How to remove weeds from garden bed?

[RsmithY]

Hello,

I have a garden bed that is overrun with grass type weeds. I would like to know how to remove the weeds and to turn the garden bed into something that is a bit lower maintenance so they don't come back with a vengeance!

I would like to know what tools to use (i.e. rake or one of those stand up weeders) or whether herbicide is the best way to go (although I don't like using it). I would also like to know what I should do after the weeds are gone. 

Would planting natives in the bed help keep it a bit lower maintenance? If so, what native plants are good for that?

Your help would be greatly appreciated. 

[EricL]

Hello @RsmithY 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about your garden bed. 

If you are not keen on using chemicals in your garden, I suggest a section-by-section removal of the weeds in your garden. My best advice is to dig as deep as possible to make sure that the main root of the weed is removed. I recommend aerating the section with Saxon Lawn Aerator Sandals to open up the compacted soil. Once the garden bed is clear of the weeds, I propose levelling the soil and covering the area with weedmat.

The weedmat will need to be cut to allow space for your existing plants or those plants that you wish to keep. The weedmat will slow down the growth of weeds and prevent further addition of new ones. Once the weedmat is in place, I suggest covering it with mulch such as the Yates 50L Dynamic Lifter 4 in 1 Mulch. Unfortunately, weeds are pervasive and are very hard to keep away. My best advice is to keep vigilant and to keep weeding. 

Planting natives and drought tolerant plants will help with your goal of having a low maintenance garden.  

In regards to the tools, I suggest starting with the Saxon 3 Piece Garden Tool Set With Kneeling Pad. This lets you get up close and personal with the weeds and plants in your garden. The Saxon Steel D-Handle Garden Fork will help you break up solid compacted soil that the sandals can't penetrate. To trim and prune the existing plants in your garden I suggest investing in a good secateur. To start you off in the right direction with garden wates I propose investing in a Saxon 160L Compost Bin.

Here is a link to ideas and inspiration: Top 10 most popular garden makeovers.

Let me call on our experienced members @Noelle @mich1972 and @Nikkaz for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[R4addZ]

Hi @RsmithY 

Oh my but this is a long drawn out issue. There is an old saying, "one years seeding means seven years weeding" . My way of approaching this would be to decide whether I want to keep any of the plants. If you do, it would be easiest to transplant them (although you may take the weeds with them)! If you can't, make some frames out of anything you can (even cardboard) that you can put round the plants and then use round up. The idea of the frames is to prevent you getting roundup on plants you want to keep! If you do think there has been some overspray, you can hose down the ones you want to live as that will save them if you do it as soon as possible. Once you have killed off as much as you can, it comes down to removal by hand (use some good gardening gloves from Bunnings) . If you are going to re-mulch the area, I would recommend using a good weed mat before re- mulching!

If you don't want to keep any of the plants, wait for a predicted 24 hr without rain and hit the whole area with round up. If you aren't in a hurry, wait a month and hit it with roundup again, See the above about 7 yrs. then Dig everything out and install a good weed mat and mulch over that! This won't stop the weeds but for example, I need to do a light weeding this spring following a cleanup like this 18 months ago and it will probably be another 18 months after that that I need to do anything again! Note, my garden beds were horrendously overgrown before this then I retired and had time to do this!