The Honest Truth about How to Have a 'Weed Free' Garden 

As someone whose yard was once a horrendous jungle of weeds, I have some tips of my own to add. If you are starting from the very beginning, prepare to spend some sweaty afternoons weeding, mowing and whacking your yard into shape. I spent an entire day weeding out my front garden beds that were overrun with Queen Anne's lace. Once that bit of nastiness is done, put some preventative measures in place. Sheet mulching with cardboard and burlap made a huge difference for me. The key is using several layers of cardboard (or burlap) and lining them up so that no light can get through to potential weeds. The most effective way to suppress large amounts of weeds is to deny them light and air. Sheet mulching does both. As for maintaining an (almost) weed-free garden, keep at least three inches of mulch over your beds. You should not see bare soil, only mulch. Add plenty of compost to your beds in the fall and spring. Keep your grass mowed regularly. For problem beds, remove existing weeds and plant through a thick layer of weed fabric, cardboard or tarp. You can cover these with wood chips or river rocks if you want a nicer appearance. If you live in a colder climate like I do (Zone 5), get an early start on your weed suppression. Get the mulch and fabric in place by March or April, and start cruising your yard looking for violets and dandelions. Yes, they DO grow that early. Finally, for the few weeds that manage to permeate your efforts, weed and water at the same time. Weed after a fresh rain. It makes the garden smell wonderful, and makes this chore go a whole lot faster. It sounds like a lot of work. It will be at first. But with care and preparation, weeding will eventually take very little effort. I say this as a reformed black thumb. 😊

My experience has been 95% successful by laying down 2 layers of newspaper and covering with mulch. I reduced my weed burden by at least 95%. I used a 50-50 mix of grass clippings and shredded leaves as mulch.

Yes, you are absolutely right! I've put that into practice the last two growing seasons and it has drastically cut down on my weeds. I like to use a hula hoe, too--I go through all my beds every two weeks while the weeds are very small and just hoe them all--it takes maybe 10 minutes. It's very easy and, physically, not the least bit demanding.

Weeding is addictive...once we start we cant stop. Pulling weeds from mulch really is easy if maintained. 🤗💙

Some people watch pimple-popping videos, I watch grass-pulling lol! Thank you for the honesty - it's nice to know that it is not a moral failing to have weeds, and that I just need to keep up the efforts.

Every year, we get a great start on weed prevention, and then springtime allergies keep us indoors for a week. When we return, the weeds look like they took steroids, while the veggies look like 98-pound weaklings. No matter how much we work on weeding, within a week they come back like somebody broadcast their seeds in the garden. Also, the deer seem to only eat the veggies and ignore the weeds.

I came here to look for an analogy to dealing with the “weeds” that come into one’s life in general. Sometimes weeds are people, sometimes they’re false thoughts that we have about ourselves, and so forth. The weeds analogy can be applied to many things in life. Thanks for the video!

Ah! You gave me hope, sigh. I didn’t stop to think it though. The moment you said the weeds become fewer and fewer in time, the light went on. Thank you. I’m not doomed and shall prevail. Hope springs and some day weeds won’t.

This gives me hope. I moved 2 months ago into a new house which had been so neglected, with huge weeds everywhere. Took care of them. I've placed woodchips in some parts of the garden, and I thought it would never end. I do hope what your saying is true, and with time I will defeat weeds so they wont want to come back with such force.

Always enjoy your honesty. Been watching you for a couple years and use your tips. I bought trifecta plus last year and used it on my tomatoes and blue lake bush beans this year. All I can say is my experience with it is fantastic. Explosive growth and very healthy plants. Thanks very much for doing what you do!

the conclusion is, don't be lazy.. get your body moving, make effort in pulling out the weed.. the greater the effort you make, the sweeter the satisfaction you will get when you see the weed is getting less and less, and eventually having a weed free garden..

It's important to remember that for some weeds, tilling makes it worse, not to mention the effect of tilling on the soil health. Our extension office says not to till bindweed because it just propogates it.

middle of winter I will say to my self. boy I wish I was out there weeding now. take care garden peeps.

What you say about the leaves feeding the roots is true. Two years ago we had about a fifth of an acre completely covered 8 feet high with thorny blackberry vines. I decided if I cut them all down and kept cutting them about every two weeks before the leaves had a chance to develop and feed the roots, they would eventually die. It worked!!! This year we have very few blackberry vines and they're easily removed.

Thank you for this video. I have been struggling with some rhizome (chokers I call them)weeds for some time now. It's good to know my tenacity may pay off.

You're right, you're right. I was hoping for a quick fix, but I need to do the work and it will get better.

