I wanted to use herbicide on a patch of my yard that
I'm preparing for a fall-planted meadow, but the
weather turned too cold for it to work. Now what?
The idea, as I read in various meadow how-tos, is to
rid the ground of weeds and plant the meadow mix so
it will be able to get a head start on weeds in the
spring. Will black plastic sheeting kill the weeds
in time? Or should I wait for the next warm spell
and try spraying again?

--
Charles Packer
http://cpacker.org/whatnews
mailboxATcpacker.org

On 12/24/2008 8:59 AM, Charles Packer wrote:
I wanted to use herbicide on a patch of my yard that
I'm preparing for a fall-planted meadow, but the
weather turned too cold for it to work. Now what?
The idea, as I read in various meadow how-tos, is to
rid the ground of weeds and plant the meadow mix so
it will be able to get a head start on weeds in the
spring. Will black plastic sheeting kill the weeds
in time? Or should I wait for the next warm spell
and try spraying again?

In general, herbicides do not work well unless the plants are actively
growing. Try tilling and then raking away the vegitation.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

On Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:59:29 -0800 (PST), Charles Packer
wrote:

I wanted to use herbicide on a patch of my yard that
I'm preparing for a fall-planted meadow, but the
weather turned too cold for it to work. Now what?
The idea, as I read in various meadow how-tos, is to
rid the ground of weeds and plant the meadow mix so
it will be able to get a head start on weeds in the
spring. Will black plastic sheeting kill the weeds
in time? Or should I wait for the next warm spell
and try spraying again?


Didn't mention a specific product, but some herbicides work within a
temperature range. Black plastic sheeting will kill many plants,
maybe not seeds. If the ground is not soggy or frozen you can
rototill, or hoe off the weed tops every 6-8 weeks.