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killing the grass
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Posted by never2busy2playnyard 5 (My Page) on Mon, May 28, 07 at 16:04
| I just expanded a new bed. I did the best I could in terms of shoveling up the grass, but it is hard because I don't want to trample the roses and other flowers that are already there. Most of the grass appears to be dead now. Can I go ahead and put down a weed fabric? The grass won't grow through that, will it? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: killing the grass
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| don't know what kind of grass you're battling, but if it's Bermuda, it's very very tough. If it were mine, I'd try a modified lasagna-gardening technique. Lay down several layers of cardboard between your plants & cover with mulch. Cardboard will eventually decompose & add carbon to the soil, but it takes some time, & the grass won't be able to get sunlight during the process. If you see a stray blade of grass, squirt it with straight vinegar, 9% or 10% pickling strength if you can find it. I've gotten it at HEB grocery stores for about $3 or so a gallon, but you can usually find it at organic nurseries. Best luck! |
RE: killing the grass
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| I agree sylviatexas, don't shovel, use the green material covered with brown-paper cardboard, sacks what ever you have ( I always remove packing tape and lables etc. Just lay what you have right on the grass/weeds, water to soak down, then cover with alfalfa, hay, straw or what ever mulch you have. Nature and Worms will do all the work for you. Clover on top will add even more to the mix. |
RE: killing the grass
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| I really don't like weed fabric and I am in the nursery business. It is just another petroleum based item we think we need. Yes, weeds can grow through it. A weed can heave up a macadam driveway, so weed fabric is just a temporary fix. We don't usually mulch in our flower beds, either and we have three acres of display gardens. We plant suitable ground cover and it keeps the soil under specimen plants moist and habitable. |
RE: killing the grass
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| Weed Block is the single WORST gardening mistake I have ever made. The bermuda grass grew up through it, along the top and rooted down through it, and 3 years later, I'm still trying to get rid of it (the weed block) I am trying to go back to just using ground cover plants. |
RE: killing the grass
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- Posted by dicot Los Angeles (My Page) on
Tue, Aug 7, 07 at 16:43
| A teakettle full of boiling water can kill a lot of weeds, but it will sterilize the soil beneath it too. I use it in problem areas, like sidewalk cracks and borders with bricks/stone I dont want to pull up. |
RE: killing the grass
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My grass remedy:
Douse with "pickling-strength" vinegar, then use cardboard or layers of newspaper instead of weed barrier. My grass ate that stupid weed barrier cloth (put down by a previous homeowner, not me!) and I ended up digging it out for years--it came up in chunks and looked like trash in my beds! grrr... Vicky's blog! |
RE: killing the grass
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| I've come to dislike weed fabric as well. Without the weed fabric you can dig out or hoe out a weed. With the fabric you wind up having to yank the top off of the weed daily since the fabric tends to protect the roots from being pulled up. Weed fabric also tends to get hung up in forks, shovels, hoes, rakes, and watch out if you catch it with the mower. About the only place I might concider using weed barrier ever again would be in a pathway where weed killer gets used instead of pulling the weeds. Since I hate strong chemicals, that will be no where around my house. |
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