How to prevent weeds?

[BeardyMcWhisky]

Hi guys - def not a green thumb here.

Moved into our new house in Jan - and before we moved in, the property managers send someone over to "slash" the lawn/gardens as they were heavily overgrown. In doing so, they have spread weeds pretty much everywhere. Its been a battle nearly every weekend to try and get them down, and down for anything longer than another week or two.

We have our front garden that I completely dug out and disposed of the bad dirt/construction rubble that was left in there and replaced it with new top soil, filled it with broms and was looking amazing for about 3 weeks before the weeds took over again. Cost me over a grand to get everything looking as nice as it was, but its overrun again already.

The side paths are both pebble paths over a woven plastic base - and the weeds appear to be growing on top of that - so theyre easy to pull and remove - but they just keep coming back within a week or two.

At this stage, I spend most weekends just weeding, and its killing me - keen to get some advice on some more long term solutions!

Any advice would be appreciated!

[BeardyMcWhisky]

Possibly worth noting that its been raining fairly constantly for the past 3 weeks - so the weeds have taken off like crazy!

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi  @BeardyMcWhisky 

Yes  the weeds   have sown there  seeds and will keep sprouting up.

I would keep weed  spraying  down the sides it is the  quickest solution as you will need  to keep doing it. And  weeds popping up from under the  high up fence hit them too. Maybye   cement or  pave down the sides to bloc k some weeds later?

As per  your bomiliades placing  mulch on top of the weeds might slow them  down pull out the  biggest ones as you  go then  pulling out almost  daily any new pop up weeds while  they are small and easy to manage.  a Good mulch is "Whoflungdung"  Bunnings it helps keep weeds  down but only a  near  daily scout and 2 min quick  hand  weed is the best  bet as  you have grasses invaiding there too as you know.

Sorry  no  easy  solution.

[BeardyMcWhisky]

Thanks for that - yeah I assumed there was not going to be an easy way. I got some weed matting along with the mulch, and will paint some of the spread out weeds with weedkiller before covering them in the mat and mulch, and keep an eye out on new guys.

Thanks for your reply.

[Jewelleryrescue]

For the sides of your house a roll of black plastic over the path and held down will kill the weeds and should cook the seeds too.

But the weeds  above may just re seed the lower area later.

I  cut cement fibre panels along the bottom of my fence to block next door weeds seeds and then pulled out all the current weeds as  they  where growing into  our garden bed daily  this worked  quite well.

You  might need to lift up the  bromiliades and lay weed mat over the garden bed  ( I want to use  black plastic there too but  weed mat allows water through  but bromiliads  collect there own water so whats  best?) abed of mulch will help  here .  Some people lay pebble down but that can reflect heat up at the plants on a hot  day which is ok for cactus.

Sorry no  easy solutions.

[JacobZ]

Hi @BeardyMcWhisky,

A warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community.

Weeds are a pain, especially in Summer when the heat and rain make them seemingly impossible to deal with. Unfortunately, there is no "quick fix", rather a combination of things will make it easier over time.

Manual removal is often the most effective but can be a killer on the back and knees. Long-handled weeding tools like the Cyclone Extract Weeder or the Fiskars 4 Prongs Xact Weed Puller are great for easing the strain on your body and are definitely worth the investment.

With the garden beds and side path, I'd suggest using a glyphosate-based herbicide such as Yates Zero or Roundup Total. They are extremely effective herbicides that will kill the weeds down to their roots to prevent them from reemerging from the same root system. Ensure you follow the manufacturer's advised mixing ratio closely and take all advised safety precautions including gloves, long protective clothing and a mask.

Use them sparingly and only apply them directly to the weeds you want to kill as they can and will kill all other plants around them. Only apply them when no rain is expected as runoff can kill the surrounding plants. You can use a Yates Zero Weeding Herbicide Applicator Brush to paint the mixture directly on the leaf of the weeds.

Once the weeds in the garden bed have been knocked back, as @Jewelleryrescue has mentioned, mulch will help suppress the weeds growth, so this is definitely worth doing. 

For any lawn weeds, you can use a Weed n Feed product, but note that buffalo lawns will require buffalo-specific products such as this Yates 2.4L BuffaloPro Weed 'N' Feed Hose On Weed Killer.

Once lawn weeds have been knocked back, Lawn Solutions Australia 3kg Oxafert Herbicide And Fertiliser is a pre-emergent herbicide. This means it will take action on weeds before they can germinate. This product is definitely worth considering for long-term lawn health.

Check out How To Weed Your Lawn and How To Kill Weeds Without Chemicals for some further guidance.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob