Weeding and Mulching
Weeds
What truly defines a "weed"? It's a curious question. Essentially, a weed is any plant growing in a place where it's not desired. Even the loveliest flowers can take on the label of "weed" if they appear in the wrong spot. The term itself doesn't inherently describe the plant's value, it’s all about perspective. Your garden is your canvas, and you decide what belongs. Many plants often dismissed as "weeds" might actually offer incredible benefits to your garden and the ecosystem. For example, some native plants in Canada, such as Milkweed and Joe Pye Weed, might have names that deter gardeners, but they are vital for supporting local pollinators and enhancing biodiversity. Embracing these misunderstood plants could lead to a healthier, more harmonious garden.
Noxious weeds are a different matter altogether. These are plants officially classified as harmful to the environment, agriculture, or the health of humans and animals. Often invasive, noxious weeds spread rapidly, outcompeting native plants and disrupting ecosystems, which can lead to long-lasting environmental damage. There are often public lists put out by the government and the plants on these lists should be managed and controlled appropriately. Monitoring your garden closely for any signs of noxious weeds is crucial. Early detection can make managing them much easier.
It is important to educate yourself on the invasive plants in your area. Unfortunately, many garden centres continue to sell plants that can quickly become invasive. This poses a significant threat to our natural landscapes, which are particularly vulnerable to invasive species. Garden centres that still sell invasive species should be warning their customers about what they are purchasing. Keep your eye out for plants like this and try to avoid them when purchasing new plants.
Weeding
An outdoor garden is almost guaranteed to have some weeds. This is something that is not easy to avoid. Gardeners have been battling weeds since forever. Weeds show no mercy, they don’t care if you already have a million things on your plate, they are ready to add 100 more.
The tried and true method of weeding is to hand-pull weeds. If you remove the entire plant they will not grow back. Unfortunately, weed seeds are easily dispersed and will likely end up in your garden time and time again. The best way to control weeds is to keep on top of it, regularly check your garden for new weeds growing. You want to prevent the weeds from competing with your plants for valuable nutrients, water, and sunlight. After it rains is a great time to weed because it loosens the soil and makes it easier to pull the plants. There are some tools that are very helpful for weeding. Here are some that we use in our garden:
A good trowel
Kneeling and sitting stool
Garden hoe
If you have been considering taking a more aggressive route with the weeds in your garden, we are here to remind you of all the negatives to using Herbicides. There are safer and healthier options you can turn to. In Ontario, regulations on the use of herbicides and pesticides were introduced in 2009 following numerous reports of children being adversely affected by these chemicals. Additionally, it's crucial to avoid using herbicides near vegetable plants, as they could contaminate the food you consume.
Negatives of Herbicides:
Health Concerns: There are many negative affects on your health if you are exposed to herbicides. The list seems to go on forever; affecting the neurological system, liver, kidneys, blood, digestive system, respiratory problems, and skin irritation just to name a few.
Impact on Environment: If you care about mother nature and you want to continue seeing the pollinators visiting your garden, the last thing you should do is use herbicides on your plants. The chemicals will leach into the soil and groundwater affecting not just the weeds but also the beneficial organisms in the soil and water.
Weeding Practices:
Hand Weeding: The most obvious and common form of weeding. Get your hands dirty and pull out the weeds. Manually pulling the weeds will directly target the plant without affecting the surrounding plants or the environment.
Cover Crops: Planting cover crops can help suppress weeds by outcompeting them. We have an article on. Cover Crops if you want to learn more.
Boiling Water: This solution is better used on driveways or sidewalk cracks. Pouring boiling water into a garden bed will most likely kill the other plants growing there along with the beneficial organisms that keep the soil healthy.
Vinegar Solution: Spray or pour a vinegar solution over weeds to kill them. Similar to the boiling water method, this should only be done in walkway paths or hard surfaces. You should not pour vinegar into a garden bed to kill weeds because it will kill your other plants and harm the soil health.
Soil Barriers: You can make your own barriers to add on top of the soil and weeds should not be able to grow through them. Use newspaper or cardboard under mulch to make it hard for weeds to grow. Use organic materials that can break down over time. You can also use landscape fabric and cut out holes to grow your vegetable plants in. This is not the most aesthetically pleasing solution. Many gardeners use landscape fabric beneath soil or mulch in perennial gardens, but we don’t recommend it. Over time, weeds can grow through the fabric, with their roots becoming entangled. After a few years, the fabric ceases to be effective and makes it very challenging to dig or modify your garden.
Mulching: Mulch will suppress the weeds and less will grow. We cover more about mulching below.
Flame Weeding: This is a method we have not tried before so we can’t recommend it. It should only be done in a controlled environment. This can potentially start fires. The plant’s roots are left untouched by the flame, the weeds will often grow back.
Mulching
Mulch is material laid on top of the soil around plants. The materials used for mulch are almost always organic. The most common mulch types are wood chips. You can also use leaves, straw, compost, cocoa bean shells, nut shells and stone.
Benefits of Mulching:
Moisture Retention - Water stays in the soil for longer, mulch slows down the evaporation process.
Weed Control - Weed seeds won’t receive the light they need to germinate if they are smothered by a thick layer of mulch.
Erosion Prevention - Heavy rain and strong wind won’t be able to take off the top layer of soil if mulch is protecting it.
Nutrient Enrichment - Organic mulch slowly breaks down over time adding more nutrients back into the soil.
Regulate Soil Temperature - Mulch can act as a buffer against extreme temperatures for the top layer of soil. It can protect the soil and shallow roots from the harsh sun and overnight frost.
The use of mulch in gardens is a personal choice. Some gardeners appreciate the aesthetic appeal of fresh mulch in their garden beds, while others focus on the practical benefits it offers. Despite its many advantages, there are also reasons to forgo using mulch. For instance, in our garden, we avoid mulch to support native mining bees and wasps, which rely on bare soil for nesting. Many native insects require exposed soil to build their homes. If you do decide to incorporate mulch in your garden, opting for organic mulch is a great choice. However, leaving some areas of bare soil can help promote a habitat for ground-nesting insects.