Wherever there's bare soil, there'll be weeds, so cover up the garden with mulches, plants and paving to eliminate weeds and weeding.

But before you cover up, let the weeds grow in order to kill them off with an appropriate weedkiller. Otherwise those with persistent roots will send their shoots up again and again.

If you're not quite ready to start on the garden after spraying, cover as much bare ground as possible with a mulching/landscaping fabric to prevent further weed growth. Black plastic will also do the job but cannot let rain through so the ground beneath will become hard in hot weather, and during cold weather will provide a home for slugs, so is best for a very short time only.

Read our weed control article for more information on clearing weeds and keeping an area weed free.

See weedkillers from:

Our online garden centre, B and Q and GardenCentre.co.uk

See garden/landscaping fabrics for mulching:

Mulching sheets from our online garden centre, Wickes , B and Q Next Day , B and Q in store , Crocus and Screwfix

See a choice of mulches at:

Rolawn, B and Q and Wickes for bark mulch.

Crocus for cocoa shell mulch.

This page has links to weedkiller from B & Q, Garden Centre.co.uk, black plastic, garden/landscaping fabrics for weed barrriers from Wickes, B & Q, Crocus, Screwfix, bark mulch, cocoa shell mulch.