Every gardener fights a constant battle against weeds -- but you can take steps to defeat them. Putting down landscape cloth can make a big difference. It takes about half an hour, depending on the size of your garden, costs about $15 and can save you hours of work. Landscape cloth is a finely woven plastic mesh used to cover the surface of the soil. It prevents germinating weeds from growing through the material and into the soil, yet it allows water and oxygen to pass through. Before putting down landscape cloth, prepare your garden soil as usual before planting. Then roll landscape fabric over the entire surface of the planting bed. The fabric also helps keeps the soil warm because of its heat-absorbing black color, so you can plant earlier in the season. Once your plants are growing well, mulch over the surface of the cloth to keep the soil cool and prevent moisture loss. Landscape fabric may be cut easily with a knife. Overlap the edges of the fabric if you need to cover an area wider than 3' (the width of the cloth). To keep the edges from lifting in the wind, dig a shallow trench, lay the edge of the fabric inside the trench, and fill in with soil. The weight of the soil will keep the fabric in place. Or you can use pins made of coat-hanger wire cut and bent into a U shape. Push them through the cloth around the edge of the planting bed. When it's time to plant, cut an X in the cloth. Dig the hole, set the plant in the soil, cover the roots as usual, and fit the landscape cloth around the base of the plant. Cover the area with mulch, then water.
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