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The last 3 years the weeds have horrible in our garden. My brother in law has a weed free garden. He uses roundup a couple weeks before planting. Not sure i want to go this route. Weighing against a propane weed torch. Area is 100' x 50'. Thoughts? Experience with either in the garden?
I usually use 24d
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I HATE the thought of chemicals in my garden too!!! You have to be careful when flame weeding and not get it anywhere close to plants you want to live. It will wilt and kill them too!!! This is probably a better option to do before planting when the weeds are just starting to germinate and grow. Keep in mind the flame weeding will not kill the root of established plants. Will take multiple burns. But it is a good option but it has it's time and place. Have you researched silage tarps any? I think this is my next option to try.
Silage Tarp | Farmers Friend
We use vinegar or hand pull..
Black plastic over the area for a few weeks will do the trick. No sunlight and NOTHING grows.
Haha...that image in my mind is great. The garden is at my 80yo mother's house. She is deathly afraid of snakes and they love to stay under the plastic and straw.[emoji1]Quote:
Originally Posted by Craphac
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Well, I've been gardening for more decades than I care to admit. Mainly vegetables of many varieties. Back in the 70's, I read an article by Ruth Stout (long since passed) on "Mulch Gardening". Subsequently, I bought her book and have been using mulch year round on my vegetable and rose gardens for many years. Less need to water as frequently and the natural decomposition occurring beneath the mulch adds nutrients to the soil. And you can say goodbye to weeds forever!
Using mulch creates a self pepetuating ecosystem within the garden soil that requires less chemical fertilizers (if any) as well a facilitating bug deterrent. The crop yield is many times better (in my opinion) than in the old days with 5-10-5 chemical feedings. I use regular feed hay for this purpose. Yeah, some farms sell "mulch" hay, but I don't like the looks of it as well as regular hay. That's just me. Know this: Mulch gardening works!
Crestliner... i agree with you regarding mulch. My mother would never step foot in the garden with mulch. Several years ago a snake 2 was in the mulch and scared her. She jumped, fell and tore her rotator cuff requiring surgery. No sir. Mulch not allowed anymore.
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I sold agricultural chemicals for almost 40 years and I chop and pull mine. Too many varieties for one pre or post herbicide. The trick to keeping it clean is do
a little every day or two and not let it get ahead of you. Crestliner is right about the mulch but you often bring in a lot of foreign seed with it.
That's the best part of a heavy mulch......seeds cannot generate from underneath it, foreign or otherwise. That's a fact, born out though many decades of gardening. Never had that issue. Snug the mulch up to the base of your plants and stop worrying. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by stormcloud
As far as snakes go, they are indicators that the ecosystem is in balance. Garden snakes are totally harmless. Education is the key to success in every human endeavor.
Roundup before you plant to kill all that is up will not hurt anything. The again after the garden is finished in the fall if you have any weeds present at that time. Over a period of time you will considerably cut down on the seed you have by killing root.
Get one of these, it's all I use and I can keep my garden as clean as the one in the following video. It's a push pull action somewhat like a hula hoe but ten times better. I carry mine to the garden on every trip and always find a few weeds that need some TLC. it only takes a few minutes to slide it along the edge of plants and you're done. It's called a Hook and Crook. Check out the video.
"gene"
YouTube
That’s very similar to the stirrup hoe. I have the one from Johnny seeds and it’s nice. But when the weeds get big or carried away it’s a lost cause. Like you said though if you always do some it’s easier, just don’t get busy and miss a couple days....lol.
https://youtu.be/q6w-UteF9Z4
This will be my 3rd year in a row using 5 oz. Dewitt black landscape fabric in the garden & I can't recommend it enough. I fertilize/lime & till the garden up good initially and don't have to do it again for the rest of the year. It comes in 3ft or 4ft widths. After each season I have pulled & rolled it up for the next year. The only weeds you will have is what sprouts right at the base of each vegetable plant. Last year I mulched each plant with old newspaper. Between the rows covered in the fabric & the newspaper mulch I had very few weeds. And you can walk thru the garden even during a rain & not get muddy. I'm hoping to get several years out of it before replacing. Now if I can get rid of the deer & raccoon issues I'll be doing good. Looking forward to another gardening season as it's currently snowing outside my window.
I round up in fall and in spring before planting, wait a couple of days and plant.
Here is my recipe for keeping the weeds at bay:
I have broken the recipe down into smaller amounts, so you do not have to make the full gallon.
All of the ingredients used are not harmful to the environment.
Vinegar is a desiccant, which will dry out plant material
Epson Salts is also a desiccant.
Dawn Dish soap is used as a surfactant to help keep the solution in contact with the leaves.
I get the white distilled vinegar from Walmart Great Value 1 gallon size.
Epson Salts from Walmart I believe 8 pound bag, about $5.00. In the personal health section.
I use the Great Value dish soap, blue, just about the same as the Dawn soap.
I have broken down the recipe into smaller proportions, so you do not have to go out and try the gallon until comfortable using.
It will kill anything you spray it on. Just mix and spray in the morning, After the dew has evaporated. Walk away. Go back after diner and the weeds are all gone.
Cheaper than anything you can buy anywhere. Never buy Round-up again.
Annoy Monsanto
1 gallon of vinegar
2 cups Epson salts
¼ cup dawn dish soap
½ gal of vinegar 1 cup Epson salts
1/8 cup 1 cup [US] = 16 Tablespoon [US] = 2 tablespoon dawn dish soap
¼ gal (1 quart, or 4 cups = 1 quart) of vinegar
½ cup Epson salts
1/16 cup 1 cup [US] = 16 Tablespoon [US] = 1 tablespoon dawn dish soap
2 cups of vinegar
¼ cup Epson salts
1/32 cup 1 cup [US] = 16 Tablespoon [US] = ½ tablespoon dawn dish soap
With the wife's health issues she is not a fan of any chemicals in the garden. I read somewhere awhile back, (I think Mother Earth News) to quit disturbing the entire soil bed to plant, just do the area your planting as this will keep the weed seeds that are buried in the ground from being disturbed and germinating.
I went to raised beds five years ago to ease the weeding and planting. I made six of them 4 x 8. Amazing how much you can get in them. Now it's just the wife and I so last year I pulled up two of them and used the lumber to extend the height of other four, even less stooping. :ThumbsUp
There is plenty of room to walk around them and once or twice a week I run the hoe around them or hand pick what weeds do come up in ten minutes I'm done.
What flycaster said works great. I can attest to that, we use table salt over Epsom salts generally. Epsom salt can also be a low grade fertilizer..
I use what flycaster said, works great