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[ROMhack]

So, I just did a spot of de-weeding in my garden and would like to know how to stop these critters coming back quickly?

I'm thinking:

- A shovel to get the roots
- Some root killer or approx (will bleach work?)
- A whole heap of masculinity

Now, I have at least one of these three (I'll let you figure out which) but is there any thing else I need?

 

[ThatStupidLion]

Topical sprays, ground fertilizers, digging out roots by hand, installing a ground cover fabric, adding a thick top layer of mulching/pinestrawing/woodchipping


Weeds are the bane of my yard and garden life

 

[Tesseract]

shovel, gloves

rip and tear

 

[DogofWar]

rip and tear

Until it's done!

 

[StreetsofBeige]

My grass is so so. But my bro has meticulous grass like it's a golf course.

His tip to me is simple. As soon as you see weeds, pick them out. In Canada, we don't have weed killer as powerful as US stuff (banned), but its doable.

As for grass, weeds and stringy plants growing between your patio stones and walkways what's happening is there is enough space and nutrients for seedlings to grow in cracks. Yanking them out might work, but if there's enough seeds in the crack it'll just come back later.

What you got to do is pick them out and reset any crooked patio stones. You got to clear out best you can the dirt/soil/grit in those cracks and refill those cracks with different kinds of sand which prevents small plants from growing. It basically suffocates them out and prevents nutrients and bits of dirt getting in the cracks which can grow stuff.

And every year, spread some new sand in those cracks because weather and rain will slowly wash it away over time.

 

[Escoe P. Coldchain]

Persistence, also gardening in the evening or even the night is a game changer.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Depends on whether you're willing to use chemicals or not. Digging them out is very effective but most people are too lazy. I usually spend a sum of 1 hr in my yard pulling weeds for a day or two. Then I never get any dandelion outbreaks all spring/summer.

Are the beds for edible food or just flowers? If you just have flower beds, I say use the chemicals if you want to. Don't use any chemicals in any food beds, ever.

However, it doesn't solve your weed problem. Weeds are taking advantage of stressed soil conditions. A thick lawn of grass / a thick layer of mulch will help prevent 90% of weeds. Even when I worked at TruGreen that is what we were trained to tell customers: get the grass healthy and we won't need to spray for weeds as frequently.

So in my opinion the objective should be improving the soil and the ground-cover, not fighting off weeds constantly. Dress the top of your bed with a thin layer of woodchips, compost, hydrated peat moss, etc after you weed. Repeat every weekend for a month, weeding and adding a bit more mulch/top-layer. After a few weeks the bed will be weed-free and very healthy.

Experience: previous TruGreen employee and amateur home gardener.

 

[DESTROYA]

Get on your knees and rip those fuckers out of the ground.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

One thing too that never really worked as was a waste of money is buying those sprays to kill plants and weeds in cracks.

It does kill it. The vegetation dries up brown and break ups.... BUT the shit just grows back. You still got to yank it out for better results.

So for any of you who see those $10 bottles of spray at Home Depot thinking you can just spray it and you're done, you'll be screwed as the stuff will grow back in a few weeks.

Maybe it does work if you soak the plants down to the root, but when you're spraying cracks, it's pretty hard to do that unless you dump your whole bottle on it.

 

[GymWolf]

I just call a couple of gardeners...

 

[ROMhack]

I just call a couple of gardeners...

I'm too cheap. Plus the house is rented so I'm mainly looking for a half arsed solution as I might not be here next year.

 

[Blade2.0]

I'm too cheap. Plus the house is rented so I'm mainly looking for a half arsed solution as I might not be here next year.

Then don't give a shit about them...? They aren't your problem if you're renting.

 

[G-Bus]

Having a straight grass yard isn't nice for bees or the environment in general.

Let those flowering weeds grow dude.

 

[Insane Metal]

I need to shave too

 

[TheContact]

What I've found the most effective way to eliminate weeds is via Tarping. Basically, you lay a sheet of plastic over the areas where you DON'T want anything to grow, and cut out areas where you want your plants/flowers to grow. Not only does it prevent weeds from growing, it's apparently good for the habitat of the garden as well.

Here's one article talking about it:

Can You Lay Black Plastic Directly Over Current Weeds to Kill Them?

Smothering weeds is a thankless chore, but using black plastic for weed control keeps the...

homeguides.sfgate.com

(Don't take my advise alone because I have very little knowledge about gardens. This is just what I've done in my own personal experience and had good results with it.)

 

[Jesus Carbomb]

I use a weed pre-emergent for my lawn to keep them in control throughout the growing season. Maybe give something like this a try.

It won’t kill the mature weeds that are already growing, but it will prevent the seeds that are in your soil from germinating. You have to be consistent with the reapplication, keep a note on your phone as a reminder or write down on a calendar the days you’ll need to reapply and stick to the schedule.

 

[Caffeine]

rip them out destroy their very existence.

 

[ROMhack]

Then don't give a shit about them...? They aren't your problem if you're renting.

True but I'm bored in lockdown

 

[Newly Vacant]

The best advice I have for weeds in the garden is to regularly pull them out. Every day, when my wife or I water our garden, we pull out whatever weeds have started to grow. As long as you keep up, it's pretty easy.

As far as the driveway, or sidewalk, burn them out. By far, the most fun I've had weeding has been burning them out with a torch. Get a propane torch kit and cackle as you burn away the weeds.

 

[Tesseract]

you ever rip out weeds on weed, bruh