I really like to work in the yard. So before we get down to business let’s discuss this term. Is “Yard Work” the worst-sounding hobby ever? If I was in the UK, I could say “I love to garden” and people would get it. But here, If I say “I love to garden”, then people expect me to bombard their doorstep with zucchini. So instead, I have to say, “I do yard work” which is the same as saying, “I do chores for fun”.
Anyway, the most useful thing I’ve learned from doing chores for fun is an underrated bucket of granules called “Pre-Emergent”. The back of the label should say, “Spreading this magic dust on the ground before a rainstorm will save you 60 hours of pulling weeds this summer.” But that sounds an awful lot like witchcraft, so instead they tell you not to pour it in your eyes or whatever.
I always buy the Preen Extended Control Pre Emergent in the gold bucket because I can lay it down every six months instead of every three. It’s astonishing. A bed of dirt in my yard that regularly gets full of tumbleweeds will be nearly dead the whole growing season. A few will still get through, but I can spend a couple minutes a month weeding instead of a couple hours a week.
I could go on forever about the specifics and things I’ve learned, but that’s what Youtube is for.