Prevent and remove weeds for a better looking garden

Weeds are sturdy plants that aren't welcome in the garden because they quickly edge out the more delicate flora. Want to get rid of them for a better looking yard? Here's your guide.

An ancient Chinese proverb wisely counsels, "The best shade in the garden is the gardener's own shadow." That's why our grandparents were out in the garden every day — pulling weeds. But if you're pressed for time, here are a few preventative measures that you can try to keep botanical invaders from setting in at all.

What do you need them for?

• Weeds are sturdy plants that aren't welcome in the garden because they quickly edge out the more delicate flora.
• But they also have some positive aspects: they allow you to evaluate the composition of the dirt, and their roots ventilate the soil, enrich it with nutrients and stem erosion.
• In addition, many weeds serve as the basic element in liquid fertilizers or compounds used to prevent and combat garden pests and diseases.

Fit for consumption

• Moreover, herbs such as common horsetail, coltsfoot and many others enjoy an excellent reputation as medicinal herbs.
• Weeds are generally regarded as much-despised invaders, to be quickly yanked out of the garden. But many of our ancestors would have seen them as food.
• Among the weeds that can enhance your menu: daisies, bishop's weed and chickweed are tasty in salads.
• Ground ivy and sorrel make a delicious soup or — just like the leaves of nettles — you can serve them as a vegetable.
• The deep-fried, fresh leaves of stinging nettles are a surprisingly tasty treat.

Chemical substances run the risk of damaging the soil so much that the plants you've nurtured will die, too. Chemical weed controls are illegal in some jurisdictions anyway — but even in areas where they are allowed, chemical weed and pest killers are a bad idea, especially since there are so many completely natural ways to control weeds.

• Plants that rob weeds of light and nutrients through their own growth are an environmentally-friendly way to control weeds. Ground-covering plants are especially useful.
• Use dense-growing ground cover plants, such as Japanese spurges, fairy wings, barren strawberry, and Himalayan fleeceflower, for shady areas.
• Prevent weeds in sunny beds by planting stonecrops and ground cover roses.
• Sow plants that nourish the soil. This also suppresses weeds and will later contribute to healthy growth in the flower bed.
• Mulch between plants to prevent unwanted weeds from coming to the surface. For mulch, use freshly-cut grass or wood chips; in stone gardens you can also use gravel.
• Lay out black plastic mulch over larger or inaccessible areas and cut a cross into the mulch where the plants are coming up.

Make sure that weeds are pulled out regularly since they spread very quickly and rob other plants of nutrients.

• Weed on dry days after a rain; the soil is loose, allowing plants to be pulled easily.
• In dry weather, let the weeds decompose right where you pulled them.
• Weed again a few days after breaking up the soil of a bed; when you turn the soil, the seeds of weeds lying on the bottom may come to the top and start to sprout.
• Cut off flower heads or seed pods before weeding or hoeing to prevent the seeds from getting into the soil.
• Make short work of weeds growing in cracks and fissures between flagstones or on house walls by pouring boiling water on them.
• Pour salt on lawn weeds, or sprinkle them with a solution of one part vinegar and one part water.