I have a stock tank vegetable garden and need ideas of what to place

4" of clean wheat straw works to block out sun (and weeds), retain moisture, and composts into the garden.

: )

I would use gravel or pavers. Lay down landscape fabric, newspaper or cardboard first as a weedblocker first, then mulch or gravel or pavers.

newspapers,cardboard ,landscape fabric and mulch

I use "creeping charlie" as a ground cover BUT be fore-warned...it's very invasive so if you have other plants you want to keep nearby, you will have to watch it closely. Since you have your garden up off the ground, you should be okay.

You could plant low-growing medicinal/edible herbals too, like chickweed, dandelions, etc. Periwinkle (Vinca minor) makes a wonderful ground cover. If you have a deer problem; plant daffodils - deer hate the smell.

Landscape fabric is good, but would cause a problem with planting unless you plant the same thing in the same place each year. I put down a thick (4-6 inch) layer of shredded leaves in the fall to till in in the spring. After I till and plant I put down Preen Weed Preventer as directed over the whole garden. When the lawn starts getting mowed I put down the cut grass as mulch during growing season. I seldom have weeds other than root born weeds that I take care of as soon as they start coming back into the garden, and treed seeds that Preen does not prevent from germinating since they are not considered weeds until they are in the garden. I hope this helps!

Weed suppressant Fabric or Layers of old Newspaper.

Boiling water, wait 48 hrs, make sure their dead. Next, soak the weeds with the hose, wait 24 hrs then pull the weeds as close to the ground as possible, you'll get the root and all. Good Luck!