Las Vegas, NV on Apr 26, 2012

Once again, I need help

Area in front of my house we let the weeds grow wild, all for leaving things for tomorrow (procrastinate)..i'm going to do it myself because my budget don't rich to paid a professional. I all ready pull all the weeds ( the easy ones) but since it has rocks and many years no taking care of the weeds, roots are all over underneath the plastic ( the one that they place to set rocks ) what I should do?? to clean everything and get my garden going.. thanks for everything ...

32 Comments Displaying 25 of 32 comments | See Previous

Aneesah C Clinton, MD

I like the vinegar idea. Will the vinegar kill the grass also? Or do I just need to be extra careful of what/where I'm spraying? I'm tired of continuously buying products to kill weeds.

on Apr 27, 2012 · Like 0
Donna S Roswell, GA

sheet composting aka Lasagna Gardening! It worked well for me! Lay down cardboard on top of the weeds and wet thoroughly. Layer on compost materials (greens, food scraps, newspaper, etc) and top with mulch. Let it decompose over time. If you want to plant, cut holes in the cardboard and place your plantings in the opening. organicgardening.about.com/od/.../a/lasagnagarden.htm

on Apr 27, 2012 · Like 1
Wendy B Murphy, NC

I just put down cardboard around a small patch of my enormous yard...one step at a time. I didn't put compost or other stuff on it, just some rocks and mulch. I have done a lot of work and just want to touch up with some color before posting more pictures of changes...just wow, I have a lot more to do!

on Apr 27, 2012 · Like 0
Marg C Middletown, NY

vinegar will kill everything so use with caution. I would use it over round-up anyday.

on Apr 27, 2012 · Like 2
Leida R Tampa, FL

GREAT information Marg C!!! How do one actually pour the VINEGAR on the grass to get rid of it. I meant as far as diluting it.

on Apr 27, 2012 · Like 0
Leida R Tampa, FL

Oh!, and how long does it take to come back? Would you happen to know this information?

on Apr 27, 2012 · Like 0
Marg C Middletown, NY

you can put straight vinegar in a pump sprayer. that would be the easiest method for you. I don't know how large the area is or what you plan on doing afterwards.....you will need to pull up all of the dead vegetation to reduce the chance of it coming back. Depending on what weeds you have, some may have runners, which ofcourse run underground and spread. If you keep hitting it with the vinegar when you see new shoots, eventually it will die down permanently. Do you plan on putting new stone down or planting flowers?

on Apr 27, 2012 · Like 0
Karen L Wentzville, MO

Vinegar will change the ph of the soil Make sure you know what you want. because pure vinegar will probably keep most desirable plants from growing for a long time. If the grass is Bermuda, you will have to dig and insert a boundary to keep it from coming back. Bermuda grass sends out runners like Johnson Grass and is invasive. I would use roundup vs vinegar just because I would want to plant something in place of the "weed" I do like the newspaper/cardboard layering ideas ...»
even better.,
I am fighting weeds by pouring on the mulch ,using roundup on Johnson grass clumps and Preen to kill the seeds before they emerge IIf you need organic, Preen for the food garden is also called corn gluten which is available without the preen packaging. I pull as much of the Johnson grass as I can, but I don't have the stamina to pull it all before it gets ahead of me. Any that grows in the mulch is much easier to pull.

on Apr 28, 2012 · Like 0
Marg C Middletown, NY

It won't affect the ph for a very long time...only days. it's water soluble so any lowered ph will come right back up before you can even decide what to plant in that area :) this won't be a concern. You will want to test the ph of the soil before you plant anything anyway....whether you decide to use vinegar or not. I like using vinegar because I can't stand the thought of putting harsh chemicals in the ground.

on Apr 28, 2012 · Like 0
Ann S Kalamazoo, MI

You can also use cardboard to cover it up which will make the weed die, but this way does take a while! But no chemicals!

on Jul 21, 2012 · Like 1
Marg C Middletown, NY

I love the idea of using cardboard. I believe that a few layers of newspaper work well also.

on Jul 21, 2012 · Like 0
Marcia Geneva, NY

I had a beautiful garden in the front of our house. Unfortunately my husband and I both became disabled and now I am so ashamed of the weedy mess my garden has become. Before winter we will put down a layer of cardboard,and cover it with wood chip mulch . One more hint Next spring the cardboard will be gone, adding some nutrients to the soil. The weeds wii be gone too. We will plant some scrubs and fill in with roses and pereniels. We will keep about 3 ins. of mulch on the garden to ...»
keep the weeds at bay. One more hint. newspapers can be used in place of the cardboard, but you must use several thicknesses of the newspaper. I used these methods when I originally made my garden 20 yrs. ago, carving it out of the lawn.

