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How to Prevent Weeds NOW using this Cheap, No-Till Method

in Garden Planning· Gardening Tips & How-to's· In the Garden· Spring Garden

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Ahhh, all of my seeds are in the ground. All of my transplants are coming along quite nicely. Finally, I can just sit back and relax, and enjoy the growth until I begin to harvest.

Peas in Bloom | Journey with Jill

Right?

Well, that’s what I thought when I started gardening. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that the most important garden work is done right after planting.

What am I talking about?

Preventing Weeds.

When Weeds Take Over Use this No-Till Method| Journey with Jill

Yes, preventing weeds is easier than battling them after the fact. Ask me how I know.

If you only have a few raised beds, plucking the weeds and grasses that come up may not be that hard of a task to keep up with. However, when summer begins to kick in, and heat indices rise to the three-digits, you won’t want to be picking weeds.

We just expanded our garden and I know that if I don’t get proactive in preventing the takeover of weeds and grass, my battle will be lost before I begin.

That’s why I’ve chosen be proactive in stopping the overgrowth of my garden before it starts.

Of course, there’s no way to eliminate all weeds, but you can keep them at bay. And when you do, you’ll have a healthier, more beautiful, and more productive garden. And isn’t that what we’re aiming for anyway?

The best way I’ve found to prevent weeds may take a little labor on the front end, but trust me, I’d rather labor in 70-degree weather than 103.

All you need is a bucket of water, newspaper, and some sort of mulch.

(For the mulch, I have used wood chips, pine needles, hay, and straw. Each worked well. The wood chips I was able to get from a tree service for free, and the pine needles I raked up from my pine trees in the fall. If you are a farmer or know one, you might be able to get your hands on spoiled hay for cheap or free, which works great.)

Are you more of a visual learner? Here is a 3-minute video of me showing you how to do it:

Basically, you just get the newspapers wet (discarding the slick advertising inserts), lay them thickly on the ground (I keep them bound by the natural 8-page sections they come in), and cover them with mulch. Each sheet of newspaper needs to overlap by about 4 inches to prevent weeds from snaking through.

The newspaper will block light from getting to the weeds and grass, preventing their growth. It is best to do this either after you’ve just tilled or if the weeds or grass are still young. If it has grown substantially, just mow it down first.

The mulch will hold down the newspaper and create a walkway. Both the newspaper and the mulch will eventually break down into the soil (depending on the mulch, it may take a couple of seasons), providing valuable nutrients for the soil. This is also an earthworm’s paradise. Earthworms provide nutritious castings, which are the building blocks of fertile soil over the long term.

How long will this process take? I estimate covering a 45 foot by 4 foot area took me about an hour and a half.

But it’s totally worth it. Trust me.

When the hot summer days come and your focus is figuring out what delicious recipes you can make with all of your garden’s bounty — instead of laboring over pulling weeds — you’ll know the effort was worth it.

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Filed Under: Garden Planning, Gardening Tips & How-to's, In the Garden, Spring Garden Tagged With: Mulch, Natural gardening, Spring gardening, weeds

Previous Post: « What Happens if You Don’t Thin Seedlings
Next Post: 4 Types of Mulch You Can Use in Your Garden »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kayla I. Shown-Dean says

    May 11, 2016 at 9:15 am

    This is awesome! And looks so easy. I can’t wait to try it in my garden. Thanks for sharing, Jill!

    Reply
    • Jill says

      May 11, 2016 at 9:25 am

      Good luck!! Let me know how it goes for you!

      Reply
  2. Darla says

    May 11, 2016 at 4:23 pm

    Love the video! Great job Jill. I read about this technique last year but it’s a lot more fun watching you do it.

    Reply
  3. katharinetrauger says

    May 11, 2016 at 5:22 pm

    When we do this, we love the results. When we don’t–arrrgh!

    Reply
    • Jill says

      May 12, 2016 at 11:47 am

      I’m so glad to hear it works for you, too!

