Great Gardens Start With This Task

It can’t be kept a secret; there’s a lot of work involved with gardening, particularly if you have a large garden. Many plants have specific needs that must be met including watering, transplanting, dividing, fertilizing or harvesting, but the most despised garden chore of all is picking weeds.

The easiest way to make gardening easier, say plant experts at some of our local nurseries, is weed control.

Betty Adelman of Heritage Flower Farm recommends getting a good sharp hoe and putting it to use before the weeds have a chance to get going. Rather than using the hoe in an effort to dig the weeds up, proper use of a hoe will sever the tops of the weed from the root. Differentiating between the undesirable plants and the ones you are trying to keep plays a big part in your weed control efforts.

Follow the weed removal up with the recommendation of Rebecca Milaeger of Milaegers Garden Center: mulch! In addition to making the garden more attractive, using an organic mulch like shredded bark or cocoa beans helps hold moisture in the ground (less watering), keeps the roots cool, reduces the number of weeds and makes those that come up easier to pick.

Though some caution against it, we use grass clippings in the rows of our vegetable garden to help reduce weeds and provide cleaner walking paths. We’re careful not to pile grass up against the stems (where the heat from decomposition can cause damage) and we never use grass that has been treated with any fertilizer or herbicides.

As I look ahead to this season of gardening, it’s become clear to me... time to sharpen my hoe!