Suggestions for weeds

Hello,

I have a large area that is mulched with a few trees and plants such as young lilac bushes, it is over run with invasive weeds! Any suggestions on what I can put down to kill the weeds but not the plants I want to keep?

Thanks!!

-Kerry

More mulch!

If it's not too much of a hassle, you might try some of that black plastic covering, too (you can always mulch on top for aesthetics). Don't know if that's any help but I thought I'd throw it out there. :-)

not black plastic! the roots of the surrounding plants will smother and they can't get air and water. the breathable black weed mat would be ok but a better and cheaper solution is to put down several layers of newspaper and then mulch.

ps. i always take an old mop and mix up a little round-up and water and carefully mop the weeds before i put down the paper...it helps.

This message was edited Mar 15, 2010 10:49 PM

Are you an organic gardener? If not, you might try a pre-emergent weed killer like Preen. I know of someone who runs a large (3+ acres) hosta nursery and he swears that Preen keeps him (and his wife) sane. It won't totally eliminate weeds, but it sure does cut down on the amount. The only fly in the ointment is that it needs to be used before the weeds show their ugly heads.

Another not-so-organic method would be to use Round Up, but to gently apply it to the weeds using a foam-end paintbrush attached to some sort of long handle (like a yard stick). This way you can make sure you're getting the weeds and not your plants. Best not to do it when there's a chance of rain or other moisture wicking the Round Up away and causing the runoff to hit your plants, though.

Do you think if I planted english ivy or something invasive like that it would take over the weeds?

You'll probably want to eliminate the weeds first so they won't have to fight it out, but ground cover is always an option for keeping weeds down. You just have to make sure you're not trading one problem for another, though. If the area is semi-wild and woolly and you aren't worried about an invasive ground cover spreading into gardens or your lawn, then go for it. There are also some ground covers that are fairly easy to yank if they start to get out of line. Check out http://www.classygroundcovers.com. While they sell ground cover in bulk, they have a nice search feature that might help you locate a good plant for your area. They also seem to give very honest assessments of just how invasive each plant happens to be.

THANK YOU!