When it comes to treating weeds in a vegetable garden, you have to be careful of the methods you use so you don’t harm the plants you want to keep, but rid the soil of the nutrient-sucking sprouts.
We spoke to a gardening expert for the best tricks for how to keep weeds out of your vegetable garden.
Meet the Expert
Sarah Warner is an expert gardener and the Greenhouse Manager at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH.
Is It Possible to Have No Weeds in Your Garden?
Though a weed-free space is ever gardener’s dream, “it’s never possible to keep your garden 100% weed free,” says Warner. “But it definitely is possible to limit the amount of weeds that grow in your garden bed.”
Weeds need what your garden plants need: soil, sunlight, and water. Because of this, there’s no way to keep them out of your lawn completely. However, there are preventatives you can add to your vegetable garden that keeps weeds from growing so frequently without disturbing what you’re planting.
7 Easy Methods to to Keep Weeds Away from Your Vegetable Garden
Angela N. / Flickr
Add Mulch
Mulch is a fabulous weed-prevention tool to put in a vegetable garden since it blocks sunlight and warmth weeds need to grow.
“Untreated wood chips and straw do a great job of keeping weeds at bay,” says Warner. “I prefer to use these products in walkways, garden beds, and around my lilac trees.”
Put Down a Tarp
Who would’ve thought that a $6 tarp you could buy at your nearest home improvement store could be so handy at preventing weeds in a vegetable garden? According to Warner, it’s a tried-and-true method she puts into practice throughout the year.
“I like to use tarps over my growing spaces to manage weeds. This method helps to kill overgrown weeds, add organic matter into the soil, keep the soil covered from erosion, and prep the space to be planted into,” Warner says. She advises weighing the tarp down with sand bags, bricks, or logs to keep it close to the ground and let in minimal sunlight.
Use Garden Knives
One of the best ways to prevent weeds is stopping them before their roots settle more is to manually dig them up yourself. Warner suggests using a hori hori garden knife or a soil knife for assistance in digging up the weeds by the roots and chopping them up.
Bring Out a Stirrup Hoe
If getting down to dig up weeds by hand puts unbearable pressure on your back, Warner says a stirrup hoe is a great tool for pulling weeds. It pulls weeds from the soil with minimal disruption to your garden.
“For my garden beds with 18 or so inches between each plant, this is the perfect tool to use as I can weed around each plant effortlessly without disruption,” Warner says. It’s especially helpful, she says, for preventing back and knee soreness while working.
Lay Cardboard
Yes, you read that right. Cardboard is a great recyclable tool to use for weed prevention in your garden bed since it’s another barrier that blocks sunlight and stifles weeds.
“Start by taking all of the tape and stickers off your cardboard and place over the section you would like to be weed free and water heavily to settle the cardboard in place,” Warner says. “Walk over it a few times to help it stay in place.” It’s an ideal short-term solution.
Use Cover Crops
Sometimes the best weed prevention hack is planting what’s known as cover crops.
“Legumes, clover, grasses or overwinter cover crops are great all year round,” Warner says. “These species help to outcompete weeds while adding organic matter, nitrogen, aeration, water retention abilities, and some can attract pollinators.”
Apply White Vinegar
White vinegar is another natural method for effectively killing weeds, but you should know a few things before applying it.
The most important thing to know is it only kills the exposed part of the plant that it comes into contact with, so it’s best to use on new, young weeds. Additionally, be extremely careful when using this method as a weed killer. If white vinegar makes contact with a plant you want to keep, it might accidentally kill the plant.
How to Choose a Weed Control Method
We all have our preferences for how we treat weeds around our home, but some methods are better left for areas other than the garden bed. As you search for a trusty weed preventer, here are a few things to consider.
Do you want something organic? It’s always best to try and stick to organic materials since they’re sustainable and more friendly to your vegetable garden. Some non-organic weed preventers include materials that can kill vegetable plants you want to harvest.
Do you want to do manual labor? Though manually pulling weeds is highly effective, it’s very tiring. If you’re not able to pull weeds without straining or exhausting yourself, consider a solution like vinegar or laying down cardboard.
How to Prevent Weeds In Your Vegetable Garden
Ekaterina savyolova / Getty Images
The best way to prevent weeds from overtaking your vegetable garden is to treat them, if possible, during their pre-emergent stage or using a garden-friendly weed preventer like mulch. Mulch is one of the best weed preventers for a vegetable garden since it maintains the moisture in the soil the plants need to grow while also blocking the soil to keep the weeds from germinating.