Weeding scallions

Keep your scallion garden well weeded. Because of their shallow root structure, scallions don’t compete well with weeds. It’s best to plant your scallions in weed-free soil. Or companion plant them with a crop that has a deep root structure, like lettuce, cabbage, carrots, or beets.

If weeds do crop up—and don’t they always?—be very gentle around your scallions’ shallow roots and pull all of the weed out (or as much as you can). Another good way to control weeds in your scallion crop is to do succession plantings every three to four weeks. This regular disturbance of the soil can help discourage weeds from settling in.

You can also lay down black plastic mulch to cover the ground between your plants, but this may be more time-consuming to set up than just going in and weeding. If you feel you must spray for weeds, read the herbicide labels closely to ensure that spraying won’t do more harm than good.

Do you have problems with weeds in your scallion garden? How do you handle weeding—and preventing weeds in the first place? Please tell us how you handle weeds in your scallion garden.