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.
Rating: 5 / 5

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.
Rating: 5 / 5

I came across Lee Reich’s book a few years ago in our local library (I’ve since purchased it to keep on hand). Since I was knee deep in weeds at the time the title intrigued me. At the time it was mid summer and my garden, as usual, was an example of spring time work gone awry.

Each year, I dilligently tilled and rowed my garden as my father and his father had done, arranged the sprinklers, planted the best plants, staked the beans, caged the tomatoes and planned how this year I was going to have a TV worthy garden. Then May turned to June, to July and 98 degrees and 98% humidity stopped my outdoor adventures. I only went to the garden to harvest the results, which were rapidly disappearing under a malaise of weeds, bugs, and diseases. So once again by summer time the garden had become an unsightly eye sore rather than the picture of pride I had foolishly envisioned while reading over the seed catalogue. If only I didn’t have a real job, and kids, and a to do list a mile long, I could spend my days toiling away in the garden to get one of those “fake” TV gardens that obviously cannot be produced by mere mortals.

After skimming through the book I began to get excited. I really didn’t expect much from the book but the concepts made a certain sense and if they worked, maybe I could actually improve my garden.

Three years into this experiment, I can say that I look forward to gardening more now than ever. What used to be a chore is now a pleasant break from my routine and a source of pride to visitors. While no garden is truly weedless, it is much easier to stay ahead of the weeds using Lee’s approach. It also fits much better into the rest of what I do. I used to have to figure out where to get rid of the grass clippings all year, and the mulch/chips from tree removal and land clearing. Now, my 1000 square foot garden consumes as much material as I can throw at it. My grass, my neigbors grass, my mothers grass, leaves, kitchen scraps, etc, most of which people are glad to have a place to dump, all go into my garden.

I have not followed all the recommendations of Mr. Reich. I’m currently experimenting with composting in my overly large walkways (48 inch) rather than composting in a seperate compost bin. It cuts my yield but pleases the wife since there is no large ugly bin in the yard, and no turning of the compost. (My chickens turn it for me, while adding their own brand of nitrogen.)

As with most garden books, the first half is dedicated to the topic at hand, the second half is a glossary of gardening topics, plant varieties, tools, and techniques/tips which are common to most any gardening book. This is often viewed as a “filler” in many books, a way to justify the price for the now larger book. This book has many such items in it’s second half but all that I have read are specific to the no till, weedless method and are not simply added ad hoc from another source for filler.

Again, three years into this experiment, I’d can honestly say I’d never go back to the till method.
Rating: 5 / 5