Help needed please!

[Mucca]

Hi,

I have a large garden that before I moved in was used to grow lots of fruit/veg. I neglected it and now own a garden that is over run with so many weeds and nettles. I am completely over whelmed and don't know where to start to clear the garden of weeds and the nettles are horrendous!

Does anyone have any ideas of where I might start and how to aviod the nettles/weeds growing back with vengeance!!

Any tips would be greatly appreciated

[WendyC]

If if was me I'd strim off all the top growth, rake it up and start a compost heap. Then cover the weeds with either thick landscape fabric or cardboard. You can plant through both. Or use it to smother the weeds and uncover and dig a bit at a time. There are lots of threads about reclaiming neglected allotments which will add more detail.
Don't be tempted to rotavate your nettles you will simply propagate them by chopping them up.

[dim]

use roundup weedkiller .... spray the weeds in the late afternoon as the sun is setting and make sure it does not rain that night

after 10 days, they will start to die .... you may need to spray twice

[darcyvuqua]

use roundup weedkiller .... spray the weeds in the late afternoon as the sun is setting and make sure it does not rain that night

after 10 days, they will start to die .... you may need to spray twice

Why use round up!!!
You can achieve the same goal with a little hard work without using something that harmful!

[dim]

Why use round up!!!
You can achieve the same goal with a little hard work without using something that harmful!

because many people dont like hard work (or dont have the time to do 'hard work') .... I'm a full time gardener/landscaper, and I speak from experience

I don't like using chemicals, but sometimes, one has to, (if one wants a proper job done quick) .... and the OP sounds pretty desperate to sort it fast .... she is dealing with some of the nastiest weeds in the UK

[darcyvuqua]

because many people dont like hard work (or dont have the time to do 'hard work') .... I'm a full time gardener/landscaper, and I speak from experience

I don't like using chemicals, but sometimes, one has to, (if one wants a proper job done quick) .... and the OP sounds pretty desperate to sort it fast .... she is dealing with some of the nastiest weeds in the UK

The op said she just want to control the weeds therefor the quickest method is to strim and cover digging in chunks then there is no 8 hours of straight digging manageable chunks at times that suit I'm a novice but would/will stay well clear of roundup!

[veggiechicken]

she is dealing with some of the nastiest weeds in the UK

I can think of far worse weeds than nettles - they're pussycats compared to some.
Mucca, a stout pair of gloves and a garden fork and you can dig/pull nettles out quite easily as long as the soil isn't too dry when the roots will snap. Cover everything with cardboard (try bike shops for big boxes) and uncover it bit by bit. Don't be overwhelmed by it, just take it piece by piece. You'll get there, I promise you and it will be far more satisfying that squirting it with weedkiller.
Welcome to the Grapevine

[dim]

I can think of far worse weeds than nettles - they're pussycats compared to some.
Mucca, a stout pair of gloves and a garden fork and you can dig/pull nettles out quite easily as long as the soil isn't too dry when the roots will snap. Cover everything with cardboard (try bike shops for big boxes) and uncover it bit by bit. Don't be overwhelmed by it, just take it piece by piece. You'll get there, I promise you and it will be far more satisfying that squirting it with weedkiller.
Welcome to the Grapevine

suppose that it's 'different strokes for different folks'.... if you have a few weeds, your method is fine ....

however, if you have 200 square meters of nettles and bindweed to deal with, then good luck using your 'cardboard' method ...

I'm a 'practical' sort of guy ... always in a hurry ....

and I often get called out to deal with gardens of council houses that have weeds .... tall weeds (sometimes as tall as me) covering the whole garden .... they want 'fast' results and if I were to use cardboard, I'd change proffession

[Mucca]

Thank you for all your responses, is appreciated and will begin to tackle the jungle tomorrow!

[dim]

Thank you for all your responses, is appreciated and will begin to tackle the jungle tomorrow!

good luck, and I just hope that you don't have to go begging and knocking on doors for cardboard and end up getting a nickname of 'cardboard Mucca'

[veggiechicken]

Good luck from me too, Mucca
Take a few photos of your garden now, its its weedy state, and take some more as you clear bits. Its such an incentive when you can look back and see what it was like at the start and how much you've achieved!

