If you have weeds in your garden, they generally fall into three categories: grasses, broadleaf weeds, and sedges. I discussed how to identify weeds so you can figure out how to kill them. That is important because putting the wrong chemical on a weed is a waste of time and money.
How 2,4, D Kills Weeds
Broadleaf weed killers have many modes of action. One of the most common that is used on lawns is 2,4,d. It is in most weed and fertiliser products sold to kill weeds in bermudagrass. It will, however, kill Saint Augustine grass, which is really a broadleaf plant. 2,4,d kills by causing uncontrolled cell division in the plant. Much like cancer in humans, the uncontrolled cell division kills the plant.
Not For Use In A Vegetable Garden
As it happens, since most vegetables are also broadleaf plants, you can’t use 2,4,d in the garden. In fact, most herbicides are not labeled for use in your garden. That is because they will either kill the plant outright or be stored in the plant tissue and make you sick when you eat it.
Prevent Weeds
What can you do? Prevention is the key here. When you plant your garden, mulch everywhere you have put in transplants. Obviously, you cannot mulch where you planted seeds until they come up. However, mulching between rows and around the transplants will help. When your seeds come up, as soon as they are two inches tall, put down an inch of mulch around them. Continue adding mulch as they grow until there is a three-inch layer of mulch over the entire garden.
How Mulch Kills Weeds
Three inches of mulch is necessary because a weed seed that germinates in the soil will starve before it makes it through that amount of mulch. Each year, you add another inch of mulch to replace that which has decomposed. Just move it aside enough to make a furrow for the seeds, plant as normal, and replace it as the seeds get taller.
Weed By Hand
If you do not mulch, you will have to weed by hand. Chopping weeds with a long-handled hoe used to be a common activity. You chop them rather than pull them if they are close to your wanted plants so you do not disturb the roots of the desirable plant. Most weeds do not tolerate being chopped well so die out rather quickly. Be sure and gather the chopped weeds and compost them. They make good green matter for your pile.
The best way to control broadleaf weeds in the vegetable garden is to prevent them from ever coming up. Mulch helps a lot there. Almost anything else you can find to kill the weeds will kill the vegetables, too. Remember if your vegetable isn’t on the label as safe to use near, you cannot use it there. You don’t want to poison yourself or your family.
Want to learn to garden? My first attempt at gardening ended up in failure. The weeds took over and squeezed the vegetables out. I was very frustrated by this waste of good seed, time, and money. So I became a master gardener and spent a lot of time helping other people avoid or overcome problems in their garden.
In order to help others garden successfully, I have written a book, Vegetable Gardening from the Ground Up, available in an ebook or a paperback from Amazon. It is also in Kindle Unlimited.
