On Fri, 3 Apr 2009 20:40:14 +0100, keelematt
wrote:


Hi everyone.

I've joined the forum in the hope that I can become a bit more green
fingered. At the moment I tend to shove something in the ground and
walk away knowing it's got two chances, but if I can get my head around
what should be where and when I might be able to get our garden looking
something like decent.

One of the biggest problems I need to overcome right now is weed
control. We moved into our house nearly a year ago and inherited a
good sized but terribly neglected garden (30 years). The top 1/3 of
the garden, approx 50'x35’ is totally covered in Docks and nettles but
I'd really rather it be lawned. Last summer I got my hands on some
weedkiller and sprayed the lot, within a week they all seemed dead but
a few weeks later they were back with a vengeance so I sprayed them
again, and the same happened. Obviously they died down over winter but
now they’re back in all their glory.

Now, this is becoming a real bug bare and I don’t feel like I can move
on until I’ve figure out how to kill them. The area is way too big to
dig them out and they must be so deep routed I’m worried that weed
killer isn’t going to get rid either. My worry is that they are
consuming the lawn, they have moved down by around 4 feet in a year and
I need to nip them in the bud asap.

Can anyone offer some useful advice? Any suggestions welcome but I
really don’t see digging them up as an option this time.

All the best,
Matt


As a newbie, you may be better off hiring a lawn service for a year
and observe and learn what they do. Spot spraying is better than
covering the entire lawn, it can be harsh on grass if used too
much/too often. You may get by with hand pulling weeds--you are lucky
in this manner to have a small lawn. When weeds are under control
consider overseeding at the time which is best in your climate. Shop
for the best quality seed you can find. Good luck.