Many people don’t like to use synthetic herbicides in the landscape. But weeds can be a big problem with many gardening practices. With organic gardening, prevention is one of the most essential ways to keep weeds out.

Here are a few tips to help keep weeds out of the landscape and garden and do so organically.

Prepare the site to be planted

Plowing, rotary tilling and other means of soil cultivation are still good methods of weed control. Prepare the site to be planted with at least one good tilling.

If you’re not in a hurry, several cultivations three weeks apart will eliminate many difficult weeds. These continual tillings disturb weed growth and help eliminate weeds. Weeds like nut sedges and bermudagrass primarily come from vegetative structures such as rhizomes and tubers, and plants coming from vegetative structures won’t survive continual cultivation.

Get them early

It’s much easier to hoe or pull out those weeds when they’re small. The bigger the weeds are, the more they will compete with desirable plants for light, water and nutrients.

At the least, try to remove the weeds before they flower and produce seeds. Some fully grown weed plants, such as lamb’s quarters, pigweed and spurge, can produce thousands of seeds.

Mulch

Besides smothering weeds and preventing their germination, mulches help to maintain soil moisture and temperature and add organic matter to the soil. If the landscape is to be permanently planted, consider using a landscape fabric under the mulch. The fabric will help smother those tough perennial weeds.

Stay clean

Wash your equipment when you complete a job. Soil stuck on equipment can easily transfer weed seeds from one site to another.

Don’t bring in weeds

Weeds, such as nut sedge, often rear their ugly heads when they’re brought in with nursery plants. To avoid bringing these weeds into the landscape, carefully select nursery stock. Also, be wary of inexpensive, bulk soil such as fill dirt or "top soil."

Only a few organic herbicides are available. One, pelargonic acid, is popular with organic growers. It’s sold under several trade names, such as Scythe and Quik II, and is basically a concentrated soap you mix with water and spray over the top of weeds.

Pelargonic acid causes plant cells to fall apart. It kills most weeds, as long as they don’t have extensive underground rhizome or tuber systems.

Vinegar (acetic acid) is marketed in several products, such as GardenVille Natural Weed Control and Perfectly Natural Weed Control, and also works at burning down emerged weeds. However, be aware that some of these products are only available through online retailers.

Billy Skaggs is an agricultural agent and Hall County extension coordinator. Phone: 770-531-6988. Fax: 770-531-3994.