Weed control on a new grass area?

[Naga]

I've got a part of the garden I would like to lay some grass seed down on but the area is prone to a lot off weed growth, what I was gonna do is take all the weeds off and then take about 5 inches or so off the top and pop some plastic bin liners down and then pop some topsoil down then but I thought I might just be wasting time and money as weeds will probably grow any way, would would be the best way to keep these weeds to a minimum (excluding de-weeding as needed)?

[cheery tree]

hi i tried that only i put stones on top and i still get a couple of weeds coming through i would try taking out as many roots and then tried bin liners leave them doubled its worth a try

[Two_Sheds]

Not binliners, no.

What you need to do is prepare the ground (level, rake etc).
then leave it for a week or so. Let all the weeds germinate. Let them grow for a couple of weeks.
Then hoe them off.

then sow your grass seed. Autumn is the best time to sow, so this is a great time to prepare your ground thoroughly.


There are millions of weed seeds in your soil. They will germinate if they are 'shown the light', ie brought to the surface and get daylight. That is why constant digging and faffing with the soil brings loads of weeds. If you don't disturb the soil, those buried seeds won't germinate.

[Two_Sheds]

I'm assuming you have just annual weeds?

If it's perennial stuff like bindweed and thistles, you need to dig them all out first.

[Naga]

There are thistles in the mix as well, thanks for the advice I will take it all onboard!

[gadgetman]

Yup, I'm in the long wait until autumn myself after levelling the garden. Every week I find another area that's dropped, so the fun starts again.

At least by autumn it should be 100% level! :rofl:

I'm following advice at Preparing the soil for a new lawn