"Santos D. Santiago" wrote in message
...
Hello All,

I have a very novice question. I have three flower beds in my house.
Right
now they are in very bad shape, they don't have any flowers only weeds and
grass. I want to resurrect these flower beds if you will. My question is
what is the best method to getting rid of the grass/weeds and getting the
beds ready for planting. I am aware that I will have to use a tiller to
get
the soil nice and ready but do I have to kill the grass first w/Roundup
lets
say? If so how long do I have to wait before I till the ground and plant?

I also would like to know what is the best thing to do to prevent grass &
weeds from growing there again. Should I put tons of mulch, fabric?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

--
SDSantiago
Milwaukee, WI

There are some weed and grass killers that one would use in different
situations. First off, if you want everything to die before starting a new
bed use Round Up, wait a week and respray. Wait until everything is totally
dead then rototill and plant. Some say to remove the top layer of soil
where the roots are so they don't stand a chance of coming back. But if the
roundup has done the job I don't think you need to do that.

It may take several years of consistent weeding to get control of the weeds
that will keep coming back from the seeds that have been sown there over the
years .

To kill grass when it tries to grow back use Grass B Gone. It is safe to
use around other broad leaf perennials. But I am still careful to not spray
it directly on growing perennials. For weed control you can use a pre
emergent such as Preen graduals, or a liquid Surflan. Those will not kill
weeds but will keep old weed seeds from germinating. If you are going to
plant seeds in the new bed, don't use Preen or Surflan.

There are some stubborn weeds that you will discover various seasons, such
as wild onion or wild garlic. It is a grass like bulb that when pulled will
leave little bulblets in the ground that will come back year after year.
Also Thistle is a perennial weed with a long tap root. Even if pulled or
dug up chances are it will keep coming back. I use 24D for that kind of
stubborn broad leaf weed [aka Weed B Gone]. Protect the perennials when
spraying 24D weed killer.

Don't let any new weeds go to seed. A little effort to weed before they set
seed will go a long way to getting control of the weeds. You can use mulch.
It will help keep annual weeds from getting the sun they need to germinate.
It will also help to keep the soil moist and make weed pulling easier. But
mulch will not deter perennial weeds. You will have to individually spray
them or dig them out.

I don't like weed cloth. I never use it now. I have tried it and hate it.

wil