Reduce weeding, save time with mass planted annuals

By mass planting annuals between slower growing
plants you prevent weeds from germinating.

There are many garden chores I prefer over weeding. In fact, I would prefer to sit around sipping iced tea in the garden to digging weeds out of my garden beds.  Over the years I have learned to reduce my weeding chores dramatically by mass planting annuals between slower growing plants.

Many of the plants we put in our gardens are slow growing, such as some shrubs and perennials. If we plant them correctly we must leave appropriate room for them to mature to their full size. The result is spaces between younger plants and flowers where weeds can flourish.

By filling spaces between slower-growing plants with fast-growing annuals, you prevent the sunlight from reaching the soil below so weeds can't germinate. You'll have less weeding to do and your garden beds will look fabulously lush as well. As the slower-growing shrubs and flowers mature and grow, you simply pull out the annuals.

Many of the fastest growing annuals are also easy to grow directly from seed in the garden. Make sure you ask at your garden center if the annuals you like will re-seed in your area--or you may be planting annuals that you'll have to pull as weeds in the future.

Here are some fast-growing annuals that work well as fillers between shrubs and perennials.

Full sun annuals
Begonia semperflorens (Wax leaf begonia)
Coleus hybridus (Coleus)
Gazania rigens (Gazania)
Gomphrena globosa (Globe amaranth)
Zinnia angustifolia (Thread leaf zinnia)
Petunia 'Blue Wave'

Partial sun/partial shade annuals
Anchusa capensis (Summer forget-me-not)
Ageratum houstonianum (Flossflower)
Impatiens 'New Guinea'
Ipomea batatas (Sweet potato vine)

Shade annuals
Impatiens 'Fanciful Mix'
Lobelia erinus (Lobelia)
Torenia fournieri (Wishbone flower)