I am a person who hates to pull weed, so here is how I would get out of
most of it. I would first pick any seed heads off the plants and toss
them in a hot compost pile or else somewhere they won't do any harm.
then I would mow the rest down and leave the remains where they fell.
Next if the important part. Cover the area with a thick layer of
newspaper (it often helps to dampen it as you put it on)and cover that
with grass clippings, compost, mulch of some kind or a combination of
all three. If you want to plant something there soon, just dig a hole
right through what you have put down and it will do fine. You will get
rid of most of the shallow rooted plants and grasses with just this.
You will still find a few, but many times fewer weeds than you started
with coming through the covering. It is really not a very big job at
this point to dig up these survivors or spot treat with a weed killer.

I use this method all the time to start new beds in areas that started
out as lawn with assorted weeds and have had great success. I am also
using it right now to clear an area along and under a tree line that
started out as nothing but big weeds and little honeysuckle trees. As I
chop down the little trees they get chipped up and used as mulch on the
paper, so they are even helping in their own demise.

Good luck with your project

Linda


Hassen bin Lai wrote:
I've been pulling weeds from an untended plot. Most are over 4' tall.
It's slow and my muscles are sore. Is it better just to cut them
down to the ground or should I continue trying to put out roots and
all?