How To Get Rid Of Weeds - Our Best 3-Step Method Revealed -

How To Get Rid Of Weeds – Our Best 3-Step Method Revealed

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Weeds. They are an eyesore! They are unwanted! They are pervasive!

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If you've read lots of articles or watched videos on how to get rid of weeds but you still cannot elimate them, here's an answer to your prayers.  We want to tell you about the method we've used for years that we think is the best.

Why do we thing that? Well, we've been getting rid of weeds in client's gardens for a long time and we've seen it work - time and time again.  In all our clients' gardens we don't have a problem with weeds.

For example, for one client in particular, on our first visit the garden was an absolute mess with weeds everywhere, many were as tall as we are - that's about 6 feet tall!  Within 2 years however, we were able to get that particular garden to a point where each year there were fewer weeds than the year before until after 2 years,  weeds weren't much of an issue at all.

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Our client's weeds!!!

Here is our client's garden on the left, we me standing at the right.

This is what we encountered the first year we were there.  As unbelievable as this seems, those tall sprouts are weeds, after we had killed them.

Honestly, we've never seen weeds that tall that we were contacted to get rid of.  We followed the method we're about to tell you and after we did and we came back a few years in a row, the gardens maintained themselves with very little weed control necessary.

This was a huge win for the homeowner!!  You can have the same results...

That's what you can expect by following our method.

This method is not rocket science, and it's not something that will be surprising to you. However, what we do it combine several techniques together into one weed-busting method.

Before we get into the details, in this article we are talking about weeds in your garden, not in your lawn.

Setting Realistic Expectations:

First, you must know that a lot of your success will depend on where you're starting. For instance, if you have a garden that's an overgrown mess, it will take longer to have a weed free space. On the other hand, having a few weeds here and there will make it much easier and quicker to get that garden weed-free.

Getting a weed-free garden is not something that happens overnight. It's a process that takes time. You start from the beginning and by doing certain things you'll reduce them over time until finally, your garden should be virtually weed free.

Once the intial attack is done, it's a simple matter of maintaining. This means continuing the process year after year, without fail. If you miss a year, or don't have time and skip it, pretty soon one thing leads to another and before you know it, the weeds have cropped up and will take over.

As you know, weeds grow fast. It doesn't take long for them to take over. So keeping up with your weed-treatment plan will be easier than letting it go and then trying to get control later. Taking a little time each year to address it is much better than skipping it and having to start over.

How To Get Rid Of Weeds - The First Attack

Let's start at the beginning of your journey to a garden that's free of weeds. Whether your garden is overriden or not, the first thing you must do is to get rid of the weeds that are already there.

This is, by far, the hardest part, but it also the most necessary. You need to start with a garden that has very few, if any weeds, and the only way to do this is to dig them up and get rid of them, including their roots.

Here's where you'll just need to do the grunt work. Get down on your knees and dig up each and every weed you see, as much as possible, including the roots. Now, we know, it will be impossible to get rid of every weed and every weed seed. However, read on for a solution to that as well.

To dig up the weeds, you need to know which plants are weeds and which are not. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to tell without knowing the most common weeds in your area so you can ID them. In addition, many perennials may not be easy to identify when they are just starting to sprout, so you may get rid of them accidentally. If so, it's not a big deal. You just start from scratch.

It's better to sacrifice some desired plants you couldn't identify rather than deal with the weeds that will grow. There are always more plants at your garden center.

So, as the first attack, dig up weeds that are growning NOW in your garden. Use a weed fork to get down to the roots or any other tool that will reach down and grab the plant by its roots.

Once you've pulled out all the weeds that are currently growing, it's now time to move into the next phase for how to get rid of weeds in your garden.

Apply A Pre-Emergent

Now that you have eliminated the weeds that are actively growing in your garden, it's time to use a preemergent to prevent new weeds from taking root.

The pre-emergent we use for this step is called Preen. You may have seen it at your local garden center. Preen esentially prevents new seeds from germanating, which means weeds will not grow.

The downside to this approach is that Preen blocks all plants from reseading, and that includes perennials.

Therefore, if you're trying to get a perennial garden established and you want your perennials to spread, do not apply a pre-emergent to those areas.

Spread Preen over your newly weeded garden, spreading it anywhere and everywhere that you don't want new seeds to grow.
It is sold in a sprinkle container, making it easy to spread. Read the instructions that comes with the product and you'll have no problems.

As a side note, you don't need the container of Preen with a battery powered spreader.  Save some money and get the sprinkle jar.

The Final Assult On Weeds

What is the final assult? In a word - mulch.

Apply AT LEAST 2-3 inches of mulch to your gardens. Since any plant (including weeds) needs sun to grow, applying mulch in a thick layer will prevent sun from pentrating the soil and therefore, control any weeds that try to grow.

It's important to apply it thick enough. Don't skimp on mulch. This will be you final defense against weeds.

The Final Summary Of Steps For Getting Rid Of Weeds

If you've been wondering how to get weeds, we've just explained it. That is it. Three steps. Easy, right? Well certainly not complicated. Here are the steps we described above.

  1. Eliminate all (or most) of the weeds that are currently growing by manually pulling or digging them by hand. 
  2. Apply a pre-emergent to prevent new weed seeds from germanating. 
  3. Apply 3 inches of mulch to your garden to prevent sun from germanting weeds that may have gotten through the first 2 steps.

How To Get Rid Of Weeds - Important Tips

Here are some things we wanted to add to the information above to give you an even more complete guide for how to get rid of weeds.

First, following the steps we described above is a very, very good start, but it's not perfect.  You see, weeds are presistant little suckers. They have a habit of finding a way around all your defenses and taking root.

For instance, despite your efforts to eliminate all weeds as we described in step 1, it's just about impossible. There will be weeds that will evade your capture and therefore, start to grow anyway.

Second, if you apply a pre-emergent and then disturb the barrier, weed seeds may get through and germante anyway.

Finally,  there is the factor of not having enough mulch applied, or, even if you do apply enough, a heavy rain might wash it away, especially if your garden is on a hill.

You know, it's nature, and it's not perfect.  Nothing in life is.

However, what we can say for sure is this. Our method will not be perfect in the first year.  However, you will make some headway for sure.

One last point... we do not recommend that you use weed control fabric!  Don't use it.  Wanna know why?  READ THIS POSTING for the answer.

If you keep up these action steps  for a 2nd year and then a 3rd year, what you will find is that year after year, your weeds will be less and less until you've reached the point where virtually none are popping up.  For the ones that do, a quick dig with your trowel or weed fork will remove them quickly and present you with your desired result - a weed free garden.

So there you have it. Our foolproof method for how to get rid of weeds. Use it with confidence because it does work. We know from experience.

If you follow our guide, comment below because we'd love to hear your results.

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1 Comment

  1. RJ Sophia
    April 16, 2023

    So glad I found your website. We just used Preen for the first time and used your site to make sure we were using it correctly. We have large perennial beds in NE Ohio and our front yard is a steep incline. Preen will be a life saver! Thanks for providing such outstanding information first hand!!!

    Reply

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