On Apr 3, 12:40*pm, 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

--
keelematt

I'm not at all sure why rudeness in responding to your question seems
to be called for. But it takes all kinds, some quite a bit less
helpful and less knowledgeable than others :-)

There's a couple of ways you can approach this. Smothering the area is
effective but will take some time. Layer on newspaper (completely
biodegradable) rather thickly and wet it down. Top off with an organic
mulch - wood chips, ground bark, compost, composted manure, etc. This
will weight down the paper and add to the soil texture as it
decomposes and eventually gets turned into the soil. If you start this
now, the area should be free of weeds and ready to till and plant by
early fall.

You can also go with the herbicide approach if you wish. It is fast
and efficient but may take several applications. Plants generally need
to be in active growth for most herbicides to be effective.
Horticultural vinegar is a 'natural' choice but has its own drawbacks.
Glyphosate (RoundUp) is commonly used for this purpose and works as
well but with less of a long term environmental impact. It breaks down
in the soil quite rapidly and is far less of a pollutant than most
commercial fertilizers are. Both are broad spectrum herbicides,
meaning they can damage anything they are sprayed on. Follow label
directions explicitly and avoid using if any kind of breeze.

Another, perhaps less efficient method, is to till the area. You will
still likely get some weeds generating but they should be easier to
remove. If you want to grass this area, I'd go with of the other
methods first.

btw, covering the area with clear plastic will work, but I'd not
recommend it. This is called solarization and while it will kill off
the weeds (and anything else growing under it) it also kills off
beneficial soil organisms, leaving the soil essentially sterile. This
is highly undesirable and takes a lot of work to bring the soil back
into a healthy condition.