How to clear an over planted flower bed with many weeds in the mix?
by
Kim Price
+1
My "flower beds" in front of the house are just over grown. Not to mention that they are over planted as well. I'd see these dying souls on the clearance shelves at local stores. Feeling that I could give them a last chance to live..They exceeded my expectations. Now living happily nearly taller than the house. How do you wrangle them back into submission?
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Sounds like you need a big pruning job! Best of luck!
Pruning back plants is always your best option when you have plants you really love to have around. The weed plants can be handled in 1 of 2 ways...1. you can pull the largest of them as they become recognizable [but you need to be diligent! maybe put a day every week or 2 to 'do the weeding' on you calendar] 2. Using a small paintbrush [artist size], 'paint' a herbicide onto a leaf of each plant that you recognize as a 'weed plant,' [being careful NOT to drip any onto your flowering plants] as they wilt back, turn yellow & 'die'...pull them out, thus getting roots & all!
Pruning back or clearing out completely should work. I know it seems like a big project & if you tackle it small bites it can be worthwhile. Prepare the soil with a good fertilizer & then adopt those "lost souls" on the clearance rack! You may end up with some of the original plants growing back & that can be a bonus if you like them. A few years ago I was blessed by having Queen Annes Lace show up in my rose garden! A gift from the birds perhaps & this year some delicate white flowers showed up! HAve fun!
Succeeding beyond your wildest dreams can be a problem. Make another garden spot to transplant seedlings and offshoots, maybe? Share on the internet? Keep cutting them down and eventually they will give up? Good luck!