Weeds, weeds and weeds

ted1

Greetings kind folk of the gardening world.

looking for some advice, i've just purchased a houe and the garden has being neglected for some time. the result is that it's basically weeds and nettles.

The size of the garden is 40ft*20ft. I've two little girls who woudl like to play out there, so for the moment I just want to cover it with grass.

whats the beast and fastest way to get rid of the weeds and nettles and grow grass.

heres my thoughts:

spread roundup, wait 6 weeks, fork the soil, throw down seed.

I get the keys on Thursday, so it would be end of Augest before its useable if my method works.

what would you folks recomend, If i got rolled out lawn do i still need to use round up? what sthe fastest way of gettign the ground prepped? petrol and a a match?

thanks,

bbam

Is there no chance that a good going over with a "weed and feed" would do the trick.
If you kill off the weeds, feed it and mow regularly you'll be supprised how well it could be recovered and tough enough for kids to play on much sooner.

Draupnir

Firstly, get a decent rake and drag / beat all the nettles and large weeds out of it. Get it to the stage where you've got ground weeds only. The kind of thing you could mow over but obviously is not a lawn. A flatish, weeded garden is a good start point.

I wouldn't go to the extreme of roundup myself, I'd buy a decent selective weedkiller for broad leaf weeds and spray the whole lot well.

Next day, I'd hire a scarifier from a tool hire place and give the whole area a serious going over. This should open up all of the soil and get you good conditions to get your seed down. Get grass seed down in large quantities. Water well.

If you get stuck in, the whole job could be done in a weekend and realistically you'd have decent lawn within a month with the weather as it is right now. Plenty of water and meadow grass will jump out of the ground for you.

stargazer 68

Folks is there anything that can be done without seeding i.e a product to get rid of the weeds without digging up the lot and starting again?

Draupnir

You'd have to seed to some degree, no matter what you do. If you just have a lot of dandelions or clover then you could spray selective weedkiller generously and seed on top of the remaining grass but it won't give you as good a result at all.

stargazer 68

Draupnir wrote: »

You'd have to seed to some degree, no matter what you do. If you just have a lot of dandelions or clover then you could spray selective weedkiller generously and seed on top of the remaining grass but it won't give you as good a result at all.

Thanks. My house is rented so was looking for an alternative.

bbam

Dovies wrote: »

Folks is there anything that can be done without seeding i.e a product to get rid of the weeds without digging up the lot and starting again?

Definitely.
Get a weed and feed product. Keep it mowed regular and it will start to recover.
Also you don't need to dig up and rotavate to seed.

Use the weed and feed to kill off the existing weeds.
Mow the garden tight.
See can be sown directly onto the soil surface, best if you can use a rake first to open up the surface if possible.
If you can give the seed a light roll to ensure its in contact with the soil. It will start to germinate in about two weeks. Best done in march or september. Farmers use this "overseeding" technique all the time where ploughing isn't feasible.

ted1

Thanks Guys.


Can you tell me which is the best "weed and Feed" pruduct.

I think there is a scarifier in the folks house. (like a lawn mower but with spikes)

I'll do a little log with pictures , before, during and after.

redser7

Used evergreen complete in the past and found it was good.

ted1

What type of rake would you classify as a good one. the heavy metal solid rigid prongs, or the wirey springy prongs.

LK_Dave

Dovies wrote: »

Folks is there anything that can be done without seeding i.e a product to get rid of the weeds without digging up the lot and starting again?

Grazeon 90

Its a agricultural week killer to kill weeds in pasture lands. It can be expensive...I think near €100 for a litre last time I bought it. But if you know any Dairy farmers or agricultural contractors

There probably is some domestic version of it but I tend to stick with what the professionals use.

For application I cut/mow the grass and get the weeds growing again then spray, let it kill the weeds and then cut/mow the grass again. Then keep cutting the grass at about 4-5 inches off the ground.

Draupnir

There's a very good selective weedkiller called Longbow you could use, it's primarily used on football pitches and golf courses. Acts within 3/4 days to kill of almost any broad leaved weed like dandelions.

Most of the Evergreen products are a decent domestic alternative that do a bit of everything, but not usually as good.

In terms of a rake, you want something with solid tines (prongs) for beating out or raking out nettles. A springy one is more for leaves or gathering up loose cuttings. I often used a leaf rake as a rudimentary scarifier though, just drag it across grass while breaking the surface. A cheap alternative to renting a machine, excellent exercise and drags up a huge amount of thatch and moss.

redser7

"excellent exercise and drags up a huge amount of thatch and moss"

You'll have forearms like Popeye

gimmick

Do not want to start a new thread.

We have 2 flowerbeds, about 12ft by 7. I dug the 2 of them up in March as they were out of control weedwise. Had them nice and clean.

Lasted about 3 weeks, now it seems for every weed I pull up, 2 grow back twice as quick. It is driving me insane.

What is the best course of action? Dig it up and start again, or just weed weed weed?

eirator

gimmick wrote: »

Do not want to start a new thread.

We have 2 flowerbeds, about 12ft by 7. I dug the 2 of them up in March as they were out of control weedwise. Had them nice and clean.

Lasted about 3 weeks, now it seems for every weed I pull up, 2 grow back twice as quick. It is driving me insane.

What is the best course of action? Dig it up and start again, or just weed weed weed?

Nothing will stay clean unless you either weed them mulch or weed and then regularly hoe. I'd say keep weeding and hoe every week even if there are no new weeds the bits you have cleared and keep at it. But you need a good hoe and god knows where you'll find one in Ireland?

paddy147

Various garden rakes and lawn aeriators and scrapers for 10 euro each in Bargain Base.:)

Theres also Industrial strength weedkiller like Pride and Netlex Brushwood Killer that can be used to treat heavily weeded areas and scrub land.

But this stuff needs to be diluted carefully.