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Weed-heaven patch of ground at side of house....

3 years ago

We have a patch of land at the side of our house (see pictures) it's 3m x 8m and is currently useless space which we drag the bins past once a week.

Where do I even start with sorting this out? and once the weeds are cleared (how to do that?) then what do I do with it once the weeds are gone?! Was thinking simply putting turf down (will the weeds grow through the turf?) with a thin border of easy to maintain plants? or raised beds?

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Comments (4)

Sonia
3 years ago
It would make a fabulous flower border, but it depends how much maintenance you are happy to do. If you fill a border completely so no soil shows, this will help keep weeds down. To get rid of the weeds you could dig it over with a garden fork, removing the weeds as you go. A lot of people now use weed flame guns which burn the weeds. Another option is weedkiller but it is horrendous stuff that kills all nature’s mini beasts as well as the weeds so best as a last resort. I’ll be honest you won’t ever kill all the weeds, it’s an ongoing issue. A lot of weeds, like dandelions, air born so they fly in the air and land on soil and then grow. Turf is an option if you don’t mind cutting it each week. Weeds will grow through turf so you still need to remove the weeds before turfing. My last idea is to sow a flower meadow. You can sow seeds or buy meadow turf on a roll and lay that.
Helen Atkinson
Original Author
3 years ago
The wildflower meadow is such a lovely idea!
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Carolina
3 years ago
Have you identified the plants that are there?

You can fork it over and take out the weeds as you go (as Sonia said), which is quite therapeutic to do I think, and then cover the area with black plastic, put a couple of pavers on it to keep the plastic in its place and let it sit for a couple of months. Ideally about 6 months and then it'll be a lovely bit of soil that will be weed free.

It's effective, but not pretty.

If you're willing to do some work in the garden, you can make it lovely. More is more in this case. Let plants cover the soil (after you've weeded) and you will get less weeds. Depending on how sunny or shaded it is, there are loads of plants that require almost no maintenance.

Maybe it's also a good place to keep your bins out of sight behind a screen?

Here's some inspiration for you:
lizzy
3 years ago
hi is it in sun are shade . you could put use some ferns and hostas if it's in shade with some topiary balls and a hydranger , it would be pretty low maintence or a gravel garden with grasses if it gets the sun

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