      Reply
  4. alicia says

    October 10, 2019 at 12:55 pm

    What type and size of wood chips do you use?

    Reply
    • Jill says

      October 10, 2019 at 4:52 pm

      Recently I’ve used wood chips from a local lumber mill. They’re various sizes but I’d say one to two inches long. I’ve also used wood chips from a local tree service, and theirs was similar in size.

      Reply

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Notice a difference between the cabbage seedlings Notice a difference between the cabbage seedlings on the left and the ones on the right?
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I just love testing different things in my garden, and for these seedlings I tested two treatments I’ve never tried before: foliage feeding and a “root dip” using the plant growth product, Organic REV.
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The plants on the left were untreated; the ones on the right were treated.
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A few weeks ago I filled a spray bottle with a diluted Organic REV mixture (per their instructions) and I sprayed the young seedlings on the right. They responded well and began to outpace the untreated group slightly — it was small but definitely noticeable.
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Then last Friday I transferred the seedlings into these larger pots, but before I did it, for the plants on the right, I dipped the root ball in a 50/50 REV/water mixture, saturating the soil and roots before transplanting. Again, the plants on the right were the only ones that got this root dip.
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The soil all plants are growing in is the same: a potting mix plus some Plant Tone organic fertilizer.
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It was after this root dip and transplant that the seedlings on the right started pacing much more ahead of the ones in the untreated group.
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While all the seedlings (treated and untreated) are growing in this fertile soil medium, what Organic REV is supposed to do is appearing to prove true — at least in this test. It helps plants more efficiently take up and use the nutrients that are present in the soil.
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Organic REV is now a brand partner of the Beginner’s Garden. They sent me their product to try first, and I’m continuing to test it in different ways.
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But what I’m sharing with you is my own experience and results. If you’re interested in their product, look them up here: @buyorganicrev Use my affiliate code JILL10 to get 10% off if you want to try it for yourself.
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#organicrev #foliarfeed #foliarfeeding #indoorseedstarting #indoorseedlings #pottingup #cabbage #cabbageseedlings #organicgardening #organicfertilizers
I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to harvesti I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to harvesting from my garden in the winter. It snowed today, even! (Okay, just a dusting, and it already melted, but in central Arkansas, any snow is worth celebrating! 😂)
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Although I’ve grown cabbage in the spring before, this is my first time harvesting a fall crop. (My last two attempts were thwarted by hungry rabbits or rogue hens 😡.)
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I have several more plants that I’m hoping to harvest from now that the days are getting longer and maybe the heads will start growing again. And I also have a new crop started in my grow room.
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Four-season gardening may sound daunting but I assure you, fall and winter gardening is almost a hands-off endeavor. The only thing it really takes is a little planning (and some nurturing in the beginning).
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And the reward of picking from your garden in the winter (when your climate allows) can’t be overstated. It’s fabulous!!
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If you’re interested in learning how to incorporate more seasons in your garden growing, I have several exciting new resources coming up, starting with tomorrow’s first podcast of the new year on deciding if indoor seed starting is right for you!
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As much as I’m enjoying this winter harvest, I’ve already got one eye in spring! You, too? 😊
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#cabbage #growingcabbage #wintergarden #winterharvest #zone7b #arkansasgarden #zone7gardening #gardenplanning
This fall-planted parsley 🌱 has done really wel This fall-planted parsley 🌱 has done really well in my Greenstalk Vertical planter. I recently harvested the lower leaves and dried them for use in the kitchen. But the rest of the plant is still growing well, and I expect to harvest from it for months to come.
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I planted the parsley along with other plants in the Greenstalk planter in September. Although the lettuce is done and I harvested the celery, the herbs like parsley, cilantro, chives, and oregano are going strong!
