Monday, August 11, 2008

Gardening in the Weeds


I had a particular area in my garden where I wanted to put a couple of Azaleas and a Star Jasmine. The only problem was this area was overgrown with weeds. I had pulled them time and time again to no avail…the little buggers kept coming back! So when I decided to plant in this area, I took a tip that I had read somewhere (I don’t remember where…it was a while ago) and put it to great use.

I weeded the entire area once again. I planted my two Azaleas and my Star Jasmine. Then I took newspaper…actually I think it was the Sunday paper…and spread it out on the ground. I misted the paper with the hose and took the damp paper and put it over the dirt around the area where I was going to plant and mulch, then misted it one more time. I then put some soil over it, leaving a circle around my plants where I put just a small amount of soil. That made a bit of a “cup” so to speak where the water would sit and soak into when I watered. Last, but certainly not least, I put mulch over everything and watered the plants.

That was about 3 years ago. I have had no weeds until about 3 months ago. Absolutely none. It’s been wonderful! Gardening and not having to pull weeds…who woulda thought?? Now however, it’s time to week again. But aha! It’s also time to put new mulch down so…..I am going to take up all the soil and mulch and do the same thing all over again. And I'll probably used the Sunday paper again. But this time I will mix the old soil and old mulch together before I put it back, and then cover it with new mulch. The old mulch will help to enrich the old soil a bit. I hope to get another few weed free years before I have to do this again. Weeding everything 2 or 3 years is ok by me since I don’t have to spend every weekend out there pulling them!

Of course, The Happy Gardener offers some great weed control products as well as food for the Azaleas that won’t grow (yes, I lost my Azaleas. Wish I’d had The Happy Gardener around then!). Take a look at http://www.thehappygardener.info/ and if you’d like to order something or have any questions, drop me an email!

Happy Gardening!

Lore
Independent Garden Consultant
The Happy Gardener

http://www.thehappygardener.info/

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