The book , by Ruth Stout states that by putting 8 inches of hay, or leaves,
or mulch on your garden. You dont have to do anything to it. My problem is
weeds. And I was almost going to cover my garden with black covering this
year and sterilize and let it kill all the weeds . Ive got those marigold
vines that overun everything. Do you think cover would keep the weeds down
and allow me to grow this year . Or should I cover it this year to kill the
weeds. Chemicals have already been done. They just come back.

None4U wrote:
The book , by Ruth Stout states that by putting 8 inches of hay, or
leaves, or mulch on your garden. You dont have to do anything to it.
My problem is weeds. And I was almost going to cover my garden with
black covering this year and sterilize and let it kill all the weeds
. Ive got those marigold vines that overun everything. Do you think
cover would keep the weeds down and allow me to grow this year . Or
should I cover it this year to kill the weeds. Chemicals have
already been done. They just come back.

There ain't no such thing as a no work garden. With knowledge and planing
and by limiting the scope of what you do you can reduce the work.

David

On 3/18/2010 7:58 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
None4U wrote:
The book , by Ruth Stout states that by putting 8 inches of hay, or
leaves, or mulch on your garden. You dont have to do anything to it.
My problem is weeds. And I was almost going to cover my garden with
black covering this year and sterilize and let it kill all the weeds
. Ive got those marigold vines that overun everything. Do you think
cover would keep the weeds down and allow me to grow this year . Or
should I cover it this year to kill the weeds. Chemicals have
already been done. They just come back.

There ain't no such thing as a no work garden. With knowledge and
planing and by limiting the scope of what you do you can reduce the work.

David

More like "minimum maintenance gardening". I've got a book on it.

On Thu, 18 Mar 2010 06:23:37 -0400, "None4U"
wrote:

The book , by Ruth Stout states that by putting 8 inches of hay, or leaves,
or mulch on your garden. You dont have to do anything to it. My problem is
weeds. And I was almost going to cover my garden with black covering this
year and sterilize and let it kill all the weeds . Ive got those marigold
vines that overun everything. Do you think cover would keep the weeds down
and allow me to grow this year . Or should I cover it this year to kill the
weeds. Chemicals have already been done. They just come back.


If you put 8 inches of hay over your garden you may not have to do
much with it this year. But, next year you will have at least two
year's work trying to get rid of everything that sprouts from the
seeds in the hay.

Ross.

On Thu, 18 Mar 2010 06:23:37 -0400, "None4U"
wrote:

The book , by Ruth Stout states that by putting 8 inches of hay, or leaves,
or mulch on your garden. You dont have to do anything to it. My problem is
weeds. And I was almost going to cover my garden with black covering this
year and sterilize and let it kill all the weeds . Ive got those marigold
vines that overun everything. Do you think cover would keep the weeds down
and allow me to grow this year . Or should I cover it this year to kill the
weeds. Chemicals have already been done. They just come back.

Do a Google search on "soil solarization." You should find some
detailed information.

Last fall I put several inches of grass and leaves on a small section
of my garden. I don't see any weeds popping up yet but it is early. I
am planning to simply remove a enough topping to dig a hole for the
plants. Will make a progress report later.

I am also going to use Preen on the other places where I am going to
set out plants.

There is no magic bullet. It takes work preparing the garden, i.e.
getting rid of the weeds and keeping after them. And some weeds are
harder to get rid of than others. Around here we have horse nettle.
It propagates by seed and runners. I just try to keep after the
plants with Round Up. I can get the spray on just the plant I want.
The rest of the stuff I just pull up.

Once you get an area clean it is easier to keep that way. I have
never succeeded in completely ridding the place of weeds.
--
USA
North Carolina Foothills
USDA Zone 7a

"None4U" wrote in message
et...
The book , by Ruth Stout states that by putting 8 inches of hay, or
leaves, or mulch on your garden. You dont have to do anything to it. My
problem is weeds. And I was almost going to cover my garden with black
covering this year and sterilize and let it kill all the weeds . Ive got
those marigold vines that overun everything. Do you think cover would
keep the weeds down and allow me to grow this year .


How long have you been using mulch to suppress weeds? The first year I did
it, I was pulling bindweed sprouts out every single day. (Bindweed, in case
you don't know, is an aggressive vining flower that develops an enormous
taproot and covers EVERYTHING if left uncontrolled.) I also had lots of
grass in my beds, strongly coming up through the cardboard and mulch.

Two years later, the bindweed is all but gone--I had to pull a sprout maybe
once a week last summer--and the grass is coming under control as well. I
think it just takes time. The first couple of years will be "more work"
gardens where weeds are concerned, but after a couple of years of mulch and
cover crops, the weeds don't need to be there, so they don't grow. You must
remember that weeds are nature's way of protecting the earth--any time earth
is exposed, such as with a freshly-tilled garden bed--whatever seeds lie in
the soil will pop up to cover the bare area. When you cover that area with
mulch and cover crops, you have done the work of protecting it, and will get
fewer weeds.
--S.

