How do I start a vegetable garden in a weed infested area?

Question

We have a 20 x 50 foot area for a vegetable garden. It has a ton of weeds. This Spring we used a hoe, cut down the weeds, pulled a ton of them then sprayed weed killer on top. Now it's mid-Summer and the weeds are taking over again. What can I do?

Answer 1

If you choose to put weed killer down again you have to wait a couple of weeks before you plant your garden. Tis better to plow with tractor or till the area then rake out what has come loose and pull up the rest. If you will till just before winter you will bring alot of the weed seed and roots to the surface and the winter will kill them off. plow again in early spring and rake and pull. When you put the garden in lay newspaper in several thicknesses between each row. keeps weeds down and can be plowed into ground in the fall. A garden is constant up keep. We are in our garden almost everyday when it is growing-tilling between rows, pulling weeds, hoeing, or harvesting. Great exercise. You might want to cut your space down a little if you dont want to be overwhelmed. Plant a cover crop on half your space to keep weeds down. See below website for explanation and suggestions. good luck. m

Answer 2

To emphasize what others have said - DON'T SPRAY! One of the reasons for a home garden is to avoid all the toxic chemicals on commercially raised produce!

Gardens require constant work. You need to be out there almost daily, pulling weeds, watching for insects, etc. There is no way to eliminate weeds; their seeds persist in the soil and live forever. I've gardened in the same spot for 25 years and the weeds just keep coming!

Try this: next year, after you plant, go out every few days and cultivate (with a hoe or scratch tool) around the plants. Disturbing the soil dislodges and kills tiny weeds before they get a hold.

Another solution several people have mentioned is mulch. Thick layers of newspaper (or straw or grass clippings - if your lawn has not been sprayed with chemicals) between rows will smother weeds. You can also lay down black plastic in the row, then poke holes in it to set your seedlings. Hardware stores and garden supply stores sell this. Hold it down with stones. For crops you sow from seed, like beans, there is no alternative but to keep pulling those weeds!

Answer 3

Pull the weeds or hoe the garden (not too deep as you don't want to injure good plants' roots). If you hoe periodically, the weeds will never get too bad.

Don't use weed killer again. In the spring, just mow/mulch the remaining weeds and till them in.

If you want to mulch, consider grass clippings. One university study concluded that grass clippings are the best mulch for any variety of tomato under any climate and soil conditions. It won every time.

Weeds are a part of gardening, so just enjoy the work.

Answer 4

Weeds will persist for several years (like forever) because they have dropped their seed into the soil. The only way is to keep digging the garden and shaking the dirt from the roots of the weeds that you pull up. Personally I don't like weedkiller because so many weedkillers contain chemicals that are environmentally dangerous. It IS hard work, year after year to continually pull weeds, BUT it means that you have fertile soil, and gradually it should start to improve if you persist.

Learn from the weeds, notice which types are most prolific, and try to select veggies to grow which share the same preferences for type of soil, and microclimate (shade, dew, rainfall etc.)

Answer 5

MULCH, MULCH, MULCH! Put a good mulch down after you have cut down all the weeds. Also use a product such as Preen to stop new weeds from growing. Mulch again. Also, in the fall put turn over the garden and work the existing mulch into the soil. And then a heavy layer of mulch over the turned soil and let it stay there over the winter. Mulch and Preen are your best defense!

Answer 6

How often do you weed? Its probably going to need to be every day or two at least to keep on top of the weeds during the summer. You coulkd try covering any unused patches of ground with a black plastic mulch to stop more growing though

Answer 7

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Answer 8

stop using chemicals and pull the weeds by hand carefully keep up with them when they're small and try using ground covers they will also help to retain moisture next spring you can put a plastic sheet down and the sun will help to kill weed seeds by raising the ground temp its more work but worth the effort

Answer 9

You have to kill the seeds, too!
Put a black tarp over the area in the summer.
The heat will cook the seeds.

Add 3" of sand and 4" of soil if you really want to be safe.
Have fun!

Answer 10

First you must smoke all the weed. Be sure to have plenty of munchies and then plant you're vegetables.