and push out your prized nts, taking water, nutris and space away f proper gan nts. Some people enjoy weeding and it is good exercise, much cheaper than going to the gym! However, many people see it as a chore and it may not be high on your list of priorities. So, is there anything you do to actually prev weeds so that you do not have to spend as much time weeding and spend more time relaxing and enjoying your gan? Yes. Read on.

One of the best ways of preving weeds f growing in flower beds and bors, is to to use a layer of bark chippings, mulch or gravel. Bark chippings do have a tendency to blow aro the gan and gravel end up on your lawn, causing damage to your lawnmower, so mulch may be the best option.

Before you apply the layer of mulch, you must first prep your flower beds and that means doing some weeding! Use a hand fork to remove all pres weeds, making sure that you remove all roots, weed fragms, suckers, vines and shoots. Dispose of the weeds cfully so that seeds not be spread. Once your bor is weed free, you water it liberally and cover the soil in a weed membrane. A membrane is not necessary but it stops gravel and mulch sinking into the soil and also stops any weeds f establishing properly in the mulch. If you have got bulbs in your flower beds, leave out the membrane and simply lay the mulch onto the well-watered soil. Apply the mulch the same day that you have weeded the soil so that no seeds given the chance to blow on the soil and germinate before you add the mulch. Also make sure that you weed surroing as well, nts like bindweed, Japanese knotweed, gro elder and couchgrass still penetrate mulch.

You either buy mulch f gan cres and use the black stic sacking it comes in as a membrane erneath it. Simply lay the stic on your flower bed and stab holes in it for drainage. You also use compost f your compost heap, wet newspaper, pieces of carpet or matting, or grass clippings as mulch or you combine these with mulch f the gan cre to make it go further. To be effective, your layer of mulch needs to be at least 5-10 cimetres deep all over your flower bed. Leave space aro the bases of nts so that they "breathe" and, when you need to nt new nts, cfully push the mulch to one side, nt the nt and then re-cover. Always check the soil and rootball of new nts, you do not want to introduce new weeds into your gan!

You will need to keep an eye on your flower beds and will need to top up the mulch regularly. Pets like cats dig into the mulch and cause b as as birds and wildlife. Keep an eye out for weeds and remove them as soon as you see them, they should be easy to deal with as they should not have deep roots.

If you really want to stop weeds f nearby as, like bindweed, f penetrating your bors f ergro, you may want to consider more drastic action. If you have got a piece of thick stic or even metal, you could bury this to a depth of half a metre to act as an ergro barrier and leave 10cm or so sticking out of the gro to prev any overgro "vines" or shoots f invading. This is quite an effort but previon is better than spending lots of time weeding!