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I LOVE that I don’t have to buy almost all herbs from the store, even in the winter.
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#herbs #parsley #herbgardening #greenstalkplanter #greenstalkverticalplanter #containergarden #containergardening #containerherbgardening #wintergarden #winterharvest #winterherbs #zone7b #zone7gardening
I’ve spent the better part of two days selecting I’ve spent the better part of two days selecting and ordering seeds for this year. My husband thinks my intensive research is a bit over the top. Maybe.... 🤔
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But here’s what I do:
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1️⃣ Select the seed companies I’ll purchase from. Most of my orders were from @southernexposureseed because I’m in the SE US and the varieties there fit my climate well. Next, I placed a large order from @territorialseedcompany (great selection, informative catalog, and some of the best prices). From there, I supplemented with seeds from @bakercreekseeds (high quality heirloom seeds, highly dependable, free shipping), @johnnys_seeds (unique varieties for different needs than I can get elsewhere), and @seed_savers_exchange (heirloom seeds with a great mission).
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2️⃣ I went through my top 3 catalogs, circling varieties I was interested in.
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3️⃣ I entered each variety in my Seed & Plant Research sheet from my Complete Garden Planner, noting unique characteristics, days to maturity, and price. (Not all seed packets are equal in quantity so it pays to be a savvy shopper.)
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4️⃣ I chose which seeds to purchase.
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I usually plan my entire garden before ordering seeds, but I was a bit nervous about the seed supply (thankfully only a few varieties were sold out), so I did my best in choosing what I’d need.
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The process was LONG but a great way to spend the last two days of 2020 — with HOPE for the 2021 garden season! 💕
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Have you ordered seeds yet? Where do you like to order from?
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(My printable Complete Garden Planner is available in my shop, link in profile.)
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#seedshopping #orderingseeds #gardenseeds #garden2021
#gardenplanning #gardenplans #seedcatalog #seedcatalogs #wheretobuyseeds #gardening #gardeningtips #gardentips
My greenhouse lettuce is coming along! 🥬 I expe My greenhouse lettuce is coming along! 🥬 I expect now that the day length ☀️ will be increasing, the growth will accelerate in the next couple of months.
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I think I planted these in early October, so you can see how slow they grow this time of year, even in the warmth of the greenhouse. But it’s so nice to see signs of growth and hope for future lettuce harvests! 🥬
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I’m almost to the end of my main fall lettuce, so I’ll be glad when these are ready to eat!
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#lettuce #greenhouse #greenhousegardening #wintergarden #wintergardening #greenhouselettuce #falllettuce #growbag #growbags #greenhousegardener #containergardening #containergarden #containerlettuce
Would love to hear your personal experience using Would love to hear your personal experience using shredded leaves as mulch! 🍂
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🌲 The trees on my property are mainly pine trees, so I’ve never had fallen leaves to collect and use as mulch. (That’s mainly why I use wood chips.) But when my dad offered to collect and bag up his leaves and give them to me, of course I said yes!
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Twenty-five bags later I realized I needed to figure out how to best use them. I knew they’d blow away if I just dumped them on the garden and they’d take forever to break down if I threw them in the compost pile. So I watched a few YouTube videos and settled on a leaf shredder.
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(A lot of people use lawn mowers to mulch their leaves but we don’t have a mower like that. I also tried the weed-eater as an immersion blender in a trash can idea once and it was a disaster.)
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I LOVED this leaf shredder! It was really easy to use and I shredded 25 bags in just a couple of hours. Most people shred the leaves into bags but I created a simple wired bin to collect mine, and I shredded the leaves directly into it. I applied the leaves to several beds already but I have half of them still in the bin to use later.
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How do you use fall leaves in your garden? I’m excited to try this method that I have enviously watched so many gardeners use over the years!
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#leafshredder #leafmulch #leafmulching #leafmulcher #fallenleaves #autumnleaves #mulch #gardentips #fallgardening #gardenchores #compost #leavesasmulch #fallgardencleanup @worxtools
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