Grassroots Motorsports

Register Log in to GRM
- Community

Birthdays
Recently on the Classic Motorsports forums

Subscribe get a full year for only $23.95 Sample Free Test Drive—no strings attached

Login to post Forums » Off-topic discussion » Any gardening experts here?

April 27, 2011 11:38 a.m. Klayfish Reader

I know...we're getting a late start, but that's typical in my house. My wife loves to garden, and I enjoy helping. We've gotten some great stuff out of the garden in the 2 summers we've been at the house. Problem is that before the gardening season is really over, we're completely over run by weeds. Last year it was so bad we had to pretty much abandon it.

The garden is big. I've never measured it, but I'm guessing it's 50'x50'. We grow lots of stuff. I wish we had the time to be out there hours on end pulling weeds, etc...but we don't.

Anyone know a relatively simple way that doesn't take all day to keep the weeds from taking over a large garden? Could we go and get some sheet plastic from Home Depot and cover the whole thing, only cutting holes where we plant? I'd think that'll keep weeds from growing, but will it hurt the plants?
April 27, 2011 11:41 a.m. Wally SuperDork

You are on the right track, go to Big Lots today it you have one. It's called weed cloth, and you put it down just how you are thinking. Big lots is usually about a third the price of HD/Lowes but they run out fast. Roll it out, put some rocks and stakes in it to hold it, and cut out for every plant. You will still have to weed, but it will be far less.

Edit, I'm not an expert but both my flower and veggie gardens do stay nice most of the year, and I used the men's room at a Holiday Inn Express once. Boy did they cheap out on tp, it would hardly even come off the roll.
April 27, 2011 11:47 a.m. alfadriver SuperDork

Kids.

My mom and dad never weeded the garden.
April 27, 2011 11:49 a.m. tuna55 SuperDork

I don't use anything but my hands. I till the dirt in early spring to get the roots out, again a few weeks later to get what I missed, and then just try to get out there once a week to do it more.
April 27, 2011 11:54 a.m. wearymicrobe Reader

Roundup at the beginning of the season and a hoe.

also they make this little flamethrower on a stick that you can use to kill weeds that are fresh in the ground quickly but I have no experience.
April 27, 2011 12:03 p.m. tuna55 SuperDork

wearymicrobe wrote:

Roundup at the beginning of the season and a hoe.

also they make this little flamethrower on a stick that you can use to kill weeds that are fresh in the ground quickly but I have no experience.

Just a note, I won't put anything on/in my garden that I wouldn't eat or drink (other than seeds and a trellis or two, and dirt)
April 27, 2011 12:07 p.m. BoxheadTim SuperDork

alfadriver wrote:

Kids.

My mom and dad never weeded the garden.

Y'know, weed cloth might be cheaper in the long run.
April 27, 2011 12:08 p.m. 1988RedT2 Dork

Mulch, mulch, mulch. Mucho mulcho.
April 27, 2011 12:09 p.m. Wally SuperDork

tuna55 wrote:

wearymicrobe wrote:

Roundup at the beginning of the season and a hoe.

also they make this little flamethrower on a stick that you can use to kill weeds that are fresh in the ground quickly but I have no experience.

Just a note, I won't put anything on/in my garden that I wouldn't eat or drink (other than seeds and a trellis or two, and dirt)

Is that why the gnomes look nervous?
April 27, 2011 12:09 p.m. alfadriver SuperDork

BoxheadTim wrote:

alfadriver wrote:

Kids.

My mom and dad never weeded the garden.

Y'know, weed cloth might be cheaper in the long run.

Well, if you already have one, well. Teach 'em a lesson. I still have not figured out what that lesson was, though.

On a serious suggestion- what about high density planting?
April 27, 2011 12:10 p.m. bludroptop SuperDork

The local strawberry farmers use black plastic - I've never tried it.

Weeds will eventually grow on TOP of the weed cloth. I have a small section of lawn that is indistinguishable from the rest - only Mrs. BDT and I know that there are two layers of weed cloth just below the surface.

My point is that you may slow the growth of weeds, but you won't stop them. We've also used layers of newspaper covered with mulch with some success.

Not sure if I'd use Roundup in a vegetable garden. May be perfectly safe, but I'm funny that way.

50'x50' is huge!
April 27, 2011 12:14 p.m. tuna55 SuperDork

Wally wrote:

tuna55 wrote:

wearymicrobe wrote:

Roundup at the beginning of the season and a hoe.

also they make this little flamethrower on a stick that you can use to kill weeds that are fresh in the ground quickly but I have no experience.

Just a note, I won't put anything on/in my garden that I wouldn't eat or drink (other than seeds and a trellis or two, and dirt)

Is that why the gnomes look nervous?

I had some yummy gnomes there for a while
April 27, 2011 12:22 p.m. Marjorie Suddard General Manager

Newspapers. Layer old newspapers on top of the soil, mulch over that. It blocks weeds, helps hold moisture, and biodegrades beautifully (you put down a new layer at the start of each season).

Price is right, too.

Margie
April 27, 2011 12:22 p.m. T.J. SuperDork

My garden is tiny compared to yours. Think 2 4x8 ft raised beds and three containers with potatoes in them. So far no weed issues, but I started with good soil. I put weed blocker fabric under my beds. Made the beds out of 2x6s. Can't imagine all the food and work involved in a 50x50 ft garden. I wouldn't have time for that either.
April 27, 2011 12:27 p.m. Klayfish Reader

Yeah, the garden is pretty big. Our last house was on a 1/2 acre plot, so we had the typical suburban family garden...maybe 10x6. But we now have 3.5 acres, so we decided to go big. It's awesome though. We get great stuff. Last year we had lettuce, brocolli, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, green beans, zuchinni, strawberries, cantelope, watermelon, sunflowers and a few other things I'm forgetting.

I've got 3 kids...they'll eat the proceeds from the garden, but weeding...not so much. They're too little yet. We try our best to get outside to weed as much as possible, but with the garden that big, it takes forever and they grow real fast. We don't tend to use much in the way of weed killer or other chemicals. The ground is real fertile, so stuff grows on it's own.

I know we're going to get some weeds no matter what we do. But we want to prevent it from taking over everything.
April 27, 2011 12:34 p.m. spitfirebill SuperDork

Having had gardens off and on over they years, the best way to deal with weeds is you need to work in the garden EVERY DAY. If you start off with the weed blocking material and/or use mulch, you will be way ahead of the game. Dupont is making a cellulose based weed block that you till in at the end of the season.

But I used to be in the ag-chem business and I love the smell of some pesticides in the morning.
April 27, 2011 1:11 p.m. MitchellC Dork

If you plant early, and in high density, the plants you want to grow will grow taller faster than the weeds will, and they will shade the ground underneath them.

Whatever you do, don't let weeds go to seed. Many weeds are capable of producing thousands of seeds per plant, and the seeds can go dormant for years. If you till, you will flip new seeds a few inches down, and bring older seeds back to the surface.

You'll need to log in to post.