Garden killer?
Discussion
I've been wielding (and occasionally breaking) various tools around the border of the garden. It had been neglected, and so everything was covered with long grass, along with the odd spiky bush, some random hedges, and that long spiky b
d that gets right round and digs itself into twenty different places.
You may guess, I'm not much of a gardener.
I'm in the process of digging everything out, with the intention of levelling it off, popping some boxes of compost in, and growing things that are a- easy to look after, and b- identifiable. Before I do this, once the digging over is finished, I want to kill everything off that hasn't been fully removed by brute force and ignorance. Trust me, there's nothing worth saving in it.
Is there something I can put down that will kill weeds, plants, and small children retrieving wayward footballs*? I dont' mind if I have to cover it to stop birds getting at it, for example. I jsut want a fresh base.
d that gets right round and digs itself into twenty different places.You may guess, I'm not much of a gardener.
I'm in the process of digging everything out, with the intention of levelling it off, popping some boxes of compost in, and growing things that are a- easy to look after, and b- identifiable. Before I do this, once the digging over is finished, I want to kill everything off that hasn't been fully removed by brute force and ignorance. Trust me, there's nothing worth saving in it.
Is there something I can put down that will kill weeds, plants, and small children retrieving wayward footballs*? I dont' mind if I have to cover it to stop birds getting at it, for example. I jsut want a fresh base.
freecar said:
One of the best ways is to cover it with a tarp until spring, this should kill everything underneath and leave no residue to kill what you put there to keep!
I might well do this, once I've cleared the last few metres. Ta muchly!Simpo Two said:
Once you've dug it over there won't be any projecting plant bits to get at with any spray...
Usual way is to spray first - glyphosate will from go leaves down into the roots - wait about 10 days, maybe spray any survivors, then rotovate.
Ah. I was envisaging weedkiller draining gracefully into the carefully turned soil, killing any remnants. Usual way is to spray first - glyphosate will from go leaves down into the roots - wait about 10 days, maybe spray any survivors, then rotovate.
ShampooEfficient said:
Ah. I was envisaging weedkiller draining gracefully into the carefully turned soil, killing any remnants.
Well, a 'path & drive' (total residual) weedkiller would do it, but you wouldn't be able to grow anything in the soil afterwards. Non-residual ones like glyphosate let you grow stuff afterwards but break down in the soil so no use underground.Simpo Two said:
ShampooEfficient said:
Ah. I was envisaging weedkiller draining gracefully into the carefully turned soil, killing any remnants.
Well, a 'path & drive' (total residual) weedkiller would do it, but you wouldn't be able to grow anything in the soil afterwards. Non-residual ones like glyphosate let you grow stuff afterwards but break down in the soil so no use underground.ShampooEfficient said:
Ah. What if I was to put a box of some sort into the soil, and filled that with compost? Or would the weedkiller permeate into the new compost?
If the soil in the box (eg a planter) was separate from the 'poisoned' soil it would work.What do you want to achieve? What is between the plants in your plans?
freecar said:
One of the best ways is to cover it with a tarp until spring, this should kill everything underneath and leave no residue to kill what you put there to keep!
A few years ago I did this. Actually lots of extra strong bin bags rolled out and held down with railway sleepers.Come spring I used the sleepers to build a border and within weeks had a great, weed free lawn.
The bin bags got re-used too!
Simpo Two said:
ShampooEfficient said:
Ah. What if I was to put a box of some sort into the soil, and filled that with compost? Or would the weedkiller permeate into the new compost?
If the soil in the box (eg a planter) was separate from the 'poisoned' soil it would work.What do you want to achieve? What is between the plants in your plans?
Planters could work then - just dig trench, pop planter in, then compost and seeds of whatever Woman decides are prettiest, then. Ta mate!
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