Best way to clear this area?

barneyrub

Have small strip at one side of driveway. Want to get fully rid of the grass in it. There's 2 trees, 1 top and 1 bottom (not sure what they are). And a rose tree towards the top. (any advice on keeping that would be great too)


Do we have to kill off the 'grass' and whatever else is growing and then dig and cover? What's the best way to tackle it? thanks



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standardg60

Hard to tell exactly what the 'grass' is but you've a bad infestation of ground elder so unless you want your heart broken a program of spraying with a glyphosate based weedkiller is the best bet. Spray, allow to die off, see what returns and spray again. Repeat until you're sure everything is killed off. The shrubs (Hebes), and the rose won't be affected if you keep the spray off the leaves.

magicbastarder

i would suspect that's crocosmia mixed in with that too.

bottlebrush

magicbastarder wrote: »

i would suspect that's crocosmia mixed in with that too.

I agree. very difficult in my experience to kill this with weed killer. they grow from bulbs so you might be better to dig these out.

standardg60

magicbastarder wrote: »

i would suspect that's crocosmia mixed in with that too.

I wasn't that brave..i was leaning towards Hemerocallis:)

looksee

The tree that could well be a tall, straggly hebe - I couldn't figure it out, but hebe seems reasonable - isn't worth keeping. The other looks like a sad cherry or similar, which might be ok when it has a bit of breathing space, its a bit sick at the moment. I couldn't see the rose? The rest - even if you weedkiller it you have a lot of digging to do. I might be inclined to dig out the weeds then weedkiller a few weeks later when any left overs start to come through. You have all the killers there though, ground elder, scutch, buttercup, and a most spectacular dandelion. And yes, I would say montbretia/crocosmia too. Have fun!

lottpaul

I think one of the trees in a chinese lantern tree (crinodendron hookerianum) but otherwise I agree with everyone else. You'll kill most things with a few sprayings of weedkiller. The crocosmia will come back but it's easier to pull/dig them out at that stage and you'll eventually get rid of them. The rose is the small tree in the middle of the bed? I'd be inclined to cut it back to at least half it's size to encourage new growth (and maybe smaller again next spring) but it may be a little late in the year for that. Could still be done but keep it well watered etc if the warm spell continues.

magicbastarder

or, if you're of a similar bent to me, an hour or two with a garden fork - instead of using weekiller - will see most of the groundcover lifted.

RIGOLO

As someone suggested a couple of hours with a fork will get rid of most of it. 

Do you want to get rid of the everything , trees included ?  If you want everything gone , just dig it all up , dump it and lay some grass seed.
What do you want to replace the current ground cover with  ?  If you want better grass to replace it, then yes dig it and seed it. 

Its actually a nice border section , best way to control the weeds its plant some more dominant plant you want. It could look very nice with a bit of planning.

barneyrub

Thanks all,

Plenty of work in it. We've only recently purchased and the garden wasn't kept at all so lots of areas need help.

We were going to keep the trees, clear out all the ground stuff and then cover with stone or something and some low maintenance flowers/shrubs. It is a nice size area so trying to make it presentable
Rose tree?.jpeg

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peasant

I would get a loan of a powerful strimmer with thick cord and strim it all down to bare earth. Brutal, but effective. Then dig out the really big rooty things like the dandelion, cover it all with anti-weed foil and throw stones on top.

Later on then, when you have more time you can remove stone in selected areas, cut the anti-weed and plant whatever takes your fancy

standardg60

Seriously do not attempt to dig out the ground elder, it will regrow from the tiniest root fragments so you'll just spread it further. It will also continue to spread under a weed membrane and come up at the edges or through the gaps around any plants. Spraying is the only solution.

And yes both shrubs are Hebes.

barneyrub

Well sprayed the full area this morning so will see how it goes. Thanks for the help. I'll report back