Garden weeds: how to get rid of them and keep them out

Contents

1. What is weeding, and why do garden weeds keep coming back?
2. Which weeds are most common in gardens?
3. How do you get rid of weeds in each part of the garden?
4. Hand pulling weeds: how to do it right
5. Which weeding tools work best?
6. How do you prevent weeds from growing?
7. Never let them go to seed
8. When does a garden weed killer make sense?
9. Common garden weeding mistakes
10. FAQ

What is weeding, and why do garden weeds keep coming back?

Weeding is removing the plants you didn’t plant before they crowd, shade or out-drink the ones you did. Garden weeds keep coming back for two reasons. First, soil holds a weed seed bank: seeds from past years that stay alive in the soil, some for many years, and sprout whenever digging or raking brings them to the light. Second, perennial weeds regrow from roots, rhizomes, bulbs or tubers left behind after you pull the top.

So weeding works on two fronts. Every annual weed you remove before it flowers is one less batch of seed for the bank — many annual weeds can produce thousands of seeds per plant, which is why the old saying runs “one year’s seeding, seven years’ weeding.” And every perennial you dig out completely, rather than snapping off at the soil line, is one that won’t be back next month.

Which weeds are most common in gardens?

Knowing whether a weed is an annual or a perennial tells you whether to hoe it or dig it. These are the garden weeds US gardeners meet most often; our weed identification guide walks you through the features to check and the look-alikes.

How do you get rid of weeds in each part of the garden?

The method that is best in a gravel path can ruin a flower bed. Match it to what surrounds the weed.

Flower beds

Beds are where hand weeding pays off most, because spraying anything non-selective risks the plants you want. Weed a day or two after rain, then mulch any bare soil. For grass creeping in from the lawn, a deep edging strip stops most runners. Details, including selective grass sprays that can go over many ornamentals, are in our guide to killing weeds in flower beds.

Vegetable garden

Weeds compete hardest with young crops, so the first few weeks after planting matter most. Shallow hoeing every week or so between rows, hand pulling inside rows, and a mulch of straw or shredded leaves once plants are established keep most vegetable plots under control. Our page on weeds in the vegetable garden covers food-safe methods and the stale seedbed technique.

Driveways, patios and gravel

Hard surfaces are the one place where a non-selective approach is fine. Scrape out cracks, pour boiling water, or use a contact spray on young weeds, then fix the cause: open joints and gravel that has collected soil and leaf litter. See weeds in the driveway and weeds in gravel for step-by-step fixes, and the weed and grass killer guide before you buy a product that promises bare ground for a year.

Around trees: tree weeding without damage

Grass and weeds at the base of a tree compete with its shallow feeder roots, and mowers and string trimmers that get close wound the bark. Replace the grass with a wide ring of wood chip mulch, 2 to 4 inches deep, pulled a few inches back from the trunk — never piled against it. Pull weeds that come through by hand. Don’t spray non-selective herbicides on green bark, suckers or exposed roots, and never use soil-residual products near trees: they are absorbed by roots that reach far beyond the canopy.

Hand pulling weeds: how to do it right

1. Wait for moist soilA day or two after rain or a deep watering, roots slide out whole instead of snapping.
2. Grip low and pull slowlyHold the weed at the soil line, not by the leaves, and ease it out with steady pressure.
3. Use a tool on taprootsPush a weeding fork or dandelion knife straight down beside the root and lever it up.
4. Follow runners and rhizomesFor spreading weeds, loosen the soil with a fork and lift out the whole network, not just the top.
5. Bag anything in flower or seedWeeds without seeds can be composted; seeding ones and pieces of perennial roots go in the trash unless your compost pile gets hot.
6. Cover the holeFirm the soil and mulch it, or seeds in the disturbed soil will sprout next.

Which weeding tools work best?

Keep hoe blades sharp — a file does it in a minute — and work in the top inch or so of soil. Deep hoeing and tilling bring buried weed seeds to the surface, where they sprout.

How do you prevent weeds from growing?

Preventing weeds is less work than removing them, and it starts with not giving seeds light, water or bare ground.

• Mulch bare soil. Organic mulch blocks the light most weed seeds need to sprout. Use about 2 inches of fine material or 3 to 4 inches of coarse chips, and top it up as it breaks down. Our mulch for weeds guide compares wood chips, bark, straw, leaves and compost.
• Use fabric only where it fits. Landscape fabric works under gravel and rock. In planted beds, mulch breaks down on top of it into soil where new weeds root, and nutsedge grows straight through. See landscape fabric for when it is worth it.
• Plant close. Plants that grow together shade the soil between them. Fill gaps in beds rather than leaving open ground.
• Water the plants, not the paths. Drip lines and soaker hoses keep the soil between plants dry, which keeps seeds there from sprouting.
• Disturb as little soil as possible. Every time you dig, you bring new seeds up. Plant with a trowel instead of turning whole beds.
• Use a stale seedbed before sowing. Prepare the bed, water it, let the first flush of weeds sprout, then hoe them off very shallowly before you sow.
• Check what you bring in. Inspect transplants for weeds in the pot, especially nutsedge, and use well-made compost and soil from reputable sources.
• Edge the lawn. A solid edging strip keeps lawn grass and creeping weeds from moving into beds.

