If you're like most busy homeowners, you don't have a lot of time to spend fighting weeds in your outdoor living space — but because weeds grow so fast, tiny seedlings can gain significant traction by the time you're able to fit a good weed-pulling session into your schedule, and before you know it, your entire yard and garden area can turn into a weed patch. Once weed colonies become firmly established, they have the potential to choke out desirable plants and even ruin entire flower beds.

Fortunately, even if you don't have a lot of time to devote to the waging war on weeds, there are strategies that can help you win a few battles that will buy you some time until you have time to tackle them in full force. Here are three weed control techniques that you need to know. 

Cut Off Their Flowers

When you simply don't have enough time to pull weeds during the course of the week, you can at least help prevent them from setting seed by cutting off their flower heads. This takes very little time and helps reduce the number of future weed seedlings you'll have to deal with. If you do this on a regular basis, it may even have the effect of reducing the overall number of weeds in your yard and garden area — after all, fewer weeds seeds mean fewer weeds. 

Use a Drip Irrigation System

Another great way to keep weed populations under control is to deprive them of water. You may think this is difficult to do because you've got to provide your flowers, shrubs, and trees with water in order to keep them alive and thriving throughout the summer, and regular sprinkler systems distribute water to weeds as well. However, you can use a basic drip irrigation system to circumvent this issue. Drip irrigation involves the use of soaker hoses that are laid along the ground instead of overhead watering. Strategically placed holes in the hoses deliver water directly to the root systems of your individual plants ensure that weeds receive as little water as possible.

Use Plenty of Mulch

A good layer of mulch not only helps protect surface soil from becoming so hot that plant roots are damaged, but it also helps prevent weeds seeds from sprouting. The majority of weed varieties require sunlight in order for their seeds to sprout, a layer of mulch prevents that light from reaching them.