Like it or not, weeds are a part of life. If you are into landscaping or cultivating a garden for your home or for commercial purposes, there’s no doubt you will have to deal with weeds at some point. You will need some expert level weed-management tactics to keep these pesky plants. The defining feature of a weed is that it is a plant that is growing where it’s not wanted. Weeds are just like any other plants, except for the fact that they can cause big problems in the environment that they are growing in. If you are handling any gardening or landscaping related projects, you definitely stand to benefit from learning a thing or two about the best ways to deal with weeds. Keep reading on to pick up some priceless information about weeds and how to keep them at bay.

What are weeds?

There are lots of different ways you can describe weeds. As we mentioned earlier, a weed is essentially a plant that is growing where it’s not supposed to be growing. It is a plant that is out of place and that you did not sow yourself. They can be plants that are competitive and interfere with human activity. They are problem plants that can cause serious damage to a landscape or garden. Weeds have more bad qualities than good ones, which is why they have such a bad reputation. The most common weeds you will find in your lawn are crabgrass, dandelions, and clumps of clover.

Here are some of the classic characteristics of weeds:

• Seeds that survive over the long-term
• Rapidly grow and disperse
• Easily adapt and spread
• Possess vegetative reproduction structures
• Seed production is plentiful

One of the main reasons why gardeners hate weeds is because they can soak up the valuable nutrients and water that the other plants in a garden need to grow. They can produce chemicals that are harmful to both humans and plants and can dramatically interfere with crops and other plant life in the area that they grow.

How to Prevent Weeds from Ever Sprouting

We now understand that weeds are pretty much always a bad thing for any garden or landscape. Managing weeds is a task that can be quite difficult. After all, how do you kill or remove one type of plant without killing the other ones that you want to continue to grow?

Here are some of the best ways to deal with weeds the right way:

Design your Garden to be Weed-Proof

One way to deal with weeds is to consider how you will prevent them from sprouting up when you are in the designing stages. A garden’s layout has a lot to do with how susceptible it will be to weeds. Plan on planting a diverse selection of plants and you will be much less likely to have weeds regularly sprouting up. Choose species that are easy to maintain and pick a variety of plant species to keep the weeds at bay.

Think About your Irrigation

Sometimes, when you use irrigation methods like sprinklers, there is water that runs off and ends up germinating seeds that aren’t the plants you want to actually grow. This runoff and evaporation can cause weed seeds to germinate and thrive. It pays to really think about your irrigation method and how to avoid watering the spaces you don’t want to water. To prevent this from happening, you can go with a ground-level or below-ground irrigation system to avoid wasting water and watering the weeds that you are trying to prevent from ever growing.

Master the Art of Mulching

Mulching is a fantastic way to prevent weeds from sprouting up for a variety of reasons. Organic mulches spread over a garden or landscape area will help cover up weed seedlings and prevent them from getting the sunlight they need to start growing. Mulching will also help to improve the quality of the soil and cut down on the amount of watering you need to make a garden or lawn flourish. If you are looking to purchase the best mulch on the market, Cal Blend Soils Inc has got you covered.

Getting Rid of Weeds that Have Already Sprouted

If you haven’t taken the weed prevention tips we mentioned above into account or already have weeds sprouting up in your lawn or garden, don’t worry. There are plenty of ways you can manage weeds that have started to grow and take over a landscape. Here are some of them:

Use Your Hands

There’s something so satisfying about pulling out unwanted weeds with your hands. It’s almost like therapy. This method of getting rid of weeds can be time-consuming, but it’s a great option for smaller gardens. It’s best to pull weeds by hand after it has recently rained or when the soil is fairly moist.

Fire Away

Another great way to kill weeds that have sprouted up in your garden is by using propane weed torches, known as flamers, to literally burn down the weeds. This is a great method for weeds that are small or broad-leaf. Larger weeds will require another method and are likely to spring back to life with flamers.

Herbicides

This method of getting rid of weeds can be risky business. You are literally using chemicals to poison the weeds so that they stop growing. It’s important to read all of the safety instructions on the bottle if you do decide to go with this route.

Dealing with weeds can be a constant battle if you don’t know the best way to approach the task. Using the methods mentioned above are surefire ways to prevent and get rid of weeds in your landscape or garden. To purchase the best landscaping products on the market and receive additional tips about dealing with weeds, contact Cal Blend Soils Inc today.