garden weeds HELP

Eircom_Sucks

hi i moved into a house and the back garden is full of weeds and the grass about 2 ft high , first things first i have to cut it down as tight as i can

but how do i deal with the weeds ?

complete novice here

vicwatson

Round up

Eircom_Sucks

vicwatson wrote: »

Round up

?

does it even work good

Delphinium

Its a weed killer.

km79

Eircom_Sucks wrote: »

?

does it even work good

its kills EVERYTHING so if you don't want to kill the grass don't use it.
also its pure posion so wear gloves and a face mask would be my advice

a picture of the garden would probably help people give you better advice

looksee

Cut the grass first and see how it looks. If there is enough grass in it it will take over the weeds and could well get back to a reasonable lawn. As to the other weeds, are they in flowerbeds or where are they? What kind of weeds are they. A lot of them are as easy to dig up as to mess about weedkilling them. A pic would be helpful.

Day Lewin

@looksee speaks wisdom: first cut the grass back roughly, using even a shears or a strimmer if necessary, then mow it.

Repeated mowing will improve the grass quality out of all recognition, since grass thrives on being grazed, but most other plants don't like all their leaves being constantly chopped off. They will get weaker as the grass gets stronger.

You may not even need to use poisonous weedkillers at all.

lottpaul

Have you got flower beds and shrubs as well or is it just a lawn?
If you can cut the grass down, feed it and keep it mowed it will kill the weeds over time. If the grass grows well it will smother the weeds and the mowing will make sure they dont flower etc. You'll have a decent grassy lawn but no putting green or tennis court, but in the short term it would be fine.
If you have flower beds have a quick look to make sure there are no gems hidden in it and then perhaps kill the weeds - carefully, because any stray weedkiller will harm shrubs, grass etc.
Any pics or plans? or how big an area is it?

( I see looksee has said all of this while I was munching my supper but it's still good.. )

looksee

I only use weedkiller on things like brambles and bindweed (systemic weedkiller) and paving.

arthur daly

Cut it down wait a week or two and spray with forefron t,you won't have a weed in sight.
Feed the lawn about a week after spraying

Eircom_Sucks

arthur daly wrote: »

Cut it down wait a week or two and spray with forefron t,you won't have a weed in sight.
Feed the lawn about a week after spraying

you got a link for that stuff

arthur daly

Eircom_Sucks wrote: »

you got a link for that stuff

http://www.nad.ie/product-guides.html

Eircom_Sucks

post a pic up later

it was a perfecf garden before , just hasn't been kept etc

no flower beds just a plain garden

Eircom_Sucks

pics herr

jezko

Eircom_Sucks wrote: »

pics herr

A Lot of weeds there that may not be controlled by cutting back repeatedly (Dandelions).

I would start again (Spray off all weeds and grasses completely and resow a new Lawn>)

you could use a selective weed killer that kills only the broad leaves and Not the grasses. then cut back hard as looksee suggests and keeping mowing.

Eircom_Sucks

jezko wrote: »

A Lot of weeds there that may not be controlled by cutting back repeatedly (Dandelions).

I would start again (Spray off all weeds and grasses completely and resow a new Lawn>)

you could use a selective weed killer that kills only the broad leaves and Not the grasses. then cut back hard as looksee suggests and keeping mowing.

which is easiest

jezko

Eircom_Sucks wrote: »

which is easiest

To be honest I'd start again and kill everything and resow. I don t think you have enough grass to try Looksee's way.

looksee

Have to agree, there is not much grass in that, docks, dandelions and a fabulous crop of buttercups. I think its a spray and start again situation. Given that it appears to be on a rather significant slope, you might want to do a bit of hard landscaping - establish some terraces for example - before sowing.

Eircom_Sucks

remember i know f all

looksee

Ok, is there a slope, and if there is, do you want two levels or one slope? Is that a path - looks a bit like old concrete but might just be compacted soil? What kind of garden are you going for, just a plain grassed area or flowerbeds etc? Are you willing to pay for some edging/paving etc for the path or is this a minimum cost tidy up?

I would suggest that you need some sort of a path to the end of the garden, so decide on that first. If the existing path is concrete, dig it up and remove. Spray the entire garden with weedkiller and allow to die back completely (or don't spray but dig it and hand remove the weeds). Remove as much of the (dead) top growth and big roots (dandelions especially) as you can then look at what you have and decide whether to get a rotavator or dig it by hand. After that it depends on what you want by way of a path, flowerbeds etc, and what you end up with when you have cleared the weeds. If you had the patience I suggest digging would be the best route as if there is scutch grass there (almost certainly) you will mince the roots into loads of bits that will spread and grow nicely.

Eircom_Sucks

it is a concrete path

just a plain grass lawn , no flower beds

Eircom_Sucks

if i spray the whole garden with weed killer , and wait for it to die , what do i need to do to get grass growing again ? just reseed ?

Eircom_Sucks

ok update , cut grass down

i dont want to be digging etc ( plus a bad back )

id love to kill everything and reseed garden

but no idea