Wayne McLaurin has three words for
gardeners fighting weeds: "Mulch, mulch, mulch!"

McLaurin, professor of horticulture with the University of
Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences, said the best way to fight weeds is to start early in the season.

"Once the weeds come up," he said, "you’re behind the game. If you start
with a clean garden, it’s easier to keep them down."

Weeds take up and use water and nutrients more efficiently than many garden plants.
"So if the weeds are flourishing," McLaurin said, "They’re doing so at your
vegetables’ expense."

McLaurin tells gardeners to put down mulch as soon as the soil warms up. "If you
touch the soil and it feels cool, it’s too early," he said. "As soon as the soil
feels warm to your palm, mulch it."

McLaurin said mulches act as a barrier to weeds, heat and moisture. "They keep the
weeds down, the heat out and the moisture in," he said.

Using waste from around your home as mulch also keeps it out of the landfill. Good
mulches include newspapers, grass clippings, ground-up yard waste (small limbs, leaves,
needles or bark) and even carpet scraps.

And McLaurin said the more varied the size of the pieces, the better. "A good mix
of mulch allows good air flow around the plant roots," he said.

Apply 2 to 3 inches of mulch around the plants. But keep it 3 to 4 inches away from all
plant stems. "As much as mulch helps plants, it can also create a problem," he
said.

Mulch right against a plant stem can encourage a damp place where disease organisms can
grow. The plant could also grow roots in the mulch, and when the mulch dries out, it can
kill the roots.

If you want a "prettier" mulch, add a thin top layer of pine straw.

But if you don’t want to mulch, use other ways to control weeds in your garden. A hoe
works well, McLaurin said, if you use it carefully.

"You have to be careful to not chop up the plant roots along with the weeds,"
he said. Many plant roots are in the top 2 inches of soil and are easily damaged. "So
just scrape with the hoe to kill weeds. Don’t chop at them."

And if you choose to use chemical herbicides, McLaurin said, read the label carefully.
"Very few herbicides are legal to use on vegetables," he said. "And
remember, vegetables are either broadleaf plants or grasses, and that’s what herbicides
kill. So you have to be careful when using herbicides anywhere near your garden."

The old saying is that if one year’s plants go to seed, you’ll have seven years of
weeds. And that’s about right, McLaurin said. Every time you turn the soil, new seeds will
turn up and grow — and take the water and nutrients you put down for your tomatoes.

"If you start by controlling the weeds," he said, "they won’t control
you later in the season."