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 18 Mar 2010 06:23:37 -0400, "None4U"
wrote:

The book , by Ruth Stout states that by putting 8 inches of hay, or
leaves,
or mulch on your garden. You dont have to do anything to it. My problem is
weeds. And I was almost going to cover my garden with black covering this
year and sterilize and let it kill all the weeds . Ive got those marigold
vines that overun everything. Do you think cover would keep the weeds
down
and allow me to grow this year . Or should I cover it this year to kill
the
weeds. Chemicals have already been done. They just come back.


If you put 8 inches of hay over your garden you may not have to do
much with it this year. But, next year you will have at least two
year's work trying to get rid of everything that sprouts from the
seeds in the hay.

That is not a fact. It depends on the hay and how it's used. Even if you
use seedy hay such as meadow hay, if it's prepared by ageing it and turning
it in the bale, weeds wont' be a problem

In article , rossr35253
@forteinc.com says...
On Thu, 18 Mar 2010 06:23:37 -0400, "None4U"
wrote:

The book , by Ruth Stout states that by putting 8 inches of hay, or leaves,
or mulch on your garden. You dont have to do anything to it. My problem is
weeds. And I was almost going to cover my garden with black covering this
year and sterilize and let it kill all the weeds . Ive got those marigold
vines that overun everything. Do you think cover would keep the weeds down
and allow me to grow this year . Or should I cover it this year to kill the
weeds. Chemicals have already been done. They just come back.


If you put 8 inches of hay over your garden you may not have to do
much with it this year. But, next year you will have at least two
year's work trying to get rid of everything that sprouts from the
seeds in the hay.


We used hay one year because that was all we could get. We wound up with
some very ...assertive grasses with which to make compost.

There were very few weeds.

Given a choice, I'd use straw.

"Suzanne D." wrote in message
...

"None4U" wrote in message
et...
The book , by Ruth Stout states that by putting 8 inches of hay, or
leaves, or mulch on your garden. You dont have to do anything to it. My
problem is weeds. And I was almost going to cover my garden with black
covering this year and sterilize and let it kill all the weeds . Ive got
those marigold vines that overun everything. Do you think cover would
keep the weeds down and allow me to grow this year .


How long have you been using mulch to suppress weeds? The first year I
did it, I was pulling bindweed sprouts out every single day. (Bindweed,
in case you don't know, is an aggressive vining flower that develops an
enormous taproot and covers EVERYTHING if left uncontrolled.) I also had
lots of grass in my beds, strongly coming up through the cardboard and
mulch.

Two years later, the bindweed is all but gone--I had to pull a sprout
maybe once a week last summer--and the grass is coming under control as
well. I think it just takes time. The first couple of years will be
"more work" gardens where weeds are concerned, but after a couple of years
of mulch and cover crops, the weeds don't need to be there, so they don't
grow. You must remember that weeds are nature's way of protecting the
earth--any time earth is exposed, such as with a freshly-tilled garden
bed--whatever seeds lie in the soil will pop up to cover the bare area.
When you cover that area with mulch and cover crops, you have done the
work of protecting it, and will get fewer weeds.
--S.

Im sriously over run by marigold vines . and a lot ofother stuff. From me
puting 18 inches of horse manure in there.

In article ,
"None4U" wrote:

"Suzanne D." wrote in message
...

"None4U" wrote in message
et...
The book , by Ruth Stout states that by putting 8 inches of hay, or
leaves, or mulch on your garden. You dont have to do anything to it. My
problem is weeds. And I was almost going to cover my garden with black
covering this year and sterilize and let it kill all the weeds . Ive got
those marigold vines that overun everything. Do you think cover would
keep the weeds down and allow me to grow this year .


How long have you been using mulch to suppress weeds? The first year I
did it, I was pulling bindweed sprouts out every single day. (Bindweed,
in case you don't know, is an aggressive vining flower that develops an
enormous taproot and covers EVERYTHING if left uncontrolled.) I also had
lots of grass in my beds, strongly coming up through the cardboard and
mulch.

Two years later, the bindweed is all but gone--I had to pull a sprout
maybe once a week last summer--and the grass is coming under control as
well. I think it just takes time. The first couple of years will be
"more work" gardens where weeds are concerned, but after a couple of years
of mulch and cover crops, the weeds don't need to be there, so they don't
grow. You must remember that weeds are nature's way of protecting the
earth--any time earth is exposed, such as with a freshly-tilled garden
bed--whatever seeds lie in the soil will pop up to cover the bare area.
When you cover that area with mulch and cover crops, you have done the
work of protecting it, and will get fewer weeds.
--S.

