Weeds in my Bed

[Sandra Lee]

I have an iris bed that I cannot keep weeded. I've been told not to mulch because the rhizomes must remain exposed. Any tips on how to keep the weeds at bay?
Tennesse Gardener

[rainbowgardener]

You are right that you don't want to mulch over the rhizomes of your iris. However, if there's spaces between them, you can mulch all around them, I have with mine. Beyond that it partly depends on what kind of weeds you are getting. Grassy type weeds can be controlled with a spring and fall application of corn gluten meal, which is an organic corn product and also adds nitrogen to the soil. For broad leaf weeds, mainly just keep hand pulling them "weed early, weed often." You NEVER want to let any weeds get big enough to set seeds! If you keep on top of it, you do eventually reduce the population of weeds.

Also I had one big flower bed that it just seemed like I was weeding all the time. I finally realized that there was too much bare dirt. "Nature abhors a vacuum." I filled in with more plants and am now weeding a lot less. Planting things a bit crowded helps crowd out and shade out a lot of weeds.