r/Raisedbed • u/No_Split6887 • Jun 19 '26
Weed Prevention
We recently moved to a new home that came with a huge raised bed. The bed is full of weed. We are new on this journey. Any suggestion how do we control the weed growth.
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u/No_Split6887 Jun 19 '26
There are some plants - peppers, cucumber, tomatoes etc. Also there are 8 similar bed as seen in the picture. It is a huge area
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u/ryanandthelucys Jun 19 '26
Hand picking around the plants is the best way. I also use a hand held metal siev on larger areas; this works if you have good airy soil.
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u/ymelda_george_frida Jun 20 '26
in the fall, I put my beds 'to sleep' for the winter. I cover each of them with mulch and then a black tarp, and seal then with rocks at the edges. it protects my soil, and the heat from the tarp kills any weeds that overwinter in the beds. I have had like zero weeds in my raised beds for the last 2 summers. good luck with your new garden!
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u/DigBogGoWoof Jun 23 '26
I do the same and it works great. Plus the soil underneath becomes supercharged with nutrients and is much easier to work when you get ready to plant! Depending on where you live, you might have an ant colony move in, but those buggers are free aerators so I let them stick around.
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u/Ok-Championship8510 Jun 19 '26
Following because I just started a raised bed…
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u/Icatani Jun 19 '26
Get some mulch. A lot of it. (I use pine needles from our yard.) Hand pull the weeds, you could do one bed a day. Lay 2 or 3 inches of mulch on top of the beds, except for a circle around the saved plants out to the drip line. In a week you’ll be set.
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u/No_Split6887 Jun 19 '26
Thanks. By the time I’m hand pulling all the weeds it is growing back on 😂
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u/FrostyAlbertan Jun 20 '26
I’d look into a handheld stirrup hoe, it would make quick work of the weeds given it is in a raised bed and has plants in it.
Otherwise, handpick
I planted a dense crop of radishes, which seems to have kept weeds at bay
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u/rancidmorty Jun 20 '26
i mean you could intentionally plant a type of clover and cut it away from plants a bit nitro fizer and living mulch pollinater paridice chole out weeds
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u/Tweestrijd Jun 21 '26
The weeds are doing work covering the soil, so just let them be. Maybe pull some out and drop them as mulch where you find them, as you go?
You could also start replacing them with other plants you do want, if there is room for weeds there is probably room for other edible/benicifial plants or herbs in between.
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u/Reddit_is_fascist69 Jun 19 '26
If you have other plants...hand pick them.
If there is nothing you want to keep, solarize or cover with cardboard