How to Keep Weeds Out of Your Vegetable Garden

Keeping the weeds out of your lovely tomatoes and peppers is a chore--but it doesn't have to be a vocation. If you follow these steps you won't be moonlighting with a second 40-hour job weeding.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Black plastic sheeting, roll or bags
• Tiller
• Lots of newspapers

Keeping Weeds out of your Vegetable Garden

1. Till the soil in the early spring. Cover it with black plastic--it comes in sheets and rolls at home and garden stores or you can use garbage bags if it's a small plot. The soil will be warmed by the sun but the weeds will be smothered.

2. Remove the plastic in 1 1/2 to 2 months and your soil should be perfect. Still soft and pliable but without the weeds! Now you can plant your seeds or plants as you want.

3. Tear newspapers into wide strips and wet them. Lay them down between the plants. Weeds can't puncture wet newspapers the way they eventually will the plastic coverings made for weed control. If a weed appears somehow between the papers or on the edges, pull it up while it's very small and you should never have a weed problem.

4. When you till over your garden in the fall, you can pick up any newspaper that's left if you like with a shovel. If there's not much there, simply turn it under and begin again. As long as it's mulched up very small it won't hurt your plants from growing next year. Happy gardening!

Tips & Warnings

• You should be able to reuse the black plastic next year if it's still in one piece when you take it off.
• Don't use more than three or four thicknesses of newspaper. You don't need more than that.