Weed seeds

22 years ago

Hello,

I hope someone can help me here.

I am trying to decide about planting a native meadow in a bed about 20 x 25 feet that is surrounded by "lawn". First question: is this size to small to qualify as a 'meadow'?

Next: The lawn is pretty weedy and when it's mowed, the clippings are left to mulch. I have made the bed by laying newspaper and cardboard and lots of leaves then originally planned to uncover the soil underneath and use roundup a couple times this spring. That hasn't happened mainly because there were many things to do in my other gardens and I am not sure that would help since there are so many seeds flying around anyway that will land in the 'meadow'.

I have plants that were winter sowed that would be happier in the ground right now, so I don't think I have time to use RU. There is some grass and violets still in the bed and the remains of daffodils.

What should I do? Plant and hope for the best? I know many regrets have been posted about improper preparation and I wanted to avoid that. But again, there seems to be an endless supply of seeds that will enter the garden since it is so small. Should I just plan to control weeds by muching around the seedlings OR should I try to deplete the seed base with RU and keep the seedlings I have elsewhere until I can plant them?

Thanks!

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Comments (4)

Judy_B_ON
22 years ago
If you used newspaper to kill the grass, you do not need to remove it to plant. Did you use 7 to 8 layers of newspaper and a 4" layer of mulch? That combo is usually enough to kill the grass. If it didn't, try again.

You can then plant your meadow plants by moving aside the mulch, cutting a small hole in the newspaper and putting the mulch back.

You will need to provide a barrier between the meadow and lawn; the lawn grasses will send underground rhizomes into the meadow.
oogy4plants
Original Author
22 years ago
Hi Judy,

Thanks for responding. Part of the area did not get enough newspaper coverage, I think, so I can redo that.

As for the barrier, would something like 1-2 feet wide strip of woodchips be good? I don't think the grasses are that aggressive, but there is a lot of white clover that spreads. A have had no good ideas about making a nice edge around it so far. I have been trying to get some free woodchips for a while to make paths and I may be getting some soon.

Any other ideas out there for me?
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john_mo
22 years ago
I second the little voice in you head that is saying "don't rush things". Regarding your concern about weed seeds, there are weed seeds everywhere, all the time. Weeds are a pain, but they won't ruin a new bed. The main problem with starting a bed in a lawn is killing the perennial turf grass. Most turf grasses are hard to kill completely by smothering.

If you think your smothering mulch was effective, you can go ahead and plug in your seedlings through holes in the mulch, as suggested above.

However, if you think that your newspaper mulch has not produced a complete kill, treating with roundup might be a good idea. (How long was the mulch in place? If it has been a full growing season, you are probably OK.) You could uncover the beds for a few weeks and wait for green growth of grass or weeds. Then spray with roundup, wait a couple days (just to be safe), plant your seedlings, and re-apply mulch.
Judy_B_ON
22 years ago
You need an underground barrier between the lawn and meadow. The wood chips will work to define the boundary, but you will then need to be diligent in pulling the grass that grows through the wood chips before it gets to the meadow.

Landscape edging (the black plastic 6" stuff) or a 4" deep edge trench that you renew two or three times a season is needed to discourage grass rhizomes.