[darcyvuqua]

The best advice I can give is that its a marathon not a sprint if its your own garden then its even easier as you can dig for 30 mins a day I can understand people using roundup if there in a rush to move tenants in or whatever but if you want a decent lawn or veg patch then organic/hard work is best for the soil and possible returns!
This is what I took on late last year a week or so before surgery

This is what I have today well pic was taken yesterday

But whatever you decide good luck and don't give up

[WendyC]

Round up kills the weeds but doesn't make them disappear. They still need digging out! In the end it's personal preference.

[Feral007]

Oh well I guess that's why they call me the Feral Cardboard Woman

I've got 90 acres - not all of it is under cardboard...........wish it was tho! We are reclaiming paddock for a food forest. We've got some of the best (worst) weeds known to man. Cardboard is actually the easiest and fastest way of dealing with it in my experience.

Have a good look on here Mucca with the words weeds, raised beds, no dig gardening, that sort of thing. You'll get a lot of stuff to read. There are people who do like digging. And good luck to them. But if I had to dig all our area I would be on medication for a bad back.

You'll find those that don't have the physical strength or the time, often use cardboard to suppress the weeds. As WendyC said - strim or mow the weeds to shorten them. Put down overlapping cardboard, put something heavy on top to keep it down and dark. After a short time you can lift a bit of cardboard and see if the weeds look dead? If they are you can decide whether you need to put them out/dig them out - if they are couch grass or horsetail. If not then another choice.

Do you want to plant thru the cardboard - so the cardboard is the mulch? Or do you want to lift that bit of cardboard dig/weed/plant/mulch. Small section done. Enjoy the feeling. Then take up another piece.

One of the biggest issues is that when you cover with cardboard - you do not have to plant out the whole area at once, or find that the weeds are back. You're basically putting the whole lot on hold, so it doesn't continue to go wild, and overwhelm you. Bet you'd be surpised to find how much of a relief it is to see it all gone - under the cardboard.

Dim I appreciate that you find roundup useful in your job. But there are many ways of doing things. And as opposed to a paid job where the clients might want to see the weeds dead and it all planted up and mulched in a day or a week, on here a lot of us are happy to take it slowly, and get the same result over a period of time. Mucca didn't actually say he had a lot of time to dig over the sprayed garden or a lot of money to replant and mulch all at the same time.

[dim]

Oh well I guess that's why they call me the Feral Cardboard Woman

I've got 90 acres - not all of it is under cardboard...........wish it was tho!

Dim I appreciate that you find roundup useful in your job. But there are many ways of doing things. And as opposed to a paid job where the clients might want to see the weeds dead and it all planted up and mulched in a day or a week, on here a lot of us are happy to take it slowly, and get the same result over a period of time. Mucca didn't actually say he had a lot of time to dig over the sprayed garden or a lot of money to replant and mulch all at the same time.

point taken ... but here is my latest job .... the garden is approx 300 square meters and the back garden is/was smothered in bindweed and ivy .... I have to clear the area (I'm finding rusted bicycles, car batteries, car tyres and even carpets) .... I have to clear, rotivate, prepare the soil and seed a lawn, .... and in a few months time, I have to create borders ....

so, I do it as quick as I can as the client wants it pronto .... I don't have time to lay cardboard, and its cheaper buying decent weedkiller, and then spraying .... wait 15 days, spray again, wait, clear, then start the work

the weedkiller does not contaminate the soil, (or so the label says) ....and it kills the weeds and the roots ...

if I have to seed a lawn, and the weeds are not properly eradicated, there will be major problems, as I cannot mow the lawn for a long time until it is established .... I also cannot use weedkiller (lawn weed and feed) for at least 6 months, as it will kill the new lawn ...

make no mistake, I am anti Monsanto, and anti GM food ..... I dont even use miracle gro, and I fertilize all my plants and veg with organic nutrients such as seaweed extract, bat guano, actively aerated compost tea, worm humis, fish hydrolosate etc .... I do however use chemical fertilizers for lawns such as Scotts lawn conditioner etc .... (I drug the lawns and keep them dark green)

but sometimes, one has to have the attitude of 'no more mr nice guy' ..... especially when I do gardening and landscaping for a living .... I dont have time to lay cardboard and wait

here are the pics .... I have just recently added the 2nd application of weekiller:

http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/4250/latestback2.jpg

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/1046/latestback3.jpg

and if you think thats bad, you should see the front garden