Weeds come up through my asphalt, which has been there 18 years. Next time they close a lane on the freeway, notice how weeds start growing in the cracks of the pavement. Weeds, will always be with us.

got crab grass that will go nuts if I'm gone for just a week, it seems to blow in on the wind and will be everywhere after a good rain.

Thank you! This was motivating for me to finish weeding this bed that was overrun 😂headed back out 😅🎉

So the key to a weed free garden is to weed? It took ten minutes to say that.

That isn''t grass your pulling out, its nutsedge. Its a very easy weed to pull, none easier. The problem is your leaving nutlets behind and shaking them off of the roots as you go along. I'd like to see you repeat this process in a bed with bermuda grass growing in it.

Sometimes one has to start the year before you start growing things - I'm trying to mow a field to get it ready to be a garden during the 2018 season.

Good video! Good quality and explanations! It typically takes 7 solid years of progressive weed minimizing to get to 'weed free' land. But completely free, will always be impossible. Even the birds will bring new seeds to your soil. Intensive growing also helps.

loved your video luke I understand what your saying my very first garden was in the ground and it was nothing but weeds but I did not give up just like that I keep it up for about three years and then I just called it quits and went to above ground beds now I don,t have hardly any weeds at all

I am at a point with weeds were keeping them less and less is finally visible. Now I have enough control to be able to pull the weeds before they seed themselves.

I was going to use wood chips on the pathways between our raised beds but in the end, I'd rather just design them so I can mow between them, I mean weeding between raised beds just gets silly, rather spend the time weeding the actual beds when necessary. Our raised beds are over 2 foot high so the grass is easy to keep out, if you've got lower beds I can see mulching the pathways a good preventative measure

I love his honesty. It's so refreshing😀!

You are smart and personable. You have a love for gardening and it shows. Thank you.

Luke is very detailed and knows what he is talking about. Everyone can learn from him. I love his passion for gardening! BTW, I had 100% germination from the seeds I bought for them. I will be buying from them again.

I love this video! It is so educational and consistent with all the research I've read from the top agricultural research institutions. It is all about spending the seeds embedded in the soil and not letting new weeds go to seed. For those who can't be out there every day we have developed Tertill, a solar-powered robot, that can be out there every day. Cornell School of Agriculture found in their A/B research that it is as effective as hand weeding. It will require making sure your garden has the right set up, but gardens with larger plant spacing like you show work great!

I love how regularly you post videos. Amazing work ethic. Thanks for churning out quality content for your viewers.

You've never dealt with field bind weed. Especially if your neighbors do nothing about it. Nothing smothers it. I've covered it in black plastic for several years. The minute you remove it, it comes back.

Mulch is the perfect medium to germinate seeds

loved your video gives me hope i really was losing hopes of gardening by the weeds in my garden every year trying different thing like burning,tilling ,mulch ,or trying to burn it down with straight manure..another thing i hope you dont feel offended but I saw you're arborvitaes in the background and some looked brown or dried that was pleased to know that even an experienced Gardener as yourself does experience plans that just don't grow for some reason i just die through the years I've had a lot of that happen and I just thought I did something wrong but seeing them there lets me know that it just happens sometimes thank you for all of it all your videos they help a lot

Dear MIgardener Thanks for all the advice you're giving out. Your channel is such an amazing source of knowledge. I just started gardening this year in our yard and it's been overgrown by Equisetum arvense. AKA Field/ Common Horsetail. It's an extremely invasive weed that propagates through rhizomes. The tiniest bit of root will produce new plants and they spread SO fast. You can't pull it out with the root due to the way the plant is built. pulling any part will snap off the exact part, but no more. Even digging it out is quite hard since it can form extremely deep roots. Also, good luck catching all of it! Do you think pulling any new growth will sooner or later suffice? I have been doing so daily for the whole season and it just keeps growing.. How do you deal with weeds that propagate through roots?

I use heavy weedblock cloth with mulch on top. The weeds still come, but they are growing on top of the weedblock and are extremely easy to pull up. Cuts my labor in half.

I purposefully want a weedy garden, especially if the soil is poor and needs to return to a balanced state. I bank on transplanting my plants when they are big enough to stick out from weeds and mulch. Early spring weeds flower and attract lots of insects and life, I use my hands (no weedwacker as it kills insects,spiders etc.) to remove them before they turn to seed but it's not fatal if seeds are there. I chop n drop weeds on a regular basis which adds to the mulch layer and needs of weeding decreases as the mulch gets thicker, also with the passing of years the soil gets better and weeds are less and are easier to remove. My rule of thumb is if weeds are not about to compromise my plants, I don't touch them, they are a valuable asset to the garden.

Thank you Luke for clarifying many questions and answers. Very helpful. Love your excitement with gardening.

