How do I get rid of weeds permanently from my garden?

Question

I've used so many brands of weedkiller,,dug up the roots .and they still re appear.Any suggestions

read the question

I have dug them out

Answer 1

There are no "permanent" solutions! If you garden, you will spend much time weeding; it goes with the territory. Upside: it's great exercise, you generate compost, and when you finish, it really looks like you've accomplished something (unlike, say, housework).

First, the bad ideas:
- landscape fabric. Search previous weed questions - I answered this in detail elsewhere.
- weed killer sprays. They only kill existing weeds, it takes 2 weeks, and there's always a danger of drift onto your ornamentals.
Besides, if it's a vegetable garden you're talking about, you don't want to introduce chemicals!

Better idea:
- pre-emergents for a flower bed. They do prevent weeds from popping up for about one season.

Best ideas:
- go through your garden with a spading fork, lifting out all weeds and as much root as you can locate.
- then, either mulch heavily with newspapers covered by a layer of wood chips or bark, or
- use a cultivator or scuffle hoe to stir up the top inch or two of soil every few days. When very young weeds are disturbed in this way, they don't gain much of a foothold.

The only intent of a garden is to return to meadow as soon as your back is turned. Soils are loaded with weed seeds which live forever, and birds and wind blow in new ones. Leave a tiny bit of grass root in the ground, and sure as God made little green apples, it will try to turn into a lawn. Accept weeds. Practice Zen.

Answer 2

First off- you can never entirely eliminate weeds from the garden. They are a fact of life. Second- don't use all of these concoctions people recommend- ie bleach. These products are not labled for weed control and there is no research to back up safety and efficacy of those products. You need to identify what weeds you are dealing with- and what sort of area you are trying to control weeds in. A vegetable garden will require different controls than a lawn or a flower garden. When you decide on a control method make sure you read understand and follow the label instructions to the letter. The problem is never that the herbicide is not strong enough when diluted as instructed- it is that the applicator does not understand how to use the herbicide. Roundup is a contact killer- you can pour gallons of it on the ground and it will kill nothing. It has to contact the leaves. Treflan(Preen and other brand names) only prevents seeds from germinating- it will kill no growing weeds. If you are uncomfortable mixing herbicides buy a premix- it will cost a little more but will be mixed correctly and you have no issues with water quality reducing the effectiveness of the herbicide. Use a lot of mulch- that will improve the soil, retain moisture and control weeds. The more time you spend pulling weeds the better and the lees likely things are to get out of control.

Answer 3

you really need to remove all the roots out - its tedious work but thats the way forward.

you will loose quite a bit of soil as the roots will cling to the soil so chuck the soil away as well.

after you have removed all the roots get a few bags of horse manure and then get the WEED BLOCK sheets from B&Q or homebase and some fabric pegs.

weed block lets the rain through but not the sun. so the weeds wont grow.

mix the manure with the soil well and spread out the wee block sheets making sure you cover all areas of the garden. put the pegs about 12-15 inches apart.

leave it for 4 weeks atleast - keep checking to see if there are any weeds growing here and there - remove immediately and remove the soil that is stuck to the roots too

if you want to grow any plants, then just cut the weedblock around the are and plant there... it should grow.

weedblock has worked in my garden without using any chemicals, it cost me close to 50 quid to cover the entire garden but its worth it

good luck.

Answer 4

It kinda depends on the kind of weeds you have. Some weeds drop seeds that will keep coming back FOREVER! Other seeds can be dropped by birds, or blown in to the bed. Some weeds spread by runners under the ground, and will keep coming back till you get them all. Do you have a good layer of mulch? I suggest you go to the Ortho site, and try to find a photo of the offending weeds. I have worked in a few garden centers, I will help any way I can! I love Roundup! Just don't let it touch other things. Mix in about 1/2 tsp dish detergent in a gallon and it will work better. Put it in last to control the bubbles! Use a little more Roundup than suggested, too. Keep in touch! I love to garden!!

