Things You'll Need:
- Cultivator
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Step 1
Identify the weeds early. Part of the problem with eliminating weeds in the garden is knowing what is weeds and what is flowers early enough to get them under control. Often by the time we know that something is a weed it has gotten large and had time to spread seeds. The easiest way to identify weeds early is by a process of elimination. Mark your perennials and then in the spring you know if it is not marked it is a weed.
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Step 2
Cultivate the surface of the soil using a cultivator tool in the early spring. Cultivating only the first couple of inches will break up the soil surface and uproot young weeds. Once uprooted they be left on the soil surface to die. Be careful not to cultivate too deeply so you do not disturb the roots of your perennial plants.
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Step 3
Mulch the garden area to prevent new weeds from growing after you get the garden free of weeds. An organic mulch is best such as grass clippings, leaves or tree bark. Be sure to make the mulch layer several inches think.
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Step 4
Buy weed-free top soil whenever you are adding top soil to a garden. Be sure the bag is marked "weed-free". If the topsoil you purchase is not weed free, there will be weed seeds in the soil and weeds will grow wherever you lay it.
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Step 5
Keep grass mowed short. If the grass in your lawn is allowed to grown long, weeds will grow up in the grass and make seeds. The wind carries the weed seeds to your garden where they will grow.
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Step 6
Keep bird feeders at least ten to twenty feet away from gardens. Seeds scattered by the birds get carried by the wind. Most bird seed is not sterilized seeds and weeds will grow from them.
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Step 7
Pull weeds by hand. Once you have eliminated weeds from the garden, when you see the occasional weed pop through the soil pull it out by the roots. The best time to weed a garden is right after a rain or after you have watered the garden. The ground is soft and the weeds will pull out easily.
