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Hello,
I am new to yard work. I have weeds and alovera plants growing out of
the flowerbeds. I want to get rid of the alovera and weeds. How do you
normally get rid of these? I've seen people just pour mulch over their
tree wells to cover up the weeds. Also, how do i get rid of the alovera
plant out of my flowerbed. I tried using my electrical weed trimmer,
but the sticky stuff from the plant splattered on me. Basically, my
flowerbeds have antbeds, weeds, and alovera(which i don't want in it).
Any site or suggestions on doing this? I am a recent first time
homeowner, so this is all new to me. I live in Southeast Texas. Thanks.


If you're new to this, you need to get yourself the two most important tools
for a garden: A spade and a pitchfork. The fork has lots of purposes, but
for your situation, you'd use it to get deep underneath weeds and loosen
them by wiggling the fork left to right and back & forth (but NEVER using it
as a prybar for rocks, or really thick roots). Once you've loosened things,
you get down on your knees and pull them out by hand. It's best to do this
"major" work by hand, with your face right in it, so you can spot things
that might want to return later.

The spade is good for slicing through the roots of grass & weeds which try
to creep horizontally from the lawn into your flower beds. You just slice
straight down where the two zones meet. Get a fine, flat file from the
hardware store, and touch up the edge of the spade when it seems dull.

There are some "light work" tools you can use for easy weeds. Most of these
are variations on the same theme: A knife which moves horizontally, an inch
or more under the soil, and slices the weeds off at the roots. The weeds can
then be left to wither, or be raked up.