How to fix a yard completely infested with weeds?

Question

After doing a search, I know this question has been asked numerous times. The common recommendation is to use a herbacide in the fall (region 1) as this is when most weeds shuttle their nutrients down to the roots through their vascular system. I tried also diggin up some of the bigger weeds and discovered this huge network of undergraound roots all connecting to a bigger 1/2 inch thick root. A 5 x 5 foot region of weeds took 2 hours to dig up and it wasn't just thick roots, there were also micro roots connected to the bigger ones that just consumed the soil. It appears the only solution here is to start from scratch, but the magnitude and maturity of the roots is mind-boggling. Can someone advise?

2008-09-27T16:02:34Z

This for for a lawn. I would like to grow grass, so mulch would render futile in this approach. No?

izzy · Accepted Answer

You don't mention what you want to do with the area. Are you planning a garden bed or is it a area for grass? Is the area shady or sunny? The answer is different depending on what you want to do and the conditions that exist. 

In general, weeds have several fronts to deal with - they can spread by root or spread by seed - either way they have to have light to survive - so without knowing much more and avoiding herbacides - I would suggest that you will start by pulling the weeds by hand with as much root as possible every week (some weed seeds germinate on a weekly or bi-weekly basis) True - this is labor intensive but only at first if you are tenatious enough. Make sure you put a mulch over the area to block the light. After a while you will have the weeds under control and you will have a beautiful garden. 

If you do decide to go to herbcides - use a pre-emergent like Preen - to stop the seeds from germinating and Round-Up to kill the root of the exisiting weed plant.  Preen is safe to use with most ornamentals but not food crops or grass, Round-Up is inert to the dirt so the main danger is spraying a plant or shrub etc that you did not mean to spray (overspray).

Fisherman · Answer

ther is no weed that can compete with grass scalp the yard then seed it with appropriate seed

How to fix a yard completely infested with weeds?

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