I hope to have a cottage garden so full there wont be much room for weeds! I mulch a lot and pluck weeds here and there. Putting in a new plant I'm able to shovel out the weeds too...so yay!

I cannot watch the entire video, I must go pull weeds...

this is a great sermon. Thank you!

My opinion-- One of your better and helpful vids- thanks.

Nice info. Unfortunately, I live in a desert where weeds refuse to acknowledge the fact that it is A DESERT. One little rain storm and wham! Suddenly its Hawaii Verde. Also lots of roaches. We had mulch a long time ago but had to get rid of it because the roaches loved it as a moist area to hide in.

Thank you, Luke, this really helps! & I like your slogan, Grow BIG, or go hone...that's cute!

Wow thanks! I'm in the process of redoing my front yard and was worried about weeds in the mulch. I just battled with those weeds(you pulled out in this vid) with deep roots. Seeing how easy it is pull out with mulch, I cant wait to weed my new yard. lol.

You have made clear how to weed that makes sense to me. Thank you very much.

My gardens are becoming overwhelmed with weeds. I think I'm going to over load it with newspaper and compost. If that doesn't kill them then I guess I'll be growing weeds along with vegetables. On another note if you put your weeds in a bucket and fill it with water you'll get weed tea after about two days. That's great fertilizer. Strain the weeds out and use the water to water your garden. :)

Do you just keep adding wood chips or do you till them every couple of years and start over?

so true people leave weeds and unwanted plants to long before they weed !! thanks for sharing

that bigger grass you're pulling up looks like nutsedge. That grows a little different than regular grasses, like a bulb.

I wish this was my first weed free video to settle my mind but I'm a noob and learning. Getting fun though!

Can you share how you decided to plant in each of your beds now that your garden is full? I did high density planting, but my garden is a jungle and I struggle to get through it. Are you dealing with the same? I'm not great at pruning. Do you prune back certain plants to keep everything in check? How much time do you spend in your garden to prune, shape, train, etc., especially with your plants full grown and spreading out? When it's harvest season, I'm in the kitchen more than the garden, which has contributed to my jungle. Thank you for your thoughts.

That make so much sense. I've laid down weed mat, heavy mulching and put Preen on my garden bed but weeds still showing up. I've been pulling them out every time but it seems less and less each year. Thanks!

Very helpful, thanks for taking the time to post this!

Yes, great point and it works, I have done this but thanks for reminding me - I need to do it more.

Thank you for explaining this Luke... it makes a lot of sense to stop them at the start of their spread

I wish it was that easy for me. I have a different type of grass than you. Mine is hard to pull up, even in mulch fillings. I gave that strong southern deeply rooted grass.

I hate nut sedge, but it is so very satisfying to pull them out of the soil, hate that i have to disturb the soil so much to pull them out though :/

8:57 I am not a big fan of tilling. While it will remove the weeds that are growing, it just stirs up more weed seeds in the end. I prefer to amend my soil with compost and mulch. Then let Mother Nature do the tilling for me.

Is there a weed picking stick/device so I don't have to constantly kneel down and use my hand to pick them!?

Thank you for the tips and encouragement!

Thanks for your help! I thought of weeds as the terrorists in my garden. Now, I understand and will follow your plan. Take away the leaves of your weeds and eventually, they’ll be gone. Plant to crowd them out and mulch away!

There is now decking made from recycled plastic milk bottles which is rot proof and long lasting. It will cost more but i think it might make a good alternative to your wooden raised beds?.

Makes good sense!

Can i use pine needles for mulch. I have a tree right next to my garden. It's produces a lot of needles.

Great video and good tips on keeping a garden weed free.

Is is okay to used mulched up leaves around plants in the garden?

What is your take on using plastic tarps to keep the weeds out, and just cut your wholes through the plastic tarp? My parents for this and I’m curios how it effects the garden?

Under layment? Cardboard Boxes. spread out- t slowly degrades and doesn't start a 2nd layer of dirt for new weeds to grow.. same mulching, but we soak it in but and weed Killer.. for a week in its bag, then sprad it out.. then spray bottle of pre-emergent in fall and again in early spring.. We also Use Spary Mulch Dye, instead of build up and extra work of New Mulching.. and even change colars every 2 yrs..

do pine needles work to prevent weeds in a flower bed ? and if they can be used for it ,. should you use green ones or brown dried ones ? I heard someone mention it works but I dont know how much to use and if it really works ? I have a bunch of pine trees here , so it would be great if they help ?

your right.... most don't tell you ...you need to spend a minimum of an hr a day in a garden... even when the optimum garden is achieved. whether it's weeding,tending to plants,harvesting or all the above..now is that always possible no ...but you'll still need to spend that time at some point... when it comes to weeding I have my " 12 ladies" who till the mulch and take care of 95% of my weeding but I still have to spend that time.

