My Four Biggest Gardening Mistakes

Reader Contribution by Harper Slusher
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Gardening is probably one of the most frustrating, yet rewarding things I’ve ever done. Although I have grown herbs and vegetables for nearly all of my life, it was only in the past two years that I’ve grown a truly substantial garden. Even though I’m always working to make my garden perfect, like most things, there is definitely a learning curve with gardening. In two years, I have made countless mistakes on my garden. Fortunately, I have gained knowledge from these faults to improve my future gardens!

• Weeding an area, but not planting or mulching immediately afterwards: Weeding is certainly a waste of time if steps are not taken to prevent them from growing back. Many undesirable plants can be prevented from reappearing by placing a few layers of newspaper down and covering them with a mulch of your choice. This will block weeds from coming up for at least a month and make it much easier to remove them in the future.

• Letting weeds go to seed: Once weeds have gone to seed, it becomes increasingly more difficult to control them. A single plant can produce hundreds, or even thousands, of seeds, multiplying the weed problem. Also, the additional time to grow allows their roots to grow stronger and deeper, making them much more difficult to remove in the long run.

Now, if I’m too occupied to thoroughly weed an area, I use a weed whacker to shorten the plants nearly to the ground and burn them with propane flame torch. This kills the plants allowing them to compost into the ground. If you cannot ‘flame’ your weeds, weed whacking will at least prevent the plants from going to seed for a week or so while also making it easier to remove them. If your weeds have already gone to seed, do not weed whack these plants, as this will only distribute the seeds, encouraging more growth.

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