Weeds are nearly inevitable in flowerbeds. Luckily there are multiple ways to prevent and control the problem so that your flowers can grow without competition. The first line of defense is to make sure an area is completely clean of weeds before you ever start to create your beds.  Depending on what plants are growing in the area, one to three applications of a Hi-Yield Killzall (a glysophate product) two weeks apart to kill everything.  If you don’t want to use chemicals you’ll have to hand dig everything and expect bermudagrass and bindweed to come back.  After the area is clear of weeds, one one of the best ways to suppress them is with weed barrier and mulch, rocks or wood chips, around 3 inches deep.  Sometimes its easier to skip the weed barrier if you’ll be putting in lots of annuals or small plants.  Up to 4 inches of mulch can be used, but be sure to keep it from mounding against the base of your plants.  Another preventative is keep weeds out of beds are preemergent herbicides such as Hi-Yield’s Turf & Ornamental Weed & Grass Stopper.  This product does not harm any larger plants, it only stops weed seeds from germinating.  It will repress them for several months and can be reapplied.

For existing beds with weeds, hand-pulling the weeds may be your only option if the weeds are entwined with your shrubs and flowers.  If the weeds can be spread apart from the desirable plants, Hi-Yield Killzall can still be used as long as you’re careful to not touch any plant you want to save.  A piece of cardboard held between your plants and the weeds are usually effective to prevent overspray and keep your plants from being harmed.  If you specifically have grass growing in a landscape bed and no ornamental grasses in that bed, you can use Fertilome’s Over-the-Top Grass Killer.  Be sure to read the label, however, as it can damage some desirable plants.  Tree sprouts and vines in your flower bed can be treated with a stump killer to keep them from resprouting as long as you’re careful to only paint the fresh stump and not spill it on any plant you want to save.