I'm losing the battle with weeds. I think I'm going to use black plastic and only cut holes where I have my plants.

Luke, can you use weeds like these in the compost heap, or will they just cause more weeds when you use the compost? I have so little in the way of stuff to use in my compost heap that every little bit of it helps, but I certainly don't want to add to the problem. I am already challenged by the fact that my soil is hard packed clay and is really difficult to dig up. I will be trying to get my patch all dug up and get the soil amended with whatever compost I can produce over the winter months so I can hopefully do some planting in the spring. I am also hampered by the fact that I seem to have some sort of neurological disorder that makes my legs weak, and at the present time, I am not able to spend more than half an hour at a time working on it. Since I will be 70 at the end of October, I guess some issues like that are to be expected. Ain't getting old grand!? Anyway, I try to keep up on all the tips and information you provide in your videos,and most have been really useful so far, in relation to what I am trying to grow,so thanks for providing all that,and keep up the good work!

Well, I still plan to get a massive amount of bark to cover all the places between my raised beds. If only to keep the mud down.

I like to make a sun tea out of the weeds I pull and then fertilize the plants with it, gotta give back and utilize every bit of fertility possible!!!

Will covering the entire ground with tarp or something. Will it kill all the weeds. They need aun right?

OMG, this guy is amazing. It's like a forest of food behind him, just waving in the breeze O_O amazing.

Just as an aside...your left ankle is very, very, thin...I've seen thicker weeds...I just caught a glimpse of your garden and it is beautiful.

My plants were invaded by weeds, so i worked . I took all weeds out around the plants , put lots of marble chips . Removes all mulch. Mulch doesn't work

Yep. You just got to DO IT. No avoiding it. Pull.

Is that a specific type of wood chip you are using in your garden?

I wonder how safe the cardboard is. We think its wood pulp but who really knows. I had to cover my raised beds 2yrs bc neighbor mowed and the grass got thrown in direction of garden. Im building 2ft metal beds. I hope that fixes problem.

living on hillside, weeds follow water downhill into garden border. Wood chips and Buttercup....forget it....year 2 and 3 ok. 4 -10 gets worse and worse. Love wood of raised beds even more. Windblown seeds also a terror. Oh look Uban gardening is just so different.

"They don't just magically 'poof'..." That made my day :)

This is helpful thank-you. I have gout weed and struggle!

I am so excited about this. I know the delight of pulling weeds with ease. Its therapeutic. I was just about ready to give up hope to buy RoundUP. YIKES! jk. Thanks, Luke. I didn't hear the chips you use. Assuming pine for its low cost.

Im now live in TX and I didn’t know what weeds were.... I mean WEEDS and really LARGE spiders until I decided to move here! I pull and pull and pull weeds ... its been 15 years! 🤯🤨😁

Can't pull up entire roots so easily like this in Southern California. Too dry and it would rip off...leaving the majority of the root/risomes in the ground. Unless we pre-soak the ground prior to pulling, I guess? Will ask CaliKim. Thanks, Luke.

Luke, what's going on with your new trees you just planted (by the road)? Looks like some are struggling.

Thank you this was very helpful

Why not dig a shallow trench around the garden area and put some landscaping fabric in it as a barrier against roots spreading?

I spent a lot of $$$$$ putting white rocks in my rose garden and now I am getting weeds. I don't want to kill my roses......do you have any suggestions? Someone told me rock salt......????? I have been building these rocks up about every 5 years so I can't really just put down a black cloth.....I mean I did initially and now the rocks dig down deep.....

Do you dispose of weeds in the garbage can or compost?

What do you think about using pre-emergence in the inground garden

Newspaper and mulch is the best. Also pull weeds before the seed heads mature and fall to ground. In other words don't let seed heads form. Roundup is also good. The grass you are pulling there are still parts of the root that are left in the ground. Roundup needs to be used for that grass to kill all the roots.

Those weeds are called nutsedge. They grow in places that stay moist.

Mulch turns to soil which in turn will give rise to weeds

I am battling crab grass - I'm planting a ground cover in my front yard (my daughter is allergic to grass) but the crab grass grows faster than the Asiatic Jasmine -- I'm always out with a shovel digging it out and trying to get the runners, but it's killing me! Any ideas on how to get rid of the crab grass....besides constantly digging it out?

We have most of our weeds under control except for this thorny vine that I just can't get rid of, any suggestions!

TY FOR SHARING THIS GREAT TIP!!! LOVE YOUR CHANNEL❤️❤️❤️