As Lanthier Winery's Master Gardener, I get asked many questions. One of the most frequent questions I get asked is: How do I prevent weeds in my garden?
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First, let's talk about prevention. One of the things I dislike most is failing to implement processes to keep weeds from sprouting. If our team doesn’t do a good job with landscape fabric, or mulch, in open areas, weeds quickly grow out of control during our warm, wet springs and hot, sunny summers. Weeds reseed quickly, if not removed, so it pays off to prevent rather than pull.
Pre-emergent chemicals like Preen help to keep weeds from sprouting. With larger gardens it becomes too expensive to scatter over large areas. At Lanthier Winery, we use landscape fabric and rubber mulch in areas we know we will never plant. But you can use wood chips and cardboard or thick stacks of newspapers. Both make great weed barriers and compost into the soil adding to next year’s fertility but keeping this year’s weeds at bay
At Lanthier Winery, if we want a “spot of color” we will dig a hole, place the fabric in the hole, and then place a large pot down in the hole and surround with mulch. This is a great idea for tropical or tender perennial that need dug. You simply pull the pot and replace it with an empty one of the same size. Next year, bring your tender plant out and start again.
Weed barriers are by far, the best for season long control. Just remember that water is essential to soil health, and plastic, tarps and trash bags don’t allow water to the soil. If pulling and costly sprays aren't an option, there are some great organic, low cost, DIY ways to kill weeds.
We recommend pulling weeds as soon as the ground thaws. It’s a great way to catch weeds as they are young, with small roots and the cool, damp soil makes it easy to yank out the problems. We also suggest pulling after rains, because more of the root is easily taken. The number one rule for weed control is: DON’T SHAKE THE SOIL OFF THE WEED ROOT. Each time you do this, the soil takes small pieces of roots with it and, the next thing you know, you have more roots in the spot you just weeded.
To learn more about weed control or other gardening ideas join us for Lanthier Winery's annual Spring Celebration Festival the last weekend in April!
Ten Quick and Easy Tips For Weed Control
1. Start pulling early - as soon as the ground thaws.
2. Never toss weeds in compost piles. You will reseed your garden when you spread the compost!
3. Weed after it rains. It makes the process easier and quicker.
4. Spread newspaper or cardboard on the ground and cover with mulch. This acts as a totally organic weed control that lasts an entire season.
5. Consider using landscape fabric, mulch, and buried pots instead of cutting holes in fabric (this allows for weeds to emerge).
6. Select chemicals carefully. Preen is only effective on weed free soil.
7. Plant flowers close together. This helps block weeds and gives big bursts of color!
8. If using chemicals, be sure to use the correct type. Only certain mixes will control weeds for several months – these are extended control and, depending on the chemicals, may last from 3 to 12 months. These methods are great for paths and driveways, but can do great harm to lawns and flower beds.
Are you interested in learning more about Weed Control Mat? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!
9. Never spray on a windy day, a day below 65 degrees, or if rain is expected in the next 24 hours. Some mixes are made to be “rain proof” in as little as 30 minutes, but all mixes work best when not diluted by rain.
10. NEVER EVER shake the soil from the weed roots. This creates root cuttings that help the spread of weeds. Instead, carry a bucket and dump your weeds, dirt and all, in a designated area away from your garden and yard.
Consult our mat specifications and planting tips pages for the best mats to use for specific crops.
Absolutely. It is an ancient practice to rotate crops. It is based upon the fact that too long an occupancy on one site of a single crop is neither good for the crop nor the soil in which it grows. Rotation helps equalize the drain on the nutrients in the soil. Rotation is especially important for certain “night shade” plants like potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. They should be moved around in your garden every year.
This practice helps prevent over-wintered diseases or insect pests from having the same crop or type of crop upon which to feed the next season. For example, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli should not follow each other since many of the same diseases attack all of them. Likewise cucumbers, muskmelons, watermelons and squashes and pumpkins should not follow each other.
A good general practice is to follow foliage crops, celery, cabbage, lettuce, spinach and others, by root crops, such as beets, carrots and parsnips, and to follow these by fruit and seed crops, such as tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, beans and peas. In a small garden it is hard to follow an ideal system of rotation because of the large variety of crops grown and the difference in the size of the area devoted to the various ones. It is important, however, to keep in mind the general principals of rotation, especially in case disease becomes a serious problem.
For example, we had both a tomato and potato blight last year. We are moving both crops and starting all over with our potatoes. We are not using any of last year’s crop from the root cellar. We are purchasing them from a very reputable source to ensure that they are disease free.
We till our soil well before we lay out the garden mats. Once that is done we start at one end. We use Garden Mats staples and pin the mats down in each corner. We then unroll the mat all the way to the other end and pin the far two corners down using two more Garden Mats staples. We then place a staple on each side every three feet. So, for a 6 foot mat you will need six staples, two in each corner and two in the middle on each side. For a 12 foot mat you will need 10 staples. For an 18 foot mat you will need 14 staples.
If you bury the edges in soil it will promote weed growth, especially with tenacious weeds like witch grass. We recommend that you just lay your garden mats on top of well-tilled soil and pin them down in the corners and every 3′ or 4′ with our Garden Mat staples.
Rocks work, but are not nearly as convenient. You can also just use old coat hangers, cut and bent, but they won’t last as long as our 8″ staples made from 9-gauge galvanized steel. If you have strong winds you will not want to use a smaller staple. We have seen our mats blow away with a standard 4″ staple, and they don’t last. We found that they rust out in one year. Trust us, we wouldn’t sell our Garden Mats staples if they didn’t work.
Once the growing season is over, simply cut the stems of the plants that remain. Pull up the staples and shake your garden mats so they are free of dirt. If you want you can hose them down, but this is usually not necessary. Once the mat is free of dirt roll it up. Do not fold it since this will affect the weave. Once the mat is rolled up, either store it standing up or laying down.
Yes! If you notice that the garden mat is beginning to fray, either around a hole or on an edge, this is easy to correct. We use a heat gun or soldering iron. Simply hold the heat gun near the frayed edge or touch the frayed edge with a soldering iron and slowly melt the material. The material melts quickly so do not hold the heat gun or soldering iron in one place for too long. Even though your repair may not look pretty, it should fix the problem so your mat will last. If you have a severe problem contact us and we’ll try to assist you.
We overlap our mats 1″ just as you see it in the pictures, so there is no in-between row weed-control worry. No additional mat is needed. We walk where the mats overlap., and it actually creates a shallow “trench” for excess water to wick away from your plants so they never get soaked.
All of the polypropylene fabrics that organic farmers and vegetable gardeners use are safe. Some are felt (cheap) and some are poly. It’s things like black plastic or blue tarps that should be avoided. That’s because those materials have no UV stabilizers so they break down and begin to crumble after being out in the sun for even one summer. The issue is mainly about waste since those other materials last only one season. Also, unlike our garden mats, none of those fabrics breathe, i.e., they do not let air and water through.
What many consumers don’t know about when they pick up commercial organic vegetables at the supermarket, coop or even from many large growers at farmer’s markets, is the waste generated by the growers’ use of plastic fabric. The plastic ends up in a landfill after just one season. That’s why we developed a fabric that lasts up to ten years. We have mats going on a full decade of being outside 365 days a year and they’re still in great shape.
Sorry, but we don’t sell to retailers. Whenever we tried that in the past it ended up driving up the price.
Contact us to discuss your requirements of PP Weed Barrier Fabric. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.