Weeds are everywhere, and they make us nuts. It’s true that store shelves are full of weedkillers, both synthetic and organic, but many people hesitate before they check out the spray bottle. Can we get long-term weed control without the chemicals?

According to Donna Ellis, co-chair of Connecticut’s Invasive Plant Working Group, we have some possibilities.

“Some techniques don’t require chemicals,” says Ellis, who is also a senior extension educator at UConn’s Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture. “The key, however, is setting your expectations. You can’t expect to use these techniques just once. It requires consistent monitoring, several times a season, and for several years.”

Ellis says she’s seen some remarkable success stories when landowners commit themselves to a program of monitoring and ongoing removal.

Here are six methods that reduce or eliminate almost any weed over time. Don’t be afraid to mix and match.

Lock them up: If you knew that the soil was full of evil genies, you’d probably let them sleep. When we run a rototiller in the spring or turn the earth deeply with a shovel, we’re waking up the weed seeds. Once they reach the top six inches of soil, they can germinate. A rototiller is, therefore, almost never justified in a home landscape, not even in the veggie garden. Deep shoveling has the same effect.

Scalp them: At this time of year, whack weeds to ground level. Plants deprived of their leaves and stems can’t photosynthesize and therefore go hungry. This technique is especially powerful in spring because winter depletes roots of perennial plants of their food supplies. After a few passes with the weed whacker, most herbaceous plants give up. In my experience, even bittersweet responds to this technique.

Smother them: Cover an area with plain brown cardboard, then let it age six to eight weeks in the sun and rain. (You can cover lightly with mulch or straw for appearances’ sake.) Then plant directly into the aged cardboard by slicing holes in the surface. Alternatively, remove the cardboard and rake away any weed seedlings that remain. Then plant.

Shade them out: Weeds, like all plants, need light. When you keep soil covered with mulch or create shade by growing broad-leaved plants close together, you’re depriving the weeds of light.

Squeeze them out: When desirable plants grow densely, they help crowd out weeds. Farmers use cover crops to fight weeds in both the growing season and dormant season.

Cook weeds under plastic or rubber: Now’s the perfect time of year to spread sheets of plastic—dark or clear. Leave the cover in place three to six weeks. Summer heat will encourage weeds to germinate and then bake. Donna Ellis says these hot covers can work against spreaders such as Japanese knotweed or phragmites.

“The cover has to be in place long enough, which may be several years,” she says. “And we recommend the heaviest plastic or rubber you can find, such as pond liner.”

She adds, “You may also need to consider a deep barrier around the plastic-covered area.”

Trenching or vertical weed barriers, somewhat like those used for bamboo containment, stop roots of the most aggressive plants from spreading.

There is one drawback to turning up the heat. While the weeds “cook,” so does the community of beneficial soil microbes. If you plan to use hot-smother techniques, also plan to rebuild the health of the underlying soil.

Need some help on the weed-fighting journey? See the Connecticut Invasive Plants Working Group’s online resources. My two favorite books are “Eradicate Invasive Weeds,” by Teri Dunn Chace and Lee Reich’s “Weedless Gardening.”

There are lots of ways to deprive weeds of the opportunity to ruin a landscape. The key factor is not in a bottle of chemicals, but in our expectations about how long and how often we need to fight back.

Kathy Connolly is a landscape designer from Old Saybrook. Visit her website www.SpeakingofLandscapes.com.