Weedless Gardening

by Lee Reich

Book Overview

Conventional wisdom says to garden from the bottom up, turning over the soil every spring until your back aches. Ironically, this does such a good job aerating that gardeners spend the rest of the season pulling weeds and replacing the suddenly energized (and easily used up) nutrients. Mother nature, on the other hand, gardens from the top down-layering undisturbed soil with leaves and other organic materials. In following this example and synthesizing...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761116966
• ISBN13: 9780761116967
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Workman Publishing
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Bait and switch

The book that was delivered, is not the book shown in the description. While it does have the same name, and is by the same author, it is not the same book and does not have the same page count. I would not have purchased the book that was delivered, I wanted to book that was shown.

Putting Down Paper

The mental factors brought forth through this book will certainly help gardners all but stop weeding. Using the info in this book, I have all but eliminated weeding so far by placing 4 sheets of newspaper down before I build my rows. My weeding time has been cut down to 10 minutes or less daily in my 46' X 35' garden. I also use the same between rows with cardboard boxes cut to fit my walking needs, which has all but eliminated weeds or grass between rows. Try the book if you want to save yourself a lot of weeding this spring, summer and fall.

Put that tiller away!

Better yet, go ahead and sell the tiller -- you probably don't need it. Introduced to the idea of mulch-bed gardening by Gene Logsdon, I implemented the method in my garden this year. It is now September, and I probably haven't spent half an hour pulling weeds all summer. And it isn't because I have let things go; there just hasn't been that many weeds. About the only problem I have had is grass encroaching from the sides. With so few weeds, I was beginning to wonder if there was a problem. My vegetable plants are doing just fine, though, and have generally been much more productive than they were last year. Now that I have read Reich's book, I have a clearer idea of what's going on and understand how I might do things even better next time around. Weedless Gardening is similar to the method Logsdon describes in The Contrary Farmer's Invitation to Gardening -- though it might be more accurately described as compost-bed gardening -- but Reich goes into more detail on the particulars, at least as far as keeping the weeds at bay goes. (Now don't get me wrong: I have enjoyed reading and profited from Logsdon's writing as well.) This is an easy read with a lot of good information packed into a relatively short book. Not having to deal with so many weeds (or wondering when I would find the time to deal with them!) makes gardening so much more enjoyable. I only wish I had discovered this book a few years ago. As an aside, anyone with poultry might also find Andy Lee's book Chicken Tractor helpful. It too describes a variation of the no-till theme. p.s. To address Joseph's comment (below) in part, I can get unprinted newsprint paper from my local newspaper. They usually discard the very last part of each roll; just ask if they have any "end rolls" available.

Crazy for Weedless Gardening

Mr. Reich's "bare bones of Weedless Gardening" are: 1. minimize soil disruption 2. protect soil surface 3. avoid soil compaction 4. use drip irrigation Sounds simple? It is! I implemented steps 1-3 (drip is not allowed in my community garden) in half of my garden, and months later, the results speak for themselves. The half in which I tried these techniques has tidy beds with the intended plants growing in them. The other half is a field of weeds. This book explains mulch, compost, cover crops, drip irrigation, layouts, the application of Weedless Gardening to specific vegetables (e.g., you don't have to dig a trench to grow asparagus), flower gardens, and planting trees and shrubs, all in clear, concise language and a very manageable size. As a relative beginner, I found it all easy to understand. As a student, I was pleased that I didn't have to buy expensive materials (did you know many landfills offer free compost?). This book, and perhaps a book tailored to your region, will provide all the basic gardening advice you need. All these pros make up for the fact that the other gardeners around think I'm crazy since they saw me newspaper-ing my garden.

A system of gardening patterned after Mother Nature

In Weedless Gardening, horticultural expert Lee Reich clearly and concisely offers a system of gardening patterned after Mother Nature, and is good for both plants and people. Rather that the traditional approach to annually digging up and working over the soil, Weedless Gardening provides an easy-to-follow, low-impact, effective, and environment friendly approach to planting and maintaining a flower garden, a vegetable garden, trees, and shrubs. Gardeners seeking to protect the soil, eliminate heavy work, and reduce water needs should first begin planning their gardening activities with a thorough reading of Lee Reich's Weedless Gardening!