round up on a flower bed?

If you spray Round-Up you will not be able to plant anything in that flower bed for six months (it also depends on how much you apply and it's concentration). After six months you should be good to go. Be aware that Round-Up will kill any vegetation it touches so be careful. Good Luck!

Fall is a good time to treat weeds with glyphosate because the plants will absorb it through the leaves and move it down into the roots. The weeds need to have green leaves for it to work. The label on the product will tell you exactly when it is safe to replant. Some things can be planted a week later and others that are especially sensitive such as tomatoes you might have to wait longer. Next spring should be fine for anything.

Roundup works best when the plant is actively growing. Don't know what zone you are in, but if it is getting wintery where you are, this isn't the best time to use Roundup. It won't hurt anything but will possibly be a waste of money. Roundup will only kill what it touches and does not have any residual effect on the soil, so anything that comes up or that you plant in the spring will be just fine.

The active ingredient of Roundup is the isopropylamine salt of glyphosate. Glyphosate's mode of action is to inhibit an enzyme involved in the synthesis of the amino acids tyrosine, tryptophan and phenylalanine. It is absorbed through foliage and translocated to growing points. Because of this mode of action, it is only effective on actively growing plants; it is not effective as a pre-emergence herbicide. Monsanto also produces seeds which grow into plants genetically engineered to be tolerant to glyphosate which are known as Roundup Ready crops. The genes contained in these seeds are patented. Such crops allow farmers to use glyphosate as a post-emergence herbicide against both broadleaf and cereal weeds. Soy was the first Roundup Ready crop and was produced at Monsanto's Agracetus Campus located in Middleton, Wisconsin.

add sphagnum peat moss to your sandy areas and composted pine bark to the clay areas. peat will help maintain moisture balance in sand and bark will help clay drain and become looser. you're probably nutrition starved in all areas.. trees absorb a LOT of nutrients. controlled release fertilizer is a great way to go.. like Osmocote. Further.. are you planting the right plants???? Sounds like you need shade lovers there.. best I can do.. as far as the mulch goes.. use the kind you like best. sounds like all the mulch is doing is finishing the bed.