What is the best way to get rid of weeds without harming the trees in my yard?

2018-03-12 5:47 pm
Hello Yahoo,
I have a gardening question which might be easy for some. I am completely new to gardening. I have an area of about 500 sq. ft in my front yard and it is currently covered with a thick layer of English Ivy and other weeds that is about 1.5 feet tall. This was probably once a flower bed. I do not plan to plant any flowers. I just want to remove the weed for aesthetic purpose. I guess no matter what method to use I need to physically remove the weeds first? What would be the best way to do that? Would a gas weed wacker do the job efficiently?

The next question is how to kill the roots of the weeds. I think the easiest one is to use weed killer spray, but there are a few trees around the area, and certainly don't want to kill the trees. So my second solution would be to use the black weed fabric to cut off the light of the weed. My question is if I have to cover it with mulch or pebbles? Can I just leave the fabric as is? If I have to, which one is better to use? I prefer mulch because it is easier to handle and cheaper, but I am really concerned about the negative outcome of weeds growing back. I live in the West Coast of Canada. Winter is mild but wet.

回答 (13)

2018-03-13 12:10 am
✔ 最佳答案
I would mow or weed whack the area in question, right down to the dirt. Then, cover it with lawn cloth and back fill with the mulch or pebbles you mentioned. You may want to use weed killer before you lay the lawn cloth and mulch/pebbles.

Any weed killer you use will not go deep enough into the ground to kill any trees. Putting down plastic may cause a drainage nightmare and also prevent water from feeding underground tree roots.
2018-03-12 5:56 pm
I would cover it with black plastic for the summer. You could rototill it under first or afterwards to quickly build up the soil and remove the ivy. Poisons are a poor way of taking care of our land because it disturbs the life under the soil.
2018-03-13 1:55 am
I wouldn't use a tiller...
Running a tiller over the ivy chops the vine up, and then all the pieces re-sprout.
Also... a tiller will harm the trees.
likewise, a weedwacker will harm the trees... they cut right through the bark!
And don't hurt the ivy at all.

I've had decent luck simply pulling the vines... when the soil is moist.

http://stonethegardener.tumblr.com/tagged/english%20ivy

Of course there is a certain amount of regrowth, but we can get that later.
500 sq ft doesn't sound all that large... should be a simple matter of a weekend or so.

As to the other plants?
Tell us specifically what you have, or post pictures, and we can give advise specific to those problem plants.
2018-03-13 12:08 am
Stay away from chemicals. Anything strong enough to kill ivy will harm trees. You have to get ivy out by the roots. A Roto tiller will help. Trimming back the ivy first is a good idea or it will wrap up in the tiller blades. So cut it to the ground, then rototill, pull the roots and you're set to landscape as you please.
2018-03-12 5:49 pm
Use white vinegar.
2018-03-14 10:13 am
I had problems with "Ground Ivy" in our yard for several years. I found the best to get rid of this Ivy after years of trying different applications, was to have a professional yard service look after it. Ground Ivy is exactly like other types of Ivy in that it's on a vine that's under ground, and you have to treat every leaf with the killer treatment or the vine continues growing and sprouting new growth. That's why it's hard to eradicate. Once it's treated with special killer and the leaves begin to turn yellow, the yard needs another application at that time to finish the Ground Ivy off. What makes it more difficult at times is the fact that the surrounding yards may be ignored that have Ground Ivy or other weeds that get out of control.
2018-03-13 7:51 pm
If you make sure you do a full sweep of the weeds before hey seed then you minimize them growing in new places. One years seeding several years weeding.
Then before you plant new things, or late winter, dig up the weed roots to minimise a colony establishing.
Finally for the most part it's hard to get rid of all weeds, you'll just have to make sure other plants are more dominant.
Repeat process
2018-03-12 6:40 pm
Whacking the ivy won't affect the roots. The solution is to till the soil with a roto tiller, which you can rent from a hardware store. After it's tilled, rake it thoroughly to remove large clumps of roots. Then change the soil chemistry by treating it with lime, as ivy likes acidic soil.
2018-03-12 7:50 pm
Sort of depends on the look you want. I don't like lawn fabric or plastic. Especially if you then cover it with mulch or rock. Once down, crap ends up growing on top of it. So you will be basically stuck with the same choices you have now, every year. I use paper, and sure you still need to work on it every year but it breaks down as opposed to staying in the ground. Tree's in the area indicate shade, the Ivy may be there becouse it isn't an easy place to grow grass. Don't know, don't have info. Moderate use of roundup and such will not hurt the tree's. In my case, I drink whatever I put in the ground. something you also may need to consider. The old fashion tilling and reseeding will work only as good as the location. I have given up on the perfect lawn, too much time money and work in my mind. Just keep it cut at the proper height seems to wrok out just fine.
2018-03-13 4:02 pm
Thank you all so much for all the answers. I try to summarize the answers as follows: 1) there is a debate on the use of roundup. 2) Most advise to use a tiller to wrack up the roots, except one. 3) There is advice against using plastics. One suggest using paper, and other suggests mulch, or plant other things.
Here are my thoughts: If the tiller can smash the roots, would it be necessary to use the roundup?
I will probably not use paper barrier because we have rain in here.
If I cover up with mulch, how can I be sure that the weeds won't grow back and penetrate the mulch?


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