Weekend Tips For Your Garden: Winning The Weed Battle In Your Yard

There is a difference between "weeding" and weed control. But do we know the difference? It's time to arm ourselves and win the battle with weeds once and for all.  It has been said that the whole object of weed control is to keep weed populations at some kind of a desired level. The object is to keep them at bay and decrease the proliferation of these pests in your yard.

Weeding, on the other hand, is the elimination of the wretched weeds altogether. The dirty little secret is that if weeding is not done correctly, one could end up increasing the percentage of weeds in their lawn without even trying to.

Here are some things to think about when looking at your yard. These are the signs that should alert you to the potential proliferation of the unwanted weeds.

1. Weeds Can Be Increased By Human Cultivation - If you're "rototilling" your yard, you could spread the weed seed around and cause more to pop up. Another problem people have is putting top soil on their yard. If there are a lot of weed seeds in the top soil, then your lawn will be subject to more weeds.
2. Don't Let The Weeds Plant "Babies" - You want to get to the weeds before they start "flowering." You know your lawn is in a bit of trouble if they get to that place. If you're going to "weed and seed" or spray a weed killer on your yard, it should be done before they start to grow.
3. Mulch, mulch, mulch! - Mulch is good for your yard, where weed prevention is concerned as it acts as a suffocating agent that can choke out weeds. Mulch doesn't allow sunlight to get to the weeds, therefore they have trouble growing.
4. Boiling Water - This is a more "natural" way to destroy weeds, if you choose not to use chemicals in your yard. Boil water and then pour them on the weeds. This will kill the weeds. To control the "splash factor", use a kettle or something with a spout for water control. Keep the boiling water away from wanted vegetation.
5. Borax - Although this may be a bit harsh, it gets the job done. You can pour borax or salt into concrete expansion joints and control joints to take out those unwanted, pesky weeds.

There are other ways to win the war on weeds in your yard. Watering the weeds and pulling them out by hand or by weed puller, cutting them down and landscape fabric under the mulch are a few more ways to help combat the enemy.