I have a smallish well I thought it was a small back yard and I had it tilled up a few yrs ago with good intentions of making a beautiful garden out there, well it has since grown into a hay field of weeds, what is the best way to get rid and keep them out of there, I really can't afford to mulch it's too expensive, eventually we are going to put a large sized deck out back when we can afford too, which may be next summer. What can I do for now???

Well, You could just mow the buggers down.

Mow and Plant rye, buckwheat etc.

Mow and cover with 6 mil. Black Plastic.

Mow, Dig up and Garden until you can afford the deck.

Rent a goat.

Definitely mow to get them under control, or at least get some big hedge clippers and clip them low to the ground. The cheapest way is to cover it all with flattened cardboard boxes. You can usually get those free out behind the grocery store. These stay down better in the wind. Overlap them by a few inches. The rain will help to hold them in place, or squirt them with a hose. The darkness ought to stop the weeds from reseeding. The cardboard will break down slowly and will improve the soil.

The important thing is to keep the light out until you are able to plant it the way you want.

You could also use layers of newspaper, at least 6-8 layers, but you'd need something to hold them down, usually dead leaves. If you put them down just before it rains they might stay down better.

old boards and tarps work, too, but don't improve the soil.

And planting a clover or vetch, as he suggested, will compete with the weeds, improves the soil by fixing nitrogen in their roots. The seeds can be expensive, but if you know of someplace where there is clover, dig up the patches like you would lawn sod, including the roots, and transplant them, water them like a lawn. Of course, don't put the cardboard over them, but they are an excellent groundcover.

You could also check with a yard/tree service in your area to see if they would like to dispose of some of their chippings in your driveway. Where I live they are more then happy to get rid of them for free and some will even drop them by if they are doing service near your address. Others store them on site and will let you come and get them. The wood chips, although a little rough, look nice and decompose adding nutrients to the garden. I use them in my walking paths and let them decompose for a couple of years, then scrape aside the top cover and use some of the rich dirt underneath for the compost pile.

I did the cardboard trick & used rocks from my yard to hold it down. It worked like a charm.