In my recently-inherited garden it now appears that there is a big perennial
weed problem. This garden was cleared before I moved here but prior to that
had many weeds and was overgrown. I made the mistake of getting it dug and
now there is bindweed and several other nasties coming up all over the place.
I had planned to plant several shrub roses and perennials- but having planted
only the shrub roses I can see that I have to deal with the weed problem
before any more planting.

I have a number of perennials sitting here in pots now, so I thought I'd
plant these in bigger pots and tubs. I could even bury some large pots in the
ground and so it would look like they are actually growing there, then I
could move them if I needed to, and the weeds would not be cominig up among a
clump of perennials because there would be the pots in the way to isolate
them. I think I have a workable plan, and certainly a better prospect than
just planting the perennials in amongst the emerging weeds. And then I can
continue to do what I'm doing, namely using various ways to stop the weeds
from surviving and spreading by selectively burning, spraying and (when it
arrives) using polythene sheeting to block the light. Eventually (maybe after
two years of diligent weed-bashing) I will win and the weeds will be gone, or
mostly so, and i wil then have a plantable garden.

I have two questions-

1] Is this the most workable idea fopr this situation? I can't think of any
other way of doing this, but woud welcome any better ideas- and

2] What soil/compost should I use for growing my remaining outdoor border
plants in when putting them into pots/tubs etc? I could get some sterile
topsoil and use that but I wonder if in a pot it might be better to use
something like John Innes No 2. I suppose though that's my "houseplant
thinking" and these plants are traditional perennials like phlox,
chrysanthemums, delphiniums, and so on which might expect something more like
real garden soil. Any suggestions on planting mediums? TIA for any feedback.

PS I'm a bit physically challenged nowadays so I need the low-energy options
(where there actually are any options, that is... For example I tried
hoeing recently and retreated back indoors totally exhausted after a few
minutes- but burning and spraying I can do, just about, on an occasional
basis.

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