between the rows

[majorcatfish]

you have seen pictures of our garden and thank you for all the comments. as you have notice that there just a few weeds coming up here and there...
planning on purchasing a 4 stroke cultivator to tackle this problem.
heres a question for you all, once done cultivating between the rows what can i put down to help smother the weeds from coming back up????
open for all suggestions... and no round-up is not one of them...

 

[Ridgerunner]

What I usually do is put down two to three layers of newspaper and cover that with mulch. The newspaper works really well to stop most things from growing through and it holds in moisture. The mulch holds the newspaper in place. Normally the newspaper is totally disintegrated and rotted away by the end of the growing season. I normally use either wheat straw or year old wood chips as mulch. Mulch is usually gone too.

Stay away from slick glossy newspaper and newspaper with much color photos. Some of those dyes may be made from stuff you probably dont want in your garden. I just dont trust them.

Ive also been known to use cardboard instead of newspaper, still covered with mulch. Again, avoid the slick or brightly colored cardboard. Even the cardboard is usually gone by the end of the season. I think how much moisture you have during the growing season has a direct effect on how well the newspaper and cardboard lasts.

 

[catjac1975]

For me grass clipping are my garden gold. It forms a matt that keeps the weeds down. Ouse it on the most difficult to weed plants, like carrots, beets, broccoli, and sweet potatoes. I used to use leaves but I think they just harbored squash bugs.

 

[hoodat]

The postman delivers my weed smothering ground cover to me on a daily basis. When that runs out I go out to the driveway and clear up all those they throw there. Throwaway ads and newspapers that would otherwise have to go into the recycle bin. Toss grass clippings or whatever you can come by on top to keep them from blowing around. It takes a year for a thick mat of newspaper to decay down. It's porous enough to let the water through but holds back evaporation from the sun and wind.

 

[Collector]

I use both straw and grass clippings. We use the grass clippings around the plants, and straw between the rows. After you pull the plants in the fall just till in the grass and straw works great.

 

[seedcorn]

Straw for me.

Don't want to use round-up, use pramitol-that will sterilize soil and no weeds will come on--of course nothing will grow there.... I kid.

 

[so lucky]

I had been raking up the grass clippings to use in the garden, since my DH's truck is needing repairs and I couldn't get any straw. But a couple of weeks ago, as I was raking up freshly mowed grass, I got the worst allergy reaction ever. It took me about two weeks to get over it, since it turned into bronchitis, and now a nagging cough at night () Needless to say, I'm not going to be raking up any freshly mowed grass for a while. So today I bought a bale of straw; had it crammed into the trunk of my car. I don't know if I can even get it out, as the loading guy gave it a big shove and slam to get it in. My DH has been sick and can hardly lift anything anymore, certainly not a bale of straw. And think of all the straw scraps in my trunk!! Oh well, if it ain't one thing, it's two.

But yes, I use newspaper with straw over, in the garden paths.

 

[NwMtGardener]

Garden paths? Rows? What are these things you speak of?? Just teasing - i have a little area, so its bunched up in "groups", sorta. But i have stepping stones spaced here and there so i can get around. I also like grass clippings for mulch all over the garden.

 

[thistlebloom]

I had been raking up the grass clippings to use in the garden, since my DH's truck is needing repairs and I couldn't get any straw. But a couple of weeks ago, as I was raking up freshly mowed grass, I got the worst allergy reaction ever. It took me about two weeks to get over it, since it turned into bronchitis, and now a nagging cough at night () Needless to say, I'm not going to be raking up any freshly mowed grass for a while. So today I bought a bale of straw; had it crammed into the trunk of my car. I don't know if I can even get it out, as the loading guy gave it a big shove and slam to get it in. My DH has been sick and can hardly lift anything anymore, certainly not a bale of straw. And think of all the straw scraps in my trunk!! Oh well, if it ain't one thing, it's two.

But yes, I use newspaper with straw over, in the garden paths.

It will be messy So Lucky, but you could pop the bale while it's still in your trunk and remove it a flake at a time into a wheel barrow or something.

 

[canesisters]

I had been raking up the grass clippings to use in the garden, since my DH's truck is needing repairs and I couldn't get any straw. But a couple of weeks ago, as I was raking up freshly mowed grass, I got the worst allergy reaction ever. It took me about two weeks to get over it, since it turned into bronchitis, and now a nagging cough at night () Needless to say, I'm not going to be raking up any freshly mowed grass for a while. So today I bought a bale of straw; had it crammed into the trunk of my car. I don't know if I can even get it out, as the loading guy gave it a big shove and slam to get it in. My DH has been sick and can hardly lift anything anymore, certainly not a bale of straw. And think of all the straw scraps in my trunk!! Oh well, if it ain't one thing, it's two.

But yes, I use newspaper with straw over, in the garden paths.

Off topic, oh-well... A couple of years ago I ran out of hay and was not able to buy a truck load. So I called around and found someone who would sell me a bale at a time (buy from a farmer, 1/2 the price than from a feed store). Well, that settled, I then had to figure out how to get it home. Turns out that you can fit 8 bales in a Hyundai Santafe. 1 in the passenger seat (seat belt on), 3 sitting up in the backseat, 2 in the back sideways & 2 jammed up against the roof and the back of the back seat..... I would NOT, however, reccomend trying to drive home with the windows open.......

Back on topic. My garden only has 1 path and it's covered in a few inches of sawdust. So far - no weeds.