This winter I was wandering in my candy store, the library.  I love the library and love reading!  While wondering around I made my way into the gardening section and a book called “Weedless Gardening” by Lee Reich, caught my attention.  I love the idea of a weedless garden and decided to take the book for a spin.  I was tired of year after year fighting weeds in my own personal garden and when fall came feeling like the weeds won.   After reading this book here are a few takeaways.

The 4 things that are key for the soil of weedless gardening:

1. Minimize soil disruption—Don’t till!
2. Protect the soil surface—Cover the soil with mulch or grass clippings
3. Avoid Compaction
4. Use drip irrigation

Here are some tips for keeping the weeds down

1. DON’T TILL YOUR GARDEN.  When you till your garden you work up weed seeds that are beneath the soil and allow them sunlight so they can grow.
2. Use 4 layers of newspaper between rows and cover over top with grass clippings or mulch.
3. Try to not disturb the soil.  Let layers develop naturally so as not to disrupt the earthworms who are doing tons of work underneath the soil.
4. Start a compost bin and start recycling your food scraps into beautiful “black gold.”
5. Use drip irrigation if you can as to not waste water and will also keep weeds down.

There are many other useful tips and information in this book.  But these are the basics I learned.  Hopefully this is helpful.