Terry Coombs wrote:
....
I've had a major part of my garden under plastic for several weeks now to
kill out the grass .

it can take a few years to kill off the energy
stored in roots and the soil seed bank can be
viable for many years (varies by species).

mulch and cardboard layers will last a few years.

some plants need warmer soil to sprout or grow well
but once they are up and growing you can go along and
mulch around them and put cardboard in the rows and
then mulch on top of that.


I realized very early this spring that tilling was just
burying the grass seed to sprout later . Last year's heavy straw mulch
helped a lot ,

yes, by keeping sunlight and warmth from the top layer
of the soil you've reduced the number of seeds that will
be able to germinate.


that in combination with the plastic might give me a chance
to get ahead of it and other unwanted growth . Of course that isn't an
option with the strawberry beds , I'm planning a vinegar douche there , in
hopes that it will give the strawberries a chance to shade out some of the
weeds/grasses .

my strawberry beds get mulched with wood chips and hand
weeded, but after a few years they need to be renovated
anyways. after a few seasons i selectively smother about
1/3 of the plants and then let the surrounding plants
grow into the mulch. by the time the mulch has broken
down enough and the new plants are established the old
ones can then be smothered. i use a mix of wood chips and
partially decayed wood chips.

i also grow cover crops to help shade the plants during
the hot summer months in spots. these then become mulch.
beans/peas/soybeans/buckwheat, not too thick.


songbird