I'm not a great gardener by any stretch, but I did find an awesome tip that worked well for me last year.  Before you lay mulch, lay a thick layer of newspaper or cardboard underneath.  Make sure you overlap the edges really well and you won't have to weed for months.  Plus, the soil/worms will love the decomposing matter. 

Oh, this sounds like a GREAT tip!  I hate weeding all of the time, and I don't want to use anything nonbiodegradable.

This does work beautifully!  I've based my gardens on laying cardboard down as the base to both prevent weeds and encourage worms.  The with lots of nice mulchy stuff and compost and peat moss you've got a fabulous planting medium - be sure to mulch heavily around your plants and you've got a weed-free zone that requires minimal watering.   I don't mind spending hours in the garden as long as it isn't really hot outside - and all that time isn't spent just weeding and watering.

Thanks for all the great tips. I was so dissapointed in how bad my garden was last year...I will definately try the cardboard tip. I am in south central MO and usually have lots of tomaotes and beans and cukes..I love to can a lot of this stuff to save for the winter. Has anyone ever used a Cherokee purple tomato??  I didn't have much luck with the 2 I had so I was just wondering if anyone else had better luck. Happy gardening

no i haven't used the Cherokee my personal favorite is the sweet 100's such yummy flavor! I didn't know about the cardboard; have used lots of newspapers tho but cardboard sounds like it would work better will give it a try!

We went to the gas station and got cardboard flats. The last flower bed we planted was filled with cardboard, then mulched. I have to say that was the neatest bed we had, and it still looks great after the 1000568375 feet of snow we had this winter!  It won't need much attention this Spring, and you can bet that it's cardboard from here on out....

ROTFLMBO  Marcy I live in MI so I can relate to your snow total.

We put down layers of damp newspapers and cardboard boxes and IT WORKS!!  mulch and pinestraw on top and no weeds.  Its a good way to start a new bed also.  Place the newspapers and cardboard and mulch, keep it damp and shortly you will have a new grass free bed.  Also good to create new paths you don't have to mow.

Frances

I've used the paper and cardboard and they have always worked great.  I also read that you can use old carpet remnants or rugs, but have never tried that one.