Our endgame is to rip out all of the bushes, we think they have root issues because they look dead on the inside. We're thinking about laying down some mulch or rocks, but that's about as far as we've gotten. Do I need to get rid of some of the soil on top? I'm a total rookie at this, so anything helps!
by System686
25 Comments
That’s a weed yard, not much you can do đ¤ˇ. Plant rocks maybeÂ
Put an edge on it throw down some mulch and plant some flowers or a couple boxwood or something low growing.
Pollinators! Native non invasive. Canât go wrong
Small long flowering fragrant noninvasive ornamental bark ornamental fruit tree, maybe a Cornus as an accent tree as the centerpiece. Taxus can stay. Remove the Nandina if it berries or trim immediately after flowering. Ornamental boulder(s) with small non invasive grass/grass like plants fill the space shading the ground so less weed issues.
Best option… rip up the bushes replace with landscaping plastic and 3 to 4 inch riverstone. Give it 4 to 5 years then that should kill any weed left alive under there
If you want to just buy some time and peace, put down cardboard or newsprint and mulch on top. