"Charlie S." wrote in message
news:LqGdi.7077$gI4.2943@trndny06...


[snip]
Option 1
Plant the flowers such as dahlias, marigolds and geraniums.

Add mulch around the bed to minimize weed growth.

(I've done that in the past and found that over time some of the mulch
spreads and thins out and weeds still manage to pop through.)

Option 2
Lay a sheet of weed stopper on top of the soil and then cut holes to plant
the flowers. (I guess I could simply put down newspaper and save a few
dollars.)

Afterwards, add mulch to hide weed stopper material.

Even though I might use a roll of the 10 year weed wall material I would
have to remove it in the Fall because I have tulip bulbs planted for the
next Spring.

Would rather not have to put the weed stopper material on the garden, but
really don't want to spend time weeding again either. Anything I could do
beside just adding the mulch to prevent the weeds from popping through?
There's nothing you can do that will let you plant now and keep hands off
from weed control for the year. Mulch is your friend. Weed stop material
is not going to keep weeds out of your garden -- they'll just root above the
material, such as in the mulch around the plants.

Prep the soil, plant, add mulch -- 3-4" minimum, then take care of the
occasional weed that starts up and also add new mulch when the old starts to
deteriorate. This means using a lot more mulch than you would think.

Rather than keep buying bags of mulch I -- (a) Talk to local tree trimmers,
power company, etc., and have them leave their wood chips on my property.
They benefit from not having to take it to a landfill, nor do they have to
pay the landfill fee. I get free mulch. It usually takes me a couple of
months to get around to using all that they've left, and by that timeit has
already composted slightly. or

(b) When necessary, buy it in bulk from a local nursery and have it
delivered. It's a little harder to spread when it doesn't come in bags, but
a lot less expensive for the amount of mulch I buy.

No matter what path you choose, you're going to have to occasionally weed
around the plants you want in your garden, but if it's well mulched the
weeds will be fewer and a lot easier to pull out.