Up until last summer, I had a decent garden. But last summer, when my son was 2 and into EVERYTHING, the garden had to be put on the back burner. Well, a whole summer of neglect has really ruined it. All the beds have been overtaken by creeping charlie, clover, oxalis, nutsedge, etc, etc. It's not a few weeds here and there...there are literally more weeds than perennials/shrubs/bulbs. I have tried several layers of newspaper as a weed barrier in the past but didn't have much success. I am on the fence about weed barrier cloth. If I hadn't invested so much money in the plants that are already there, I would just use vegetative killer on the whole thing! All I can think of is something that is not at all appealing (and I can hear my back screaming in protest already)--dig everything out and start over. Any better ideas? Tamara
Please don't tell me I have to start from scratch!
As the mother of four little guys I totally understand not keeping up on weeds when you have a two year old!!!! For me the weed barrier cloth was more trouble than it was worth. The reason I say that is because 1. the weeds came through anyway, 2. I felt it stifled the growth of my plants (even though it says it lets air water etc through) and 3. every time I wanted to add to the bed or dig I had to cut through the cloth. For me just a really good layer of mulch and trying (hopefully lol) to keep up on the weeds when they were small really has worked best. Are you sure the perrenials and bulbs aren't in there hiding somewhere? I would hope for you that the weeds couldn't have overtaken in one season. Maybe just be brutal and go in there start pulling up the weeds and you'll be able to save a good portion. I do not blame you for not wanting to start over, and I'd be a little worried about replanting too soon after putting down any all around weed killer too - you'd probably have to give it time and then amend the soil before planting - yuck too much work if you don't have too. Good Luck with all your plants!
I agree on the weed fabric, I don't like it either. If you didn't have luck with the newspapers before, I'd try using a thicker layer next time, could be you didn't use enough. Or maybe your expectations were too high--nothing is going to 100% prevent weeds (especially if you don't have time to get out there and do maintenance from time to time). I would take things one area at a time--it's very overwhelming to look at a whole garden full of weeds, but if you just commit to 10-15 minutes a day and focus on pulling weeds out of one area, you'll be surprised at how much you can get done. Once you've cleared a little area, put down several layers of newspaper and mulch on top of that, and that should slow down things coming back. The garden won't get back to being perfect overnight, but if you do it a little step at a time it won't feel so overwhelming.
I can really relate to your problem. I helped my mother put in her veggie garden last year and had no idea she was not going to keep it up. I live 2 hours from her and she just can't get out there that much and she loves her veggie garden and I had put hundreds of flowers around the outside of her garden so she could see them from her living room.
Wow...what a mess, she wouldn't let me mulch and it was terrible. I got most of it done in one day by taking a sharp serated knife and cutting the weeds just below the soil surface and then I mulched with pine shavings (this was all she would agree that I could use, and thankfully after she saw how well it worked, she is hooked on it and buys it for her chickens bedding anyway which is handy) You will have to be carefull around your plants but larger spots of weeds or grass can be eliminated with the knife and is not nearly as physical as pulling. Then put down your newsprint or a good layer of compost and or mulch. Good luck! I have 8 kids, 4 I inherited, and 10 grandbabies. My baby is 18. They love "helping grandma in the garden". I hope you can get a handle on it, I definetly would not use a herbicide, by the time the soil is viable again, you will have lost this season, although u might be able to winterseed some seeds this fall for next year but that would be such a shame.
The trouble with cutting the weeds like that is many weeds will come back after you do that--it really depends on what weeds you have. Most of the ones I have here will sprout again if I just cut them off, so I have to try and pull the root all the way out. You can also use herbicides if you want to--if you use something like Roundup (the regular one, not the extended control version) it won't persist in the soil so you can plant things there after you've used it. If you want to go more organic, you could use vinegar instead (it works best if you apply on a warm sunny day). With any herbicides you do need to be careful not to get it on the plants you want to keep though, so if the bed is really crowded then hand pulling may be your best bet.
Thank you all for your responses! I am overwhelmed when I look at all the beds, so I will take one section at a time. It will take a while, but that way I can salvage my plants. Actually this is kind of a good thing...it's a good time to get rid of the weeds, get control of some plants that have taken over, and toss in the compost those that I'm not crazy about. And when the *&(^% helicopters from the maple trees stop falling, I'll put down newspaper and mulch! ;-) Tamara
You could take a paint brush and some Round up and get rid of the weeds that way. Just being careful where you "paint".
A trick I've used when applying round up: wear a pair of rubber gloves under a pair of cotton garden gloves. soak your hand so the the cotton glove is saturated with round up and then 'pet' all weeds you don't want. You'll have excellent control over what gets zapped and what doesn't. If you get the weeds early in the season this way, it doesn't take much to kill them. A few days later go in and pull out the dead stuff.