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Weed Control

Q.How To Get Rid Of WEED FILLED SOIL Ready For Turf

Zone North Yorkshire | Anonymous added on January 30, 2025 | Answered

We moved into a new property and the back garden was just soil. We didnt do anything with it for 9months and weeds and all sorts of stuff grew in it. We used a strimmer to get the worst of it down but there are many prickly and horrible weeds all over the garden. The garden is 10m x 10m. My question is: What is the best gardening tool to tackle the weed filled mess? Would an electric Tiller / rotovator work? Presumably this will tear the soil to pieces and tear all the weeds out….then what? I was thinking if I get some weed barrier and keep the garden covered up for a few weeks, all the churning of weeds and soil should decompose due to lack of sunlight etc, ready for fresh turf (obviously once prepped and levelled). Any advice would be good. I have attached an example photo

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GKH_Susan
Certified GKH Gardening Expert
Answered on January 31, 2025

You have some options here. If you want to be sure to kill all the weeds, you can spray the whole area with a glyphosate product and wait about three weeks to give it time to work. (The temperature must be above 50 degrees F for it to be effective.) Read and follow all label instructions.

If you want to avoid chemicals, you can rototill the area two or three times, raking out the weeds and debris between each tilling. The issue here is some of the weeds are likely tough perennial weeds that will still come back if any of the root remains in the soil.

Another option if you are not in a hurry is to wait for warmer weather then solarize it. Cover the area with clear plastic and lay bricks along the edges to hold it down. Leave it in place for several weeks to allow the sun to cook it and kill the weeds.

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