I started doing no till in my raised beds about 5-6 years ago. Mainly because it is getting to hard to dig beds all the time. I have since come to the conclusion that it is actually better to dig the beds once in a while because just layering on top has led to some compaction ( I have red clay base) and the nutrients are not dug in so they stay at the top which causes some issues for deeper rooted plants.
I find there are more weeds this way. I had fixed that by layering cardboard or several layers of newspaper on the soil and adding 4 inches of organic matter on top. This has been deep enough to stop most weeds from coming from below.
My last soil test shows that organic matter is 7% and the phosphorus is higher, so I actually need to reduce the organic layer to 3/4 of an inch just for maintenance replacement. But the weeds do get through this thin layer. I have persistent weeds mainly spurges. I used to have nutsedge in the garden but years of adding carbon layers and 4 inches of top, has made that go away. I have weeded a couple of times but it still is coming back.
I can try to put the organic compost layer under the newspaper and plant through that. The newspaper will act as a light blocking mulch and give the plants a head start on the weeds.
The other option is to do lights out with a newspaper layer and a plastic cover or tarp, but that would mean I could only grow things in pots on top of the tarp for at least a couple of months.
What do you think would work best or are there other options?
I can use Round Up, but I don't use it in the garden, only the surrounding areas and pathways.
I am a little confused...by organic matter on top of the newspaper or cardboard do you mean compost? If so that may be the culprit weeds showing up. Either airborne weed seeds or weeds in the compost not cooked if the compost temperature didn't get hot enough. Maybe a top layer of weed seed free grass or hay/straw or seaweed will reduce weeds. Even at that a few weeds will always find a way to germinate. Weeds seem to be the toughest plants there are.
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Vanisle_BC
- Greener Thumb
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- Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2015 9:02 pm
- Location: Port Alberni, B.C. Canada, Zone 7 (+?)
No-till raised beds have attraction but sometimes there are pests that you can best control, or try to (!) by turning over the soil. In my own case wireworms and symphylans have featured. Digging not only lets me find & destroy: I think it disrupts their tunnel systems too. Some can also be trapped at the surface, with potato slices etc.
For weed control I think mulch may be best. Some weeds will emerge but are usually loose rooted and easy to pull.
For weed control I think mulch may be best. Some weeds will emerge but are usually loose rooted and easy to pull.
I am using bagged compost that has been heat treated and the weeds that are coming up in the garden are weeds that grow in my yard, and were the weeds that were growing in the garden before, so likely seeds do blow in rather than coming from the compost.
I did turn the soil in January of this year. Just because I had not done it in about 4 years and the layering of the soil and nutrient stratification was a problem. I have nematodes in one section of the garden,so it is actually better not to till it. I have hot water treated the area with the nematodes and that has helped and that is also where I dug out the soil and used cardboard on the bottom and potting soil on top. I had some nematodes on the perimeter of the area I treated before and hot water treated again. I am not seeing more nematodes as yet.
For the last couple of years it has been very hard to find good quality compost and so I used organic potting soil. The potting soil and the garden soil both have added fertilizers containing phosphorus and that has aggravated the phosphorus issue. I still have a hard time finding compost without added fertilizer. The only fertilizer I have added is sulfate of ammonia, k mag, and dolomite lime.
I usually lay down the newspaper mulch first and put the compost or potting soil on top. But, I was putting down 4 inches of the potting soil. Good for planting but not so good for balancing the nutrients. The organic matter is also 7% and it should be half that so I cannot add any vermicompost, manures, or compost with fertilizer. He said to use greenwaste compost but the greenwaste facility adds 11-52-0 fertilizer to their product. The other compost he recommended is very hard to find. A 3/4 inch of compost on top of the newspaper won't be enough to plant in so I am thinking of putting it under the newspaper instead. That way the newspaper will act as mulch to help supress weeds. Except for earthworms, slugs, snails, anoles, and ants I don't run into so many other things in the garden bed. I don't have a problem with grubs (so far), I do get root borers but those plants are in pots not in the garden. I cannot mulch the garden with straw or hay, because it is one of those things that is not really easy to get unless I go to the other side of the island and I cannot use grass. Grass is already a weed in my garden. Coconut rhinoceros beetles will breed in mulch, so mulch more than 1 inch is not even recommended. I have not used mulch because the snails and slugs like to hide in it too. So, I either use plastic or newspaper mulch for weed control.
I think I'll do as Vanisle suggests. I can do mini till on the areas that don't have nematodes and put the compost under the newspaper and use the newspaper as mulch and see how that goes. Later I may have to do lights out to do a better job of getting the weeds out. I don't have a winter to kill weeds, so these weeds persist year round.
