Killing weeds and grass, and volunteer plants before they start...

[Jeanw]

My neighbor tried to kill dandelions in his grass using a regular vinegar mixed with water and I believe dawn dish soap.
It took 3 years for the spots to go away in his yard.

Yes, I think it has to be full strength industrial vinegar to work quickly.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Yes, I think it has to be full strength industrial vinegar to work quickly.

Oh it worked....way to well. He had dead spots from it killing the surrounding grass as well as the weeds.

 

[Percheron chick]

The sun's out and spring is coming. There's still 4 feet of snow in my garden but I'm starting to think...

Is there anything I can do to prevent weeds and volunteer plants from growing in my garden, like something I can till into the soil a couple of weeks before planting?

Turn the garden over, fence it in then place your chickens in there. Make them clean up any weed seeds, grubs and larvae. Chemical free and saves you work down the road.

 

[Birdsonghill]

I once had a license in my state for horticultural chemical applications. After, many years, I walked away from that well paying career. The chemical industry is ran mostly by fools, liars, criminals, cheats, frauds, people without morals, greedy and self serving corporate scumbags! They disperse false information and talk about safety with a wink and a nod. Preemergent and post emergent herbicides are destroying our water supplies, helping species to disappear, sickening workers(often slowly and easily overlooked) and like heroin, must be used repeatedly to suppress the always present "weed" seeds. Undiluted (industrial) vinegar will kill many weeds and even diluted will kill some. Some plants will be suppressed if you soak the area/soil for a long time! I have used vinegar for several non typical uses, including killing grass and other weeds in non crop areas. I have not used it close to my desirable plants, except as a wipe on with a small paint brush. If you use some of the over the counter herbicides/fungicides in you food garden, you may be taking years off your life or causing nervous system damage, reproductive damage and etc. that will affect your quality of life , regardless of you or your doctors realizing the underlying cause. Controlling fungus diseases on plants, alone, is likely, more seriously, sub acutely, poisoning people, more than the products of most air pollution in the big cities or at the job place. Organic does not always mean safe, either! Arsenic is organic and in many herbicides. Suit yourself, but be warned. Elbow grease and non chemical weed control will not hurt you. The chemical alternative is a lazy, foolish way to garden food in my opinion, that is harming the environment, sickening and changing people's health negatively and enriching the most undesirable types of profiteers and corporate fiends! If you love Monsanto and Hitler , most chemical pesticides might be right for your garden! Consider, that a chemical rep for them said in a state sponsored seminar, that he would drink a swallow of roundup herbicide , it was so safe(mid 1980's). They claimed it would break down to safe salts within 30 minutes of exposure to sunlight and not harm the environment or people. Monsanto has plenty of company in the competition for being the most dangerous corporation in the world, but they and their fellows in the chemical industry are mostly similar! Greedy, corporate lackeys/liars!

 

[HillGuy]

I use cardboard, but I'm mostly raised beds & containers. Try to put it down in the fall.

 

[Birdsonghill]

I use cardboard, but I'm mostly raised beds & containers. Try to put it down in the fall.

I have used cut out cardboard disc in the top of pots/bags for weed control. You need to check under them frequently for signs of pest, but they work great. Also, used the felt like clumps of shed hair/wool from my meat type, hair sheep, for weed mulch and for composting, with great results, a few years ago. I use a mix of many methods on my various open gardens, raised beds and containers. Pine straw(needles), leaves, wheat/barley straw, cotton seed hulls, hardwood and pine bark mulch, plastic films, woven polypropylene ground cover fabric, newspaper, cardboard, and other materials are common in my landscape and gardens. Weeds are still not rare, either!