Hi, we have such a bad weed problem, we have decided to bulldoze our existing garden out and start over. We are trying to do this as chemical free as possible, so the dirt we remove will be heat treated (solarized as long as possible) to kill whatever weeds are left after we burn what we can. We just put raised beds in last year, they were only 6" high though. We put down weed barrier in between the beds, with gravel on top, we put down newspaper and cardboard over the existing soil with mulch on top to keep weeds down, well it didn't work no matter how much I pulled weeds and mulched. It looked nice for like 2 months. Then the crabgrass completely took over and grew through the gravel and into all of my beds!! In one season!! So we have crabgrass invading our beds from everywhere in all the paths, we have some nutsedge, nimblewill, foxtail, some bindweed, and some sort of really prickly weed with a thick red stem that grows about 4 foot high and branches out about a third the way up the stem and gets bushier as it goes up. Don't know what it's called, but it's everywhere and it hurts. So, how do we keep this from happening again? My husband's plan is to build higher raised beds this year, 2.5 ft high so hopefully the crabgrass roots cant spread up in from underground. He is going to put down greenhouse type black fabric in the paths to try and keep the weeds out better. The home depot stuff we used was cheap and ripped easy letting weeds get in. What type of soil would be best to put in the beds that would have the least chance of having its own weed seeds? He isn't sure how to keep out the crabgrass. Should we put some sort of edging around the whole garden to try and keep the roots from spreading over and growing through the weed fabric? He decided he wont put gravel over the weed fabric this year, to try and keep the crabgrass from growing over it. I think that will look terrible.... but if that's what we have to do..... how do yall keep these weeds out while still having a nice looking garden? They're already there where our garden needs to go. I'm hoping bulldozing the top layer of soil and roots and seeds off will help remove some of the problem, but it's in the yard surrounding the garden too. :(