Im sriously over run by marigold vines . and a lot ofother stuff. From me
puting 18 inches of horse manure in there.

No such thing as marigold vines. Kill file time.

--
Bill Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA
http://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending
http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/voicesfromafghanistan/Pages/Default.aspx

"Bill who putters" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"None4U" wrote:

"Suzanne D." wrote in message
...

"None4U" wrote in message
et...
The book , by Ruth Stout states that by putting 8 inches of hay, or
leaves, or mulch on your garden. You dont have to do anything to it.
My
problem is weeds. And I was almost going to cover my garden with black
covering this year and sterilize and let it kill all the weeds . Ive
got
those marigold vines that overun everything. Do you think cover would
keep the weeds down and allow me to grow this year .


How long have you been using mulch to suppress weeds? The first year I
did it, I was pulling bindweed sprouts out every single day.
(Bindweed,
in case you don't know, is an aggressive vining flower that develops an
enormous taproot and covers EVERYTHING if left uncontrolled.) I also
had
lots of grass in my beds, strongly coming up through the cardboard and
mulch.

Two years later, the bindweed is all but gone--I had to pull a sprout
maybe once a week last summer--and the grass is coming under control as
well. I think it just takes time. The first couple of years will be
"more work" gardens where weeds are concerned, but after a couple of
years
of mulch and cover crops, the weeds don't need to be there, so they
don't
grow. You must remember that weeds are nature's way of protecting the
earth--any time earth is exposed, such as with a freshly-tilled garden
bed--whatever seeds lie in the soil will pop up to cover the bare area.
When you cover that area with mulch and cover crops, you have done the
work of protecting it, and will get fewer weeds.
--S.

Im sriously over run by marigold vines . and a lot ofother stuff. From me
puting 18 inches of horse manure in there.

No such thing as marigold vines. Kill file time.


Sorry, I think they are morning glories the horses ate. White and purple
flowers that overun my tomatoes and you cant even walk in there.

--
Bill Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA
http://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending
http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/voicesfromafghanistan/Pages/Default.aspx

In article ,
says...

No such thing as marigold vines. Kill file time.


Sorry, I think they are morning glories the horses ate. White and purple
flowers that overun my tomatoes and you cant even walk in there.

Just keep weeding.

IF they are your basic morning glory annuals then keep up with your
weeding. The seeds will remain in the soil and continue to germinate for
a few years but gaining the upper hand with them isn't a big deal.

We have garden variety morning glories growing around the vegetable
beds. The morning glories come up in the beds all the time and get
weeded out as a matter of course. We'd be weeding anyway so it works out
fine.

If they are annual bindweed, the same holds true. Just keep weeding
until the yearly waves of seed have spent themselves.

Field bindweed is a perennial and more difficult because it will regrow
from the severed root but the solution is exactly the same with the
certain knowledge that each time you sever the vine, you weaken the
root.

And as for masses of vines, careful snipping (avoiding your tomato
vines) will give you the room you need to walk in and weed.

g'day,

once you are in controll of the weeds mulching will help to control
there after wesue around 6" to 8"s of mulch which also keeps in
moisture. so if teh weeds are well entrenched you may need to deal
with them first eg.,. cut them right back or pull them out then cover
with a good cover of newspaper and mulch for the first season there
after the mulch should go a long way to helping weed control.

works well enough for us so much so we rarely get sort after
volunteers growing.

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

On Thu, 18 Mar 2010 06:23:37 -0400, "None4U"
wrote:

snipped
--

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

g'day ross,

we ahve found that not to be so, whatever grain is still in the straw
si not a self perpetuating weed anyway and the bit that does germinate
in say 8"s of straw is no hassle to be pulled and tucked under for
extra nutrient as you walk you garden daily or other wise.

and even using pasture grass hay like we often do you get very little
grass seed germinating with that depth of cover. all of which is so
easy to pull as it is only rooted on the mulch or the newly formed
humus.

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/


On Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:59:11 -0400, wrote:
snipped
--

len

With peace and brightest of blessings,

"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

"None4U" wrote in message

Sorry, I think they are morning glories the horses ate. White and purple
flowers that overun my tomatoes and you cant even walk in there.

That's bindweed, the exact same thing I had. Again, it will take a few
years to get rid of it fully. Expect to pull them out every day this
summer. It will help to lay down some cardboard (or at least several layers
of newspaper) before putting the mulch down. That will stop some of it, but
not all. Just keep pulling it this summer and maybe next, and keep those
cover crops growing at all times, and you'll be fine in a few years. You
can
trust me on this. Seriously, I had bindweed EVERYWHERE. Here is a picture
of a single day's sprouts:
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...963062_n. jpg

That was in 2008. Last year we had almost NO bindweed. I'd pull up one or
two sprouts a week. Don't worry, it takes time, but with mulch and cover
crops your garden will eventually be fairly clear of weeds.
--S.