Everyone knows that weeds are a nuisance. But they can also be a danger to your rose plants. Controlling weeds in your rose garden is an important step in keeping your garden growing. The stubbornness of weeds is actually the design of nature. Their purpose is to recreate a a forest-like environment. Weeds want to restore lawns to a more natural balance. So while weeds might be considered the greatest foe of gardeners, they're actually well-intentioned little growths. But just because weeds aren't quite the enemy you thought they were, they can still hurt your roses. So what's the best way to keep those unwanted weeds from popping up everywhere?

The oldest way to rid your garden of unwanted weeds is by pulling them out with your hands. The work can be back breaking and difficult. What's worse, is that it isn't very effective. In fact, it's common knowledge that when it comes to weeds, the more you pull the more they grow. Many new gardeners also make the mistake of using common weed killers to ward them off. This is even worse them pulling them. Many common weed killers are too harsh, especially for roses. The chemicals will kill your roses plants in addition to any weeds that you're aiming for.

There is an almost concrete rule in rose gardening: when trying to fight threats to your garden, prevention is the best weapon. This is especially true in the case of weeds, because the single most effective method for controlling weeds is killing them before they grow. The most successful tool against weeds is actually compost. Compost is known to help grow rose plants, but it's also an amazing defense against weeds. The weight of the compost will help keep the weeds beneath the ground and hinder their growth. Weeds, like all other kinds of plants, require light to grow. The compost creates a barrier that does not allow any sunlight to reach the weeds C stopping them in their tracks. But this isn't the only benefit of applying compost to your rose garden. Compost will also add much needed minerals to your soil and organically help your roses grow faster and more beautiful. The compost should be applied to the top of the soil surrounding the rose plants. A layer of around two inches will be the most deadly to weeds. If you don't trust the compost, you can also cover the ground surrounding your rose plants with a plastic sheet or garden cover. The covering can be concealed with wood chips or another substance to make the ground surrounding your rose plants look better. Surrounding the rose plants with small rocks or wood chips can be a unique way of designing your rose garden, and killing weeds is an added bonus.

Obviously, the best way of controlling weeds in your rose garden is stopping their growth. The best part of controlling weeds, is that you can enhance your rose garden's beauty and nurture them at the same time you're fighting off weeds. Now that's a great solution.

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