Kill those weeds!

[catwoman23]

Does anyone out there have any helpful hints to get rid of grass & other weeds from my flower beds? I recently spent severel hours in the hot Oklahoma sun clearing two rather large bedding areas and I have planted ornamental grasses, bushes and perennial flowers. Since my yard is a huge patch of various weeds like clover and the biggest dandelions you'll ever see- I have to rake the areas daily to keep out the new little weed sprouts. I used Roundup a couple of times before I planted, but now I don't want to chance killing off my new babies. Any ideas- or am I condemned to daily raking?

[rainbowgardener]

MULCH!!! Once you have cleared the weeds out, water well and then lay down a good layer of organic mulch. For perennial flower beds, wood chips are an excellent mulch. Lay down at least 3" of wood chip mulch. It will hold the moisture in the soil so you will water a lot less and it will suppress weed growth, so you will have next to no weeds the rest of the season.