A pre-emergent herbicide labeled for ornamental beds can add a seed barrier on clean, weeded soil, but it stops the seeds you sow too, so don’t use it where you plan to seed annuals or vegetables.

Never let them go to seed

If you can only do one thing, do this. Walk the garden once a week in the growing season and pull or cut anything starting to flower. Weeds you can’t deal with fully today — a big patch of thistle, a mat of spurge in the gravel — should at least have their flowers and seed heads cut off and bagged. Over a few seasons of not letting anything seed, the flush of seedlings after every rain gets visibly smaller.

Timing tip: winter annuals such as chickweed and henbit sprout in fall and flower in early spring; summer annuals such as crabgrass, purslane and spurge sprout as soil warms. Weeding just before each group flowers stops most of the year’s new seed. The weed control calendar lays this out month by month.

When does a garden weed killer make sense?

For most garden weeds, hands, hoes and mulch are enough. Sprays earn their place on hard surfaces, on perennials whose roots you can’t dig out, and when clearing an overgrown area for a new bed. Contact sprays from the natural weed killer family burn young weeds in cracks and gravel; systemic products reach the roots of tough perennials. Whatever you use, check that the label allows it for your site — flower bed, vegetable garden or driveway — and follow it exactly. The weed killer guide compares the types.

Common garden weeding mistakes

• Pulling in dry, hard soil, which snaps roots and leaves perennials to regrow.
• Tilling a bed full of perennial weeds: it chops bindweed and quackgrass roots into pieces that each become a new plant.
• Leaving pulled weeds on the bed: purslane and some others can re-root, and seed heads keep ripening.
• Thin or patchy mulch that lets light through to the soil.
• Using salt or bleach anywhere near beds or the lawn: both damage the soil far longer than the weeds would have lasted.
• Waiting until midsummer, when weeds are big, rooted and already seeding.

FAQ

How do I keep weeds out of my garden for good?

Cover bare soil, remove weeds while they are small, and never let them go to seed. A 2- to 4-inch layer of organic mulch blocks most seedlings, close planting shades the soil, and drip irrigation waters your plants instead of the weeds between them. Dig perennial weeds out roots and all, and keep hoeing new seedlings every week or two in spring and early summer.

Does mulch prevent weeds?

Mulch prevents most weeds that grow from seed by blocking the light they need to sprout. Use about 2 inches of fine mulch or 3 to 4 inches of coarse wood chips, and top it up as it breaks down. It does not stop established perennials such as bindweed or nutsedge, which push through, so remove those first. More in our mulch for weeds guide.

What are the tiny weeds in my garden?

Carpets of tiny seedlings are usually annual weeds sprouting from the seed bank after you dig, water or rake: common ones are chickweed in cool weather and purslane, spurge and oxalis in summer. Hoe or rake them on a dry day while they are tiny, then mulch so the next flush can’t reach the light. Our weed identification guide helps put a name to them.

Is it better to pull weeds or hoe them?

Hoe annual seedlings: slicing them just below the surface kills them fast and disturbs little soil. Pull or dig perennials, because a hoe only cuts the top and the root regrows. Pull when the soil is moist, and hoe when the surface is dry so cut seedlings dry out instead of re-rooting.

How do I stop grass from growing in my flower beds?

Install a solid edging at least a few inches deep between lawn and bed, mulch the bed, and pull grass runners as soon as they cross. For grass already established among flowers, a selective grass herbicide such as sethoxydim or fluazifop can be used over the ornamentals listed on its label. See our guide to weeds in flower beds.

Related

• Flower bedsThe best weed killer for flower beds depends on the weed: a pre-emergent labeled for ornamentals, a grass-selective spray, or a shielded spot treatment.
• Mulch for weedsMulch for weeds works when it is 2 to 3 inches deep over weeded soil and kept off stems. Compare mulch types, sheet mulching and when to top it up.
• Vegetable gardenControl weeds in a vegetable garden without risky sprays: shallow hoeing, mulch, the stale seedbed trick, solarization, cover crops and tight spacing.
• Weed identificationWeed identification made simple: grass, broadleaf or sedge, leaf shape, flowers and growth habit. Use the free weed identifier, then get the fix for each weed.
• Natural weed killerThe natural weed killer options that work: pulling, smothering, boiling water, vinegar, fatty acid sprays, plant oils, solarization and flame, and their limits.

Updated October 3, 2026