When cultivating the garden, avoid deep tillage. The roots of many vegetables, fruits, and flowers grow near the soil surface. Deep cultivation will cut off some of these roots. Also, deep cultivation will bring deeply buried weed seeds to the soil surface where they can germinate. Hoeing, rototilling, and hand pulling should be started early in season.
Small weeds are easier to control than large weeds.
This process must be repeated several times during the growing season to effectively control weeds. Hoe or rototill around plants or between rows and pull weeds close to the plants. Some perennial weeds, such as quackgrass, are extremely difficult to control in the home garden. Quackgrass is a perennial grass that spreads rapidly by underground stems or rhizomes. Rototilling an area infested with quackgrass will simply cut up the rhizomes and spread the weed.