Answer 5

For a really low maintenance idea; try concreting the whole garden and then paining the concrete green, looks good, needs little maintenance. You can then put your flowers in tubs and spend the time you save on enjoying your garden rather than slaving in it!

If this is a bit extreme for you; try taking top layer of soil off and putting down a 'membrane' before re-instating soil and adding a bark chip or something. This won't completely stop the weeds like the concrete, but it will slow the little blighters down a bit!

Hope this helps.

Answer 6

That's gardening for you. You need to just keep weeding. Get them out by the roots as much as you can and be prepared to keep at it for a few years - eventually, your soil will start to get clear. It's not really the weeds themselves that are the problem, it's the seeds that they're sowing - so pull them out young.

If you've got a large area to clear then you could try the carpet method. Clear as much as you can then lay an old carpet over it and leave it for winter. Lack of sun should kill of most of what's there. But then you've got soggy old carpet in your garden instead!

Answer 7

there is no complete way to get rid of weeds. Even if you spray poison or dig them out, birds drop seeds, the wind carries the seed, even reseeding your lawn with grass has its problems. But what you can do to help is get a preimergent that you put on twice a year. This kills the weed before it can produce seeds and since its a granual, it lasts for months and wont kill any other part of your lawn.

Answer 8

As others have said, there is no permanency, but the more you have the more you will get, so the key is to work hard to get them down to a low level, and then remain forever vigilant. Never let a weed flower and set seed - and it's surprising how quickly and inconspiciously some of them can do this.

The kind of garden you have will affect how much trouble you have with weeds - for example any bare ground between your plants, such as in beds, will be prone to weeds. You can combat them by including attractive ground-cover plants such as fragaria, or by using weed matting, although matting isn't attractive in itself and if you cover it with organic mulch weeds will simply grow in that, either way some regular attention will still be needed.

Where beds are made up of deciduous plants often there is a good opportunity to spray a leaf-acting weedkiller (eg glyphosate) in late winter/early spring, as many weeds get going before cultivated plants. Many weeds will regenerate from fragments of roots that are left behind after pulling/digging, it can be better to let glyphosate do the job properly than risk this. What you plant makes a difference too - it's much easier to weed by hand if your plants aren't covered with thorns. To look after a bed or hedge of evergreen thorny plants like pyracantha you have to really love them!

Grassed areas are much easier, firstly because a proportion of weeds is usually tolerable, even attractive (buttercups and daisies) secondly because regular mowing kills or controls many weeds, and thirdly because weedkillers that don't kill grass are readily available, such as easily spread granules.

The number of weed seeds in your soil will reduce over a period of a few years, provided you ensure that no weeds in your garden set seed, and provided you neighbours are reasonably attentive to their gardens too.

I would like to put in a word about ragwort, of which not enough people are aware. See the link below. Ragwort is a common weed which is highly dangerous to all mammals, including people, because of the cumulative pyrrolizidine alkaloid toxins contained in all parts of the plant. It is against the law (in the UK at least) for any landowner to allow ragwort to set seed and spread, because of the risks to animals. Learn to recognise ragwort both in its first year rosette form and in its second year flowering form, and learn how to deal effectively with it. "Barrier H" is good, see www.ragwort.com. Do not handle ragwort with bare hands, use heavy rubber gloves, and if you are dealing with ragwort in flower wear a dust mask for protection against the pollen. Warn your neighbours if you see this weed on their land.

Answer 9

I pull the whole entire weed out. Including the root. Then with the spray I spray on top of that area so if the weeds try yo come back, they get killed before they reach the surface. Hope this information helps you! :-D

Answer 10

sheet mulch:
cover weed porblems areas with newspaper (no colored paper or inks), then cardboard (no white cardboard) and then a good 4-8 inch layer of cured manure or compost. come back in 6 months and plant buckwheat. buckwheat relases a chemical in the soil that inhibits weed growth. when the buckies start flowering, cut them at the base, shred, and set shreddings aside. Plant seeds, then top off with buckwheat shreddings.