Gardens featuring flowers, shrubs, and trees can beautify outdoor areas and enhance curb appeal. When weeds sprout in landscaping beds, they steal water, oxygen, and nutrients from plant roots, diminishing the health and appearance of your foliage. Here are several things you can do to keep weeds from erupting and a few of the landscape supplies you might need. 

How to Keep Weeds From Growing in Your Gardens

1. Pull Them

As weeds mature, they develop seeds that can become airborne and spread throughout your garden, potentially producing dozens of offspring. You can prevent these stray nuisances from seeding and taking over your landscapes by pulling them as soon as they emerge. Wear garden gloves to protect your hands, and pull weeds close to their bases. Lift them gently to minimize soil disturbances, which should reduce the risk of exposing any buried weed seeds to sunlight and encouraging them to germinate. 

2. Water Strategically

Watering your garden uniformly may cause the seeds of errant weeds located under the soil between landscaping plants to germinate and sprout. You can deprive these seeds of moisture by watering only your trees, shrubs, and flowers. You can do this manually by using a hose to apply water to the base of each plant. Another option is to install a drip irrigation system, which features small, perforated tubes that weave through beds to deliver moisture directly to plant bases. 

3. Add Mulch

Mulch consists of organic or inorganic materials, such as shredded bark, wood chips, and gravel, added to landscaping beds. These landscape supplies provide a protective barrier that blocks sunlight from reaching weed seeds on the soil surface, preventing them from germinating. The weight of mulch also makes it more difficult for germinated weeds to sprout. Add about two to four inches of mulching material to the beds, leaving a small amount of space around the bases of your plants.

4. Apply Herbicide 

Pre-emergent herbicides consist of liquid or granulated chemicals sprayed or spread onto planting beds. In addition to preventing new weeds from taking root, they can keep seeds from ever germinating. The active ingredient depends on the type of weed you want to eliminate. For instance, benzoic acid can combat broadleaf weeds, while triazine may treat grassy weeds. Dilute and spray liquid products onto your landscaping, or spread granulated products onto beds and irrigate afterward to help them absorb.

Keep your garden weed-free with help from Affordable Landscape Supplies in Hebron, KY. They offer all kinds of quality landscape supplies to the Burlington area, including mulch, topsoil, and decorative stone. Call (859) 586-9142 to place an order for bulk mulch or gravel, or visit their website to learn more about their variety of landscape materials.