6 Plants That Naturally Help Keep Weeds Out of Your Garden

Keeping a beautiful, healthy garden free of weeds can feel like an endless task. While mulch, landscape fabric, and selective herbicides can help, adding weed-suppressing plants is one of the most natural and attractive ways to reduce unwanted growth. These plants form dense ground cover, shade the soil, and compete with weeds for water, nutrients, and sunlight, making it much harder for weed seeds to germinate.

By incorporating the right plants into your landscape, you'll spend less time pulling weeds and more time enjoying your garden. Here are six excellent choices that naturally help keep weeds under control.

1. Creeping Thyme (Thymus serpyllum)
   
   Creeping thyme is a fragrant, low-growing perennial that creates a dense carpet across the soil. Its thick mat blocks sunlight from reaching weed seeds, significantly reducing germination.
   
   This versatile plant works especially well:
   • Between stepping stones and pavers
   • In rock gardens
   • Along pathways
   • As a flowering ground cover
   In addition to suppressing weeds, creeping thyme attracts bees and other beneficial pollinators while adding color with its small purple blooms.
2. Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla mollis)
   
   Lady's Mantle is prized for its soft, velvety leaves and delicate yellow-green flowers. It naturally forms dense clumps that crowd out weeds while adding texture and beauty to flower beds.
   
   Its broad leaves also help shade the soil, conserving moisture and making conditions less favorable for weed growth.
   
   Plant Lady's Mantle in:
   • Garden borders
   • Cottage gardens
   • Mixed perennial beds
   • Around shrubs and ornamental plants
3. Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum)
   
   Buckwheat is a fast-growing annual cover crop that's widely used to improve soil while naturally suppressing weeds. Its rapid growth quickly shades out bare ground before weeds have a chance to establish themselves.
   
   Additional benefits include:
   • Improving soil structure
   • Adding organic matter
   • Attracting beneficial insects and pollinators
   • Helping reduce soil erosion
   Buckwheat is an excellent option for vegetable gardens during off-seasons or between crop rotations.
4. Sweet Potato Vine (Ipomoea batatas)
   
   Known for its colorful foliage and vigorous growth, ornamental sweet potato vine creates a lush ground cover that effectively blocks sunlight from reaching weed seeds.
   
   Its dense vines also help:
   • Retain soil moisture
   • Reduce soil temperature
   • Minimize erosion
   • Add dramatic color to garden beds and containers
   Sweet potato vine performs especially well in sunny locations and makes an attractive addition to landscape borders and hanging baskets.
5. Crown Vetch (Securigera varia)
   
   Crown Vetch has long been used to stabilize slopes and control erosion because of its aggressive spreading habit and extensive root system.
   
   Its thick growth can effectively crowd out many common weeds, making it useful for:
   • Hillsides
   • Road embankments
   • Large open spaces
   • Difficult-to-maintain slopes
   Important: Because Crown Vetch is considered invasive in many regions, check with your local extension office before planting. In many areas, native ground covers are a better long-term alternative.
6. Mulberry Weed (Fatoua villosa)
   
   Unlike the other plants on this list, Mulberry Weed is not recommended as a weed suppressant. Modern gardening experts actually classify Fatoua villosa as an invasive weed in many parts of North America.
   
   If your goal is natural weed control, consider replacing it with more suitable living mulches such as:
   • White clover
   • Creeping phlox
   • Ajuga
   • Sedum
   • Native ground covers appropriate for your region
   These alternatives provide excellent weed suppression without introducing a potentially invasive species into your landscape.

Additional Tips for Natural Weed Control

While weed-suppressing plants are highly effective, they work even better when combined with other good gardening practices:

• Apply a layer of organic mulch around plants.
• Water deeply but less frequently to encourage healthy root systems.
• Pull weeds before they go to seed.
• Plant closely enough to reduce exposed soil.
• Improve soil health with compost each growing season.

Using multiple strategies together creates a healthier garden that naturally resists weed growth.

Create a Healthier, Lower-Maintenance Garden

Choosing the right ground covers and companion plants is one of the easiest ways to reduce weeds naturally. Dense-growing plants shade the soil, compete with unwanted vegetation, and improve the overall appearance of your landscape while supporting healthy soil and beneficial insects.

With thoughtful plant selection and a few simple maintenance practices, you can spend less time weeding and more time enjoying a thriving, beautiful garden throughout the growing season.