Misplaced Plants in the Garden

Jim,
Weeds cover naked soil, an important ecological role.  You can eliminate weeds by simply depriving them of a reason to be by eliminating naked soil. If you can see naked soil in your garden, you are inviting weeds. Newspaper mulches have been mentioned.  They work but let me suggest three better approaches:  mulch, mulch and more mulch.  Mulch everywhere, always.  Consider naked soil, not weeds, the enemy. Mulching with organic materials like pulled weeds, grass clippings, garden debris, coffee grounds, spent grain, etc is also a way of composting in place so you are preventing weeds, saving water (mulching can cut back water use by 75%),  feeding soil, and creating pathogen and pest-inhibiting biodiversity. 
 
 After planting, when your intended garden plants demonstrate that they have established roots by putting out true leaves, you can put down a layer of mulch around them.  Add a layer weekly and weed seeds (always present) can't germinate.  You have literally smothered them.  Every time you add a mulch layer it helps the layers underneath decompose.  By the time your tomatoes or cabbages need to start heavy feeding your mulches have added new energy-supplying humus.
 
If the above approach seems counter-intuitive, pick up one of Ruth Stout's books (it doesn't matter which one; they are all about the same thing).  She was a big advocate of straw mulches for weed control, water retention  and feeding soil.
 
Mulching is a simple, effective approach to a weedless garden.  Don't forget to lay your weeds back down after pulling them. They've robbed nutrients in your soil which is best returned. Don't worry about weed seeds; we aren't going to give them a chance to germinate.  Weeds be gone...poof!
 
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This year, because of the abnormal amount of rainfall we are experiencing, we seem to have an abundance
of misplaced plants, a.k.a. weeds in our garden.
 
Before spring planting next year, I am determined to resolve this issue.
 
Our garden has about 2000' ft of planted rows.
 
Here are some of my options:
 
A -- Use newspaper (sections).
        Pro: No cost.  Promotes recycling in the garden.
               Can be tilled in after season.
       Con: Very labor intensive.
 
B--   Use commercial grade (25 year) landscape fabric
        Pro:  Easy to roll out, can be used year after year.
        Con: Costly. 
 
C--  Rolled heavy duty brown wrapping paper.
        Pro: Easy to roll out, can be tilled in after season.
        Con: Haven't determined cost yet.
 
I will not use:
 
Broken up cardboard boxes.
    Pro: Easy to acquire
    Con: Too labor extensive to prepare and install.
            Not sure if it will degrade enough to till in after season.
 
Plastic in any form.
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Option B can accomplished via donations to purchase landscape fabric.
 
If I go with Option A, I will have volunteers paper tape each section together prior
to Plant Day (this is the option I am leaning toward).
 
By properly laying down this weed barrier and leaf mulch, I can eliminate many
hours required to remove the weeds within the rows. Our volunteers love to harvest, but
weeding is not at the top of the list of enjoyable tasks.  Such is gardening.
 
Actually, most of our volunteers do not own a hoe or know how to use one.
 
When I first moved to Huntsville, Alabama, within the first week, I witnessed two
strange events.
 
While checking out at a 7-11. a guy with pocket protector actually pulled out
a slide rule to calculate his purchase.
 
A few days later, I noticed the neighborhood news delivery kid was throwing newspapers from
the passenger seat of a Corvette driven by his mother.
 
I thought, what planet did I land on?
 
Thanks for any input to the weed barrier options,
 
Jim Call, CASA Community Garden Volunteer Dir.
             www.casagarden.com
 
 
 
 
 
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