Are you sick of getting on your hands and knees every  summer plucking out weeds? Do you wish you didn’t ever have to pull another one again? You can solve this weed problem with some preliminary work along with your lawn care next year.

Start by spraying weed killer on your flowerbeds. Be sure to use one that doesn’t kill flowers in case you want to plant some in your flower beds. Once the weeds are brown and dead (about a week), you can rake them up.

Your next investment should be weed matting. You can find it at your local gardening center. Before you head out though, measure the area you need to cover so you purchase the right amount. When you get it, lay it down, cut it to cover and place the stakes in to keep it in place.

The black weed matting isn’t attractive so you’ll want to put down some mulch, pine straw, rocks, or whatever you like to decorate your flowerbeds with. To place flowers in your nicely covered flowerbeds now, simply grab some scissors and make incisions where you want them. Be careful not to make the hole too large or weeds will start growing in that area. If you have some matting left over, you can always cover areas you’ve cut too much of to prevent that from happening.

Lastly, stand back and pat yourself on the back for doing such hard work that will save you so much time in the future. Your flowerbed weed problems are gone!

(Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielfarrell/129009953/)

What started in the groundcover around my palm tree has crept into my flower beds, lawn and more. I keep pulling up the clover, but it seems when one is gone, two take its place.

Does anyone have tips on getting rid of clover?

I’d rather not use chemicals, if possible.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jelene/2314601489/