Tilling up ground for new garden

bobm

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Most will hate this BUT...... if I had to start my garden again (it was yard) I’d use Round up and spray the area to kill the grasses. I didn’t, still fighting grasses years later as no way to get all the bits of crabgrass out. Then till, plant, mulch and weed, weed, weed but get to harvest and eat as well.
:old DITTO !!! :old
 

seedcorn

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Responsible use is the key. I’m trying to kill some horseradish that got started in the wrong place (best part of garden) and I paint leaves with crossroad but would never spray the whole garden with it. I also don’t use any other herbicides on my garden but to start it I wish I had killed the grasses with it.
 

Ridgerunner

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I agree, responsible use is the key. I'll use an herbicide on a gravel driveway or parking area to keep grass and weeds down so you can see them and get in and out of your car without getting into ticks and chiggers. People tend to get upset if they get into ticks and chiggers when they visit. I want to be more considerate than that for most of my visitors. I try to not mow over gravel, I've broken a window picking up a rock in grass. Weed eaters can throw them too.

I'll use an herbicide in a landscape bed, an iris bed specifically. It's one that kills the grass but not the iris. It doesn't get the broadleaf weeds either but those aren't that hard to pull. Grass takes time and injured fingers, especially trying to dig roots out.

To me responsible means picking the right herbicide for the job. Get something that kills what you are trying to kill, not necessarily everything. Pay attention to dosage. Use enough to do the job but don't overdo it. You don't want to use too much, that can have unintended consequences. Pay attention to weather conditions. You want it to have time to act before a rain washes it away. Pay attention to wind if you are spraying. I plan to spray today to try to kill crabgrass in my front lawn. For the first time in a week and a half the wind is forecast to be calm enough I can do that and rain is not forecast until long after it's had time to act. When I spray I will not have it set on mist which can easily drift. It will be set heavier and I'll hold the nozzle pretty close to the ground. I'll spray the areas that have crabgrass, not the whole yard. That eliminates about 2/3 of the yard. I did spray a small test area a while back to make sure it does not kill my turf grass.
 

majorcatfish

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weeds are gods gift to keep you busy......
since letting my beds rest a season will be paying the price this year have seen lots of weed/ grass shoot coming up..
if i was on top of the game should have rapped them in black plastic last year to solarize the soil...

got to love hindsight
 

seedcorn

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For those fighting fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, use TempoSC. End of problem.
 
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