on Jul 21, 2012 · Like 1
Ann S Kalamazoo, MI

I read this in my Birds & Bloom magazine! Was in a couple of issues ago! I'm working on a spot in my one garden now. And leaving the one area cover up til next spring, for I put a very aggressive flower called gooseneck there & didn't realize it would take over my garden. Goosedneck is a good boarder for around woods. But not in gardens! Live & learn! lol

on Jul 22, 2012 · Like 1
Douglas Hunt New Smyrna Beach, FL

Oh, Ann, you planted gooseneck loosestrife, Lysimachia clethroides. I planted some of that in a tough spot where I couldn't get much else to grow. Well, did it ever!

on Jul 22, 2012 · Like 0
Ann S Kalamazoo, MI

Douglas it will take over garden so I hope that all you want there! They were on the side of garage which we couldn't see so would be nice in garden but it grows like wild fire! so now killing it off with cardboard to kill if off! And this does seem to be working, just not taking any chance so leaving the are cover til next spring!

on Jul 22, 2012 · Like 0
Ann S Kalamazoo, MI

Gooseneck!
on Jul 22, 2012 · Like 0
Ann S Kalamazoo, MI

Live & learn! lol

on Jul 22, 2012 · Like 0
Ann S Kalamazoo, MI

Maira Newspaper is gonna break down to easy you really need cardboard you can get free at a grocery store. Just make sure that the cardboard didn't have anything with chemicals in it that might contaminate the ground specially if using for making veggie garden!

on Jul 22, 2012 · Like 0
Douglas Hunt New Smyrna Beach, FL

See, it is so temptingly pretty!

on Jul 22, 2012 · Like 1
Marg C Middletown, NY

lol, such a tease this plant is.

on Jul 22, 2012 · Like 0
Maria C Las Vegas, NV

Ann, I wish i can have some of that in here its hard to grow almost everything this heat is killing most of my plants plus my lack of knowledge but my morning glory its doing fine in fact its been invasive but I don't care i love greens....

on Jul 22, 2012 · Like 0
Trish M Mesquite, NV

Maria C. You Can Have an Absolutely Beautiful Garden Out Here...I Grow Tons of Flowers.Roses Love This Place.You can also Grow Veggies all Year Round...Just depends on How You Prepare Your Soil...I Put a Lot of Shredded Paper In Mine and Compost...I Have Tons of Earth worms In The Garden and They LOVE The Black and white Shredded Paper It Retains the water well...I also provide Shade..Moveable Umbrellas is My Fav. shade.But Some times I Have to Get a Lil Crazy with the shade..LOL
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on Jul 22, 2012 · Like 1
Trish M Mesquite, NV

If You Haven't Started Your Garden this Yr...Put Black Plastic Over the area and The Heat will kill out the Weeds.If You Can afford it.Use weed killer First.Then Plastic..Wait till this fall when we get some Moisture Or On One Of These days When we get Tons of Rain In a Min and start Pulling The weeds....They are so Much Easier To Pull when soaked...Then Place a HEAVY Layer of finely Shredded Paper All Over The are You want to plant..Then mulch or compost...That should stifle any weeds ...»
That Try To come Back....You can Plant all kindsa Things this fall since we Don't Freeze.Yell at me if ya Need some Help...Been doing This Out Here For 8 Yrs...Good Luck...

on Jul 22, 2012 · Like 1
Wendy B Murphy, NC

the cardboard worked great, just got old card from Lowes...set it down, watered it, left it through the rain and sun for a week or so and then lifted it...all was dead. I went ahead and pulled what weeds I could and put the card back down and put pine-straw on top. It's been more than a month and it still looks weed free. The best part is that I had a few plants that looked like they were burned up and dead, all are green and happy now! It only cost me the price of pine straw, which to ...»
this point is just about $200.00. I had a LOT of land to cover though and did it section by section, one week at a time! It wasn't as painful on the budget that way or on the body...though, apparently, chiggers LOVE pine-straw!

on Jul 25, 2012 · Like 3
Sherrie S Debary, FL

Wendy B, I agree with the cardboard solution. I also put newspapers under cardboard and large mulch chunks on top. Looks pretty nice and works, too.

on Jul 28, 2012 · Like 0

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