I've mentioned before that I'm not much of a gardener. 
The "volunteer" plants in our yard do better than anything we put there on purpose. And despite the fact that we spread a dozen huge bags of mulch over the rather small flower bed areas in our front and side yards, the weeds just keep on coming.
I know I bring some of this on myself. I have a bird feeder that sits right in the middle of the front flower bed. It looks cute there, and it's in a great spot for me to watch the birds from the living room. But the birds and squirrels who frequent the feeder aren't very neat eaters. (They make my seven-year-old's table manners look impeccable by comparison). And since this summer's weather could better be described as "monsoon season," the seeds that the birds drop and spill have all been sprouting in my flower bed. One sunny day last week, we all took out the garden gloves and pulled up corn plants and other unidentifiable shoots that seemed to have sprung from nowhere--enough to fill my little boy's wagon.
My next-door neighbor isn't a gardener either--he considers himself a farmer. Every year his vegetable garden gets bigger. He's generous in sharing the tomatoes and cucumbers he grows in the backyard. And he never has a weed problem there either. I think it's the layer of plastic he places over the dirt. Maybe next year I'll borrow his garden trick. This way the mailman won't have to wade through the cornfield on his way to my front door.
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If you're into gardening, you might also be interested in "green" topics for other areas of your life. We've got a great feature right now: Going Green for Back-to-School. Take a moment to check it out!