I did turn the soil in January of this year. Just because I had not done it in about 4 years and the layering of the soil and nutrient stratification was a problem. I have nematodes in one section of the garden,so it is actually better not to till it. I have hot water treated the area with the nematodes and that has helped and that is also where I dug out the soil and used cardboard on the bottom and potting soil on top. I had some nematodes on the perimeter of the area I treated before and hot water treated again. I am not seeing more nematodes as yet.
For the last couple of years it has been very hard to find good quality compost and so I used organic potting soil. The potting soil and the garden soil both have added fertilizers containing phosphorus and that has aggravated the phosphorus issue. I still have a hard time finding compost without added fertilizer. The only fertilizer I have added is sulfate of ammonia, k mag, and dolomite lime.
I usually lay down the newspaper mulch first and put the compost or potting soil on top. But, I was putting down 4 inches of the potting soil. Good for planting but not so good for balancing the nutrients. The organic matter is also 7% and it should be half that so I cannot add any vermicompost, manures, or compost with fertilizer. He said to use greenwaste compost but the greenwaste facility adds 11-52-0 fertilizer to their product. The other compost he recommended is very hard to find. A 3/4 inch of compost on top of the newspaper won't be enough to plant in so I am thinking of putting it under the newspaper instead. That way the newspaper will act as mulch to help supress weeds. Except for earthworms, slugs, snails, anoles, and ants I don't run into so many other things in the garden bed. I don't have a problem with grubs (so far), I do get root borers but those plants are in pots not in the garden. I cannot mulch the garden with straw or hay, because it is one of those things that is not really easy to get unless I go to the other side of the island and I cannot use grass. Grass is already a weed in my garden. Coconut rhinoceros beetles will breed in mulch, so mulch more than 1 inch is not even recommended. I have not used mulch because the snails and slugs like to hide in it too. So, I either use plastic or newspaper mulch for weed control.
I think I'll do as Vanisle suggests. I can do mini till on the areas that don't have nematodes and put the compost under the newspaper and use the newspaper as mulch and see how that goes. Later I may have to do lights out to do a better job of getting the weeds out. I don't have a winter to kill weeds, so these weeds persist year round.
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patrickschrock
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- Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2023 2:06 am
- Location: Los Angeles
Managing weeds in raised beds is essential to ensure that your plants have the best chance to thrive without competition for nutrients and sunlight.
I applied a layer of organic mulch, such as straw, wood chips, or shredded leaves, on the surface of the raised bed. This helps suppress weed growth by blocking sunlight and preventing weed seeds from germinating.
Also I placed weed fabric at the bottom of the raised bed before adding soil. This can actually help prevent weed growth from the ground up.
Consistent monitoring and a combination of these methods will help me effectively to control weeds in my raised beds without resorting to excessive use of chemicals.
I applied a layer of organic mulch, such as straw, wood chips, or shredded leaves, on the surface of the raised bed. This helps suppress weed growth by blocking sunlight and preventing weed seeds from germinating.
Also I placed weed fabric at the bottom of the raised bed before adding soil. This can actually help prevent weed growth from the ground up.
Consistent monitoring and a combination of these methods will help me effectively to control weeds in my raised beds without resorting to excessive use of chemicals.
Mulch would be a better way to go, but it is not an option because of the snails, slugs and rhinoceros beetles. Straw cannot be used, even if I could use it, I would have to go to the other side of the island to get it. I live in a suburb and there really isn't any place nearby to get farm supplies like straw or alfalfa cubes. At this time of the year it is even hard to find basic garden supplies like peat moss and perlite. They only sell rubber mulch at the big box places and I don't want that at all. I usually hand pull the weeds inside the bed, but I do use herbicides in the pathways. Some weeds that grow between the pavers won't be killed by pulling.
This is not a new bed. I only add a top organic layer. I just can't add more than 3/4 of an inch because the organic matter is already 7%. I don't really want to give up my planting time now, so I may cover the parts of garden I don't plant right away with painter's plastic after I weed it to keep the weeds down until I get around to planting it out. It is so windy now that it is hard to put down the newspaper and keep it from flying away. That has to go down after the compost is put down and then covered with the plastic sheet. I need to find something around the yard I can use as weights. The plastic sheet will keep the weed seeds from blowing in and also keep it dark and dry under the sheet to deter weeds from growing.
This is not a new bed. I only add a top organic layer. I just can't add more than 3/4 of an inch because the organic matter is already 7%. I don't really want to give up my planting time now, so I may cover the parts of garden I don't plant right away with painter's plastic after I weed it to keep the weeds down until I get around to planting it out. It is so windy now that it is hard to put down the newspaper and keep it from flying away. That has to go down after the compost is put down and then covered with the plastic sheet. I need to find something around the yard I can use as weights. The plastic sheet will keep the weed seeds from blowing in and also keep it dark and dry under the sheet to deter weeds from growing.