Kill the grass, not the flowers

deathnote666

Got a flowerbed overrun with weeds, grass.

Taking any suggestions that isn't pulling out each and every individual thing since that never lasts long, even when I try and pull roots. Took a shovel once to it and still didn't last long.

Thinking about putting trash bags over it when the flowers die off for the year. Would the added heat kill any flower bulbs?

Soggybiscuit

The garbage bag / plastic sheeting trick works pretty good, I did it to my garden once and the number and type of weeds were drastically reduced, but I pulled it all off before planting the garden.

What I didn't expect was the 10+ snakes I found under the sheeting, thankfully all nonvenomous (ringnecks and garter snakes). Snakes like that stuff in the late winter / early spring so keep that in mind when you go to pull it off.

BahamutZERO

Yeah snakes love getting under tarps baking in the sun, cover and warmth. It's cute.
No idea about flower bulbs though, whenever I've done tarps to kill weeds it's bare earth underneath, beds with actual flowers and plants we wanna keep get weeded by hand.

Fuglie_gamer

If you don't mind a little extra expense you could build a raised bed there. Using the newspaper/weed blocker material should stop most of the grass and weeds. Unfortunately I don't know a way to target just weeds and grass except hand to hand combat sometimes.

VishNub

Pull the weeds then mulch the crap out of it.

Which will mitigate but not eliminate the weeds

RT800

I think there are some herbicides that will target grass and not flowers.

You'd probably have to be pretty sure what type of grass and flowers you're dealing with, though.

BlindZenDriver

Herbicides should be avoided whenever possible and that goes double in gardens - zero reason to risk exposure.

Here we cover soil between bushes and so where we don't want weeds and we do so with bark chips, it is a natural waste material they have at saw mills.

Not sure if it is available state side, but if your flowers are plants with permanent branches it could be a solution.

deathnote666

Thanks!thanks for the suggestions!

The flowers are bulbs, and everything above ground dies off. What the flowers are, I'm not sure.

zepherin

I got a fishers weed puller. And that makes pulling weeds less bad.

It’s still unpleasant, but it’s faster and doesn’t hurt my back.

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lawn-and-garden/gardening-tools/gardening-hand-tools/7499841?store=16260&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADtqLJGlz13eyxS-X0dvM4QDGv3E0&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzby1BhCQARIsAJ_0t5N-JS-2TQkGXTaFlIZL0XI33StEJ5HX0_D68_QtkGC88WmPQ6PVvJoaAl_wEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

BahamutZERO

I've used a tool like that specifically for dandelion pulling.

Gilgaron

If you edge with a border spade to sever the grass lead-ins from the lawn, you can then dig them up pretty well with a hand pick mattock. The pick end can hook the roots and you can pull up the whole mess of grass like a string of christmas lights.

spasmodic

I’ve had similar issues with weeds and grass overtaking my flowerbed. Covering it with trash bags might work to kill off the weeds, but it could also harm any bulbs you have left. I’ve found that using a thick layer of mulch or newspaper covered with mulch can be a good way to keep weeds down without damaging your flowers. If you can get your hands on weed barrier fabric, it’s worth a shot—it’s been a game changer for me!