Fall Weed Cleanup

I’ve covered weeds in a couple of blog posts earlier this year, so I thought I’d follow up with a couple of winter weed tips.

If you’ve kept up with your weeding through the year, this may not be an issue, but weeds do not stop growing—even in winter.  Okay, they probably do, but why give them months of uninterrupted time to get a head start on you? Even though I’ve stated in the past that I only weed once a year, I do give my garden a once over in the fall trying to catch those sneaky ones that have escaped my notice.

Remove the invasive weeds and unwanted plants.  But be careful.  Fall is when weeds go to seed. If you disturb the soil too much, what seeds have fallen on the ground have the opportunity to germinate. Also, make sure you don’t put weeds or invasive plants, especially the seed heads, in your compost pile as they will populate your garden next year.  Then mulch—it’s still the best weed preventer there is.

If you have a bed that has generally “gone to the weeds”, then smother any new plants by covering it with a sheet of black plastic and secure it with rocks or bricks. Next spring you’ll have a garden free of weeds.