garden advice anyone?

[MoonCat]

So, my back yard is essentially lumpy ground, way too many lily of the valley plants, a patch of oregano that was here when I moved in and is now poised to take over the world, and a ratty assortment of various weeds. There are some daffodils, hyacinths and some other odds & ends that I want to keep, but the rest...meh.

I don't have the energy to be out there weeding constantly. Does anybody know if covering the crap I don't want with a layer of mulch would kill it off? It would be hard to use weedcloth because the daffs & other spring stuff (which my sister wants to keep) is scattered here & there. Same with weedkiller...I don't want to kill my apple tree!

I'd like to get rid of the weedy crap without killing off the few things I want to keep, so next year I can start over and fill it up with something nice. Any suggestions? (other than a flamethrower). Thanks!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I actually hand weed a lot of my yard. I do use RoundUp on various things (blackberry and wisteria) but for the most part, I target specific species and hand weed. If I have centipede grass growing where I don't want it, I hit that with a dose of RU, too. I use herbicide on these things because they are invasive (which is actually part of centipede's usefullness) and you will not be getting rid of them until you kill the root.

Yes, it takes a long time, but gardening is not for the impatient.

Pine straw mulch is very nice because a bale is cheap, goes a long way, creates a thick, rot-resistant mat, and locks together to resist washing away. Plus, it enables me to simply sweep the pine straw that falls out of the trees right into the mulched areas, cutting down on yardwork. It does discourage weeds, and the thicker you can lay it down the better.

What you can do to make it even more maintenence free is to wait till your stuff sprouts again, then lay down a layer of landscape cloth with holes cut out for your plants. Then lay some mulch down on that. Very easy to maintain that.

Oh...weeding tip: If you can pull a weed out of the ground before it goes to seed, it won't reproduce. Also, pulling out is better than turning over the soil to get rid of weeds...that actually encourages dormant seeds to sprout.

[MoonCat]

I actually hand weed a lot of my yard. I do use RoundUp on various things (blackberry and wisteria) but for the most part, I target specific species and hand weed. If I have centipede grass growing where I don't want it, I hit that with a dose of RU, too. I use herbicide on these things because they are invasive (which is actually part of centipede's usefullness) and you will not be getting rid of them until you kill the root.

Yes, it takes a long time, but gardening is not for the impatient.

Pine straw mulch is very nice because a bale is cheap, goes a long way, creates a thick, rot-resistant mat, and locks together to resist washing away. Plus, it enables me to simply sweep the pine straw that falls out of the trees right into the mulched areas, cutting down on yardwork. It does discourage weeds, and the thicker you can lay it down the better.

What you can do to make it even more maintenence free is to wait till your stuff sprouts again, then lay down a layer of landscape cloth with holes cut out for your plants. Then lay some mulch down on that. Very easy to maintain that.

Oh...weeding tip: If you can pull a weed out of the ground before it goes to seed, it won't reproduce. Also, pulling out is better than turning over the soil to get rid of weeds...that actually encourages dormant seeds to sprout.

Thanks RK...I'll have to see if pine straw mulch is available here. I have fatigue/medical issues and just can't get a lot done out there. We had so much rain this year that stuff got ahead of me. If I can get it under control in the next couple of weeks, and keep it that way until we get heavy frost and/or snow, it will be OK until spring.