What is the best thing to put in flower beds to stop weeds and also feed the beds?

Cover the area with cardboard or several layers of newspaper, be careful not to get too close the the crown of your plants. Layer with 3-4" of mulch. You can repeat this every year.





The cardboard/newspaper will not allow the roots to grow through them and they will break down into the garden. The mulch is doing great things for the garden too! If weeds do start poking up through, the roots are only as far down as the cardboard/newspaper layer and are easy to pull out. (Just do not use the slick paper ads.)





Hope this helps! Happy Gardening!

What is the best thing to put in flower beds to stop weeds and also feed the beds?
Cheap compost or leaf mould
Reply:plastic sheet will stop them pissing
Reply:I agree, Wood bark. As it rots down it improves the soil and the fresh layer on top helps to stop weeds growing. Put a new layer on every year. Lokks tidy too if you're careful with it..
Reply:If you want to do a proper job on it, cover the entire area with Mypex (brethable plastic material) then cover over with pea gravel or a mulch of your choice. If you dont want to sepnd that much cover the beds with bark mulch. This prevents weeds and also solwly releases nutrients, its drawbacks are it has to be topped up yearly and can be a hiding place for slugs but its also good for increasing biodiversity in your garden
Reply:Hi Bob.





In short, well rotted farm yard manure if you can get it.





I apply about three inches in depth to many of my customers beds and borders each Spring and they have little weed problems for the rest of the year. It must be said that they get a thorough weeding first, but the more regularly you weed the less you get. Don't let them seed! There's a saying that goes "one years seeds, seven years weeds" and it isn't far wrong.





Wood chip encourages woodlice and tends to rob the soil of nitrogen, but if given a good feed of Growmore etc before application it is a great mulch. You may be able to get this free from a local tree surgeon.





Mypex is the best material I've ever seen for growing bindweed under and does awful things to the soil below.





Good rotted compost or manure is your best bet, but it is no substitute for a thorough weeding first.





Hope that helps a bit Bob and I hope you get the results you want.
Reply:Wood bark,cheap,readily available-it'll do both jobs and deter slugs.
Reply:Cocoa bean hulls. Make sure you've weeded the beds first and then cover all open soil with a couple of inches of the hulls. I prefer not to go too thick at first because they may get a little moldy. That doesn't seem to hurt anything but it isn't very attractive so I prefer to apply it twice if neccessary. Cocoa bean hulls are wonderful because they are light and really easy to spread, they smell good, they look nice and they work really well because once you wet them down they form almost a skin and stay right in place. On top of all that they function as a low nutrient /high organic matter soil conditioner. I just love the things and have never found a downside. I've tried almost everything too so I'm speaking from experience as a firm believer in mulch and organic type gardening.
Reply:Use Preen in spring to keep weeds down.Just sprinkle it around your bed and around base of your flowers. You can buy cannister or bag of it with fertilizer(Miracle Grow) already mixed in the the Preen. Apply about every 6 weeks.


I have used this for years and it has never let me down.
Reply:COMPOST WORKS WELL THEN COVER WITH FERTILIZER ASK YOUR NURSERY