My flower bed is now full of weeds....do I have to start over?

I see other peoples' flower beds with mulch laid nicely and no weeds popping through...when I put down mulch, the weeds just laughed at it and now I am left with a mess! I did let it go for a while, so now the weeds are as tall or taller than the plants I planted and very dense. What should I do??

My flower bed is now full of weeds....do I have to start over?
Your going to have to start pulling weeds. That is the only way to get rid of them. You cant lay down plastic after you plant then put mulch on the plastic but it wont stop all the weeds from coming through. You have to pull weeds. There arent no maintenance free gardens out there. It takes time to have a flower garden. Lots of comitment.
Reply:Of course not all you need to do is pull the weeds out!
Reply:You don't have to start all over, just pull out the weeds and maintain the garden in the future.
Reply:Pull them out with your hands. Then, 2 choices. First is lay down black plastic weed barrier, spread Preen, then lay dow n at least 2" of mulch. Spread Preen, again, and you're weed free.





Or, pull the weeds and spread Preen. Then mulch, and spread Preen. You'll still get a few weeds, but just pull them. Re-apply Preen in 6 months.
Reply:well do it the old fashion way get on your hands and knees and start pulling weeds and make sure you get it by the root but the easiest way is to water the ground really good then start pulling
Reply:Dive in and start pulling. Once you do it, it won't be hard to maintain. Also, look around, because I think the make weed killers now that are safe to use around plants, but if you have a plant the means alot to you I would test it on another plant first or just not take the chance and pull around the plant.
Reply:sounds like you tried the cheating way and just put down the mulch over the weeds you need to remove the weeds first then mulch to prevent new seeds growing


I tried this first year and soon learn't it is easier to just weed every week for about an hour keeps you in the fresh air and lets you remove dead flowerheads as well put all in the compost bin and use as a fertiliser next year
Reply:be persistant.because you let it go the weeds have set seed.now you have to pull them out as they come up.it doesnt take long to do and youd only have to do it once a week to keep on top of it.dont give up and youll to have a great looking garden.
Reply:Mine was the same as yours. It seems a very daunting process so you let it go and think I'll get to it later. Unfortunately, the day will come when you just have to get in there and tackle it. Once you start though, it's not so bad and you kind of get into it. My garden is all about trial and error and I realized that I really do need to mulch. The trick to mulching is you can't just do it once and think you're done. It decomposes so you have to replenish it every now and then.