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There are few things more satisfying than watching your carefully planted seeds germinate into colorful flowers or tasty vegetables. Unfortunately, germinating right next to your seedlings are the dreaded weeds. Taking over your garden and turning your winter garden dreams into summer weed-pulling nightmares.

There are basically three ways of controlling weeds; weed mats, organic controls or pre and post emergent herbicides.

Weed mats or weed barriers are easy to install and last for years. Simply prepare the ground for planting, unroll the fabric, cut out x’s as needed for new plants and cover with 2-3” of mulch. They are designed to let water and nutrients through to the roots but stop weeds from establishing. Weed mats are an excellent way to control unwanted growth in permanent landscape areas or under walkways and decks.

Natural and Organic controls are spray or dry spreadable products that are made of ingredients which are generally considered good for the environment and safe for use around children and pets. They still must be used as labeled to be safe and ensure proper weed control. Some of these products such as Weed Prevention Plus and Safe N Simple are weed control and fertilizer in one

Herbicides can be applied as pre-emergent’s (forming a barrier on the soil that doesn’t allow seeds to germinate) or post-emergent’s which are used to kill existing weeds. Both are very effective when used according to directions. Timing is critical when using pre-emergent herbicides once the weeds start to grow you must switch to a post-emergent. The herbicides are available in concentrates, ready-to-use and granular formations.

No matter what weed control you decide to use make sure you have a plan.   If you stay ahead of the problem you can enjoy your gardens and not have to spend another summer constantly pulling weeds.