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Hidden Benefits
Putting Down Paper
Put that tiller away!
Crazy for Weedless Gardening
Excellent Book.

Weedless Gardening
Lee Reich
Manufacturer: Workman Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0761116966

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"There's no such thing," my ace-gardener mom said when I told her about Weedless Gardening. I think author Lee Reich would agree that the title is a bit misleading (there will always be some weeds). Also a bit misleading are the blurbs from the publisher, which stop short of calling the book "ground-breaking" only because Reich's system is based on the total eschewal of tilling or otherwise turning over the soil. The building blocks of his philosophy have been in use for decades in one way or another: from low-till commercial farming techniques (which sometimes also involve firebombing the soil with herbicide) to simple green composting with knocked-down cover crops. But in Weedless Gardening Reich takes it all the way, no tilling, no herbicide unless absolutely necessary--all while providing everything the home gardener needs to know about cover crops, composting, and drip irrigation. In every section Reich lists mail-order and Internet sources for supplies.

The benefits of cover crops, composting, and planting in beds rather than rows are widely known, and they're dealt with in depth here. More controversial is Reich's injunction to rigorously preserve the natural layering of the soil--even when pulling up weeds, dead annuals, or old corn stalks. He makes a good case: tilling under weedy areas kills existing weeds in the short term, but turning over the dirt exposes more weed seeds to sunlight and air, and more of them will germinate; better to kill them first by mowing and self-composting or smothering them with mulch. In addition, Reich explains, water in broken-up, uniform soil tends to flow straight down; water in undisturbed soil travels more slowly, in different directions--down and sideways--thus more efficiently reaching roots. Installing a drip irrigation system further decreases water use (the book includes detailed instructions and formulas for calculating water-flow and timing) and, like many of Reich's recommendations, apparently works best when practiced in concert with his no-till, "top-down" method.

What isn't clear is how effective his system can be in an area that has been worked over by indifferent landscapers or that has already been tilled over and over for years. How long will it take for that plot's soil to resettle into something resembling its pretilled state? If my mom starts "weedless gardening" now, will she be wading through a forest of weeds or, worse, buying tasteless corn at the supermarket come August? --Liana Fredley

Book Description

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 the work of other perceptive gardeners, Lee Reich presents a compelling new system called weedless gardening.

The Weedless Garden is good for plants and it's good for people. It protects the soil, contributes to plant health, reduces water needs, cuts down on a gardener's labor, encourages earthworms and, of course, mitigates weed problems by keeping the seeds dormant. Four basic tenets form the system's backbone-minimize soil disruption; protect soil surface; avoid soil compaction; use drip irrigation-and the way to get there is simple. For a new bed or established garden, layering is key, and the perfect material to use is also among the most common-newspaper. Add organic mulch and compost on top, and plants are growing in rich, self-generating humus. From vegetable gardening to flower gardens to planting trees, shrubs, and vines, The Weedless Garden works everywhere-allowing the gardener to work quite a bit less.

Customer Reviews:

Hidden Benefits.......2007-06-12

Having started my gardening life in the John Jeavon's double-digging school, it took me awhile to accept and implement the approach described so well in this book. Other reviewers have lauded the book and its benefits. I would like to add one that has really changed how I garden and how my garden looks. I used to rip out my large So-Cal vegetable garden completely twice a year, digging in the compost and amendments in one big push and starting fresh. With Reich's methods I can stagger my prep and planting in a way that spreads the work out, and makes the garden more beautiful. Winter flowers that aren't quite done can be easily left in while you plant the summer veggies around them. My newest bed, which was done with his newspaper method over a nasty lawn, is flourishing.

Putting Down Paper.......2007-05-12

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!.......2006-09-03

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.

Crazy for Weedless Gardening.......2005-02-20

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.

Excellent Book........2002-01-09

I give this 4.5 stars, rather than 5, because I think 5 stars should represent a nearly perfect book, and this book, like virtually every other book on earth, is not perfect. Though this book is outstanding, its FEW flaws arise from the author's OCCASIONAL failure to fully explain precisely what a novice would need to do to execute weedless gardening. I emphasize that such failings are few; and, overall, the book's concision actually aids its clarity. In fact, all things considered, I recommend this book over any other single gardening book I have seen.

I do wish the author had specifically discussed one important issue. He advises the use of paper--and newspaper in particular--to kill weeds, with the paper then becoming part of the soil. I wonder, however (and I simply ask; I don't know the answer), whether all types of paper are safe for such use? Newspaper, for example, contains ink. Is it safe to grow produce in soils containing ink and other paper constituents? I wish the book had expressly addressed that.

In any event, the book is excellent.

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