Topic: Garden full of WEEDS! Help please!

[genlistlass]

For different reasons my garden is full of weeds, the beds, the raised veggie patch and the path crevices.

For more and different reasons I cannot do heavy digging or much hand weeding.

What can I do? (I've looked at postings and weed control membrane seems a good option)

Gen in Northumberland

[Barnowl]

How natural/organic do you want to be?

[terrier]

What sort of weeds? If they're just annuals, hoeing then a layer of newspaper then a layer of mulch should sort them out. If they're perennials then it's no use just covering them over.

[thifasmom]

i find weed suppressant fabrics ideal in flower beds and footpaths but on vege beds i prefer to use thick cardboard which you can then cover with leaf mould/ grass clippings/ straw for a more eye pleasing feature, these then rot down to add the general soil structure and nutrient value.

there are also flame weeders, but i have never had to use these but they may be good for someone who is unable to lots of bending, etc.

so you could use the flame weeder then cover the new weed free area with a suppressant.

[the-goodlife]

round up will sort them out :) wait until march time when they start growing make sure we get 2-3 days of nice sunny wether

[genlistlass]

Thank you to goodlife, thifasmom, terrier and barnowl

I'm not keen on toxic stuff on the garden, prefer the more natural ways.

So thifasmoms idea of cardboard is good, there is a lot in the garage from when I moved house.

Will the weeds be dead by the time comes for transplanting out my veggie seedlings? If I put the cardboard down on the veggie patch this week?

Gen in outer Northumberland

[ceres]

Unlikely.  If you've got weeds which are still alive at this time of year, they're perennials which have extremely resilient roots.  Stuff like couch/bindweed/mares tail won't be dead after 3 months covering.  As soon as you let the light in they'll pop up again.  To get rid of perennial weeds you either need to dig the roots out, spray top growth with a systemic weedkiller which kills the roots or cover and leave for a much longer time.  What weeds have you got - how  dense is the growth?     

[genlistlass]

Ceres, I  think I've got perennial weeds!!! Really tough looking grass, resists pulling out tenaciously!!!! Even digging is very difficult as its all matted together around my strawberry plants.

It looks like I'll have to use a systemic weedkiller at first till I get it under control, will my veggies be OK after the soil has been spayed with this toxic stuff? Don't want to kill myself off!
Gen in NBL

[ceres]

A weedkiller like glyphosate is neutralised when it comes into contact with the soil so it won't affect crops planted subsequently.  If you can't isolate your strawberriy plants, you'd kill them when you spray though.  Dig them up first and re-plant when you've got rid of the weeds.

[genlistlass]

Thanks Ceres.....the strawberries are the ones going in the hanging baskets, so they should survive..........maybe.

Will investigate weedkillers, ta for tips.

Gen in Northumberland

[Melbourne12]

Just a word on flame weeders.  Although they are very effective on broad-leaved weeds, they have some limitations:

• They don't deal well with established grasses like couch
• A Sheen gun is surprisingly hard work.  It's quite heavy and you're constantly moving it and working your arms and shoulders.  If you're not strong, it'll be tiring.
• The little lightweight flame wands are (a) utterly useless on an allotment scale and (b) horribly expensive to run

On the other hand, they're great boys' toys.  ;D

I'd go for glyphosate followed by membrane/carpet/cardboard myself.

[genlistlass]

Ta for tips Melbourne12....sounds too heavy a toy for little me. Glad I didnt buy the little one at ALDI/LIDL recently.....

Gen in snowwwwwwwwy Northumberland

[Bjerreby]

I am all in favour of heavy mulching. I don't think bare soil is right somehow. The few weeds that come through a heavy mulch can be pulled up.............they'll soon get the message.

[terrier]

Those little flame wands are OK for lighting bonfires and little else. My plot was dock infested and I tried digging them out and heavy mulching but they still came back so now if I see one, I spot spray with glyphosate and that sorts it out. I don't like to spray chemicals around my growing plot either but any lesser weeds are easily controlled by regular light hoeing.