Flowerbed Weed Control: How to Get Rid of Weeds In Flowerbeds

As a garden, you may take pride in keeping your flower bed looking its best, but weeds can ruin your hard work. Weeds like bindweed, purple nutsedge and bermudagrass are common weeds which pop up in flowerbeds. While most weeds in flower beds are nothing more than a minor nuisance, they can become aggressive and take away essential nutrients, water and sunlight from your precious flowers if you do not intervene and put a stop to the invasion. 

These weeds often are spread via seed or conducive conditions like ideal soil type or poor flowerbed maintence. Depending on the weed, removal can be successful via hand-pulling but other times it is ineffective if the weeds have defense mechanisms in place or a complex underground root system. Either way, it can be a chore to bend over and hand-pull or dig up weeds.

By following our DIY guide to weed control in flower beds, you can successfully put a stop to invasive weeds and save money doing it by utilizing our professional quality herbicides.

Identification

Start by identifying the weed species you have noticed in your flower bed. There can be a large number of different weeds that commonly pop up in flower beds--from grassy weeds to broadleaf weeds, perennials and annuals.

We have a library of the most common invasive weeds that our customers encounter which you can conveniently look through to find your target weed. If you find your weed, you can look through and see the specific techniques and chemical products we recommend for the weed and try it out yourself.

Check out our weed library to learn about the most common weeds and find out which one you have and how to best control it using our recommended herbicide products and techniques.

Inspection

Inspection is important before applying herbicide products so you can determine which products you need to use and how much as well as what approach you should take when it’s treatment time.

Inspect the flowerbed to determine which weeds are present and how severe of an infestation you have on hand. If you have a weed the repeatedly pops up, take note of the times that they emerge

What time of year you are conducting an inspection is also important. If you’re conducting an inspection and find weeds already up out of the ground, you will need to use a post-emergent. If the weeds haven’t popped up yet but you know they will eventually because of a recurring issue, you can lay out a pre-emergent as a preventative measure that will keep weeds from germinating.

Using your findings from the inspection you can then move forward with a treatment approach.

Treatment

Prior to using any chemicals, make sure you are equipped with the necessary PPE (gloves, goggles, mask). Our best recommendations for removing weeds from flower beds is post-emergent treatment using Glyphosate and then an application of Nitrophos Barricade to keep the weeds gone. Glyphosate works excellent on any weed you have and Barricade serves as one of our go-to pre-emergents because of its broad label of control.

Step 1 - Remove Emerged Weeds

The best way to get rid of broadleaf weeds initially is to dig them out by hand or use a garden hoe. Alternatively, you can use a post-emergent weed killer before applying pre-emergent for prevention. We recommend glyphosate as it is an effective plant killer.

Because it’s non-selective you will have to be very careful in applying it as it will kill any plant that it touches. Use a flattened piece of cardboard to shield your desired adjacent plants from the glyphosate application. After this you will see that the soil is broken up and smoothed out, a nice foundation for pre-emergent herbicide application.

Step 2 - Prepare Barricade

While you may have no choice but to attack weeds that have emerged, it’s better to attack weeds before they pop up with pre-emergent. Barricade is an easy ready-to-use pre-emergent that is extremely effective in preventive weed growth in flower beds and offers up to a 6 months residual.

Barricade needs a uniform application to the soil surface to be most effective. Apply 2.5 to 5.94 pounds for every 1000 sq ft. You’ll need to pre-measure your treatment area first. Always read the label for proper usage and application rates.

Step 3 - Apply Barricade To Flower Bed

Using a granule hand spreader, spread the barricade nice and evenly to get a uniform application. Follow up by watering the granules in either with a garden hose or rain if it's on the forecast. Get at least half an inch of water over the top of the granules.

Prevention

To prevent weeds in the future after removing them using the methods in our treatment phase, we recommend a combination of cultural practices and pre-emergent herbicides to serve as a barrier to keep weed seeds from germinating.

Apply mulch as it is a natural physical barrier to emerging seedlings. You could use gravel, bark clippings, leaf litter or other materials to deter weeds. Apply Barricade pre-emergent in the Fall and the early spring to keep weeds at bay. With a 3 to 6 month residual, it will keep your flower bed weed free for longer.

Key Takeaways

• Weeds in flower beds can be frustrating but they are not impossible to get rid of with the use of pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicides.
• Apply Barricade pre-emergent at the proper time for effective control of common weeds that like to pop up in your lawn
• For weed that have already emerged, you can easily knock them down with a glyphosate based herbicide.
• Spot treat carefully when using glyphosate to not harm your desired flowers and plants.