Weeds in vegetable garden

Hello everyone,

I have been having trouble with weeds in my vegetable garden for years now and I have just been pulling by hand as much as I can but it just never ends. I need some advice as to what I can do now and in the future. I have roughly a 20x30ft garden with different beds growing lots of different things. The main weeds that I know that names of are purslane and bindweed which is coming from my neighbors yard but he won't do anything about it. There are some others that look like think grass in a bunch and some grass that gets tall. I have thought about just covering everything in plastic for a year to try to kill it off but that bindweed will sneak back over. Also maybe removing all the soil on the fence line and doing something to prevent the bindweed from coming over then adding in new soil. Any help is appreciated.

Thank You
Dino

You have raised beds, right? And the weeds are in the raised beds, correct?

Try skimming these sites for ideas you can use.  I like the "smothering concept.
https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2019/07/natural-weed-control.html

Also try mulching the edges of the property where the weeds come over.

Iowa State has a lot of good ideas for weeding in vegetable beds.  Like this one:
A tea kettle is often a good way to safely and precisely apply boiling water directly to the weed. Use plenty of water and plan to retreat 7-10 days later, as one application rarely kills the entire plant, especially deep-rooted weeds.

Good Luck!

I

They are not raised beds just divided with boulders. I will try the boiling water but will probably have to wait until i harvest.

Thank You

I have one garden that is strictly for medicinal plants. I went to the block and stone place in town that sells product to landscaping companies, and I bought their very expensive but also very durable weed barrier material. I put it down and I cut holes everywhere a plant was to be planted. Some plants were already planted so I lined it up, cut a slit in the side of the fabric near those plants and put it down around those plants. It took me a day. Then I put pavers around the entire perimeter of the garden and mulched over the fabric. It is year 2 and though the fabric is showing through in some places where I need to re-mulch, it is still in great shape. I spent a bit of money, but in the end, it is my favorite garden.

There are a couple approaches you might be interested in, but they might not 'perfectly' fit as a solution.

Thought #1

To remove/reduce the amount of seed in the garden beds, you might consider a rotation of solarizing your beds? You would put down a tarp over the bed and let the sun cook the weed seeds out but would keep the bed from producing while you are doing the solarization. You indicated that the weed seeds might be coming from a neighbors house so depending on your seed load it might be helpful?

Thought #2

Do you use mulch in the beds? If you go with a deep mulch system, weeds are much easier to pluck out as the soil remains softer. It also keeps light from germinating weed seeds. You may have to adjust your gardening style and pull back mulch if you start seeds in the dirt but I haven't found it to be too difficult.

An amish fellow I buy plants from recommends cardboard boxes on the ground around the plant and mulch over the cardboard.