Using a pre-emergent weed preventer

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Every season I have always applied a pre-emergent weed preventer, like Amaze® or Preen®. A pre-emergent keeps weed seeds from germinating in your garden. Today I used the generic Kmart brand. And I can tell that I didn't use any at the beginning of this season!

The reason that I didn't use a pre-emergent (which keeps seeds from germinating) is because I did a lot of direct sowing of flowers, such as the alyssum that you see in the bottom of the picture. This has been a time of learning for me, and I will not do direct sowing again. My survival rate was absolutely dismal for the seeds that I just planted in the ground, and, since I couldn't use a pre-emergent, I have a lot of weeds!

There is something kind of cool about seeing what happens when you fail to do something. I mean, I've been buying and sprinkling out pre-emergent for years. I didn't have the weeds, but, was it really the pre-emergent that was doing it? Maybe the weeds would stay away on their own? Trust me, now I know it's worth the trouble.

To use a pre-emergent weed preventer, sprinkle it all over your garden. Yes, use the whole bag. It doesn't do any good sitting in your garage! Then lightly water it in. It doesn't kill existing weeds, so you have to get out there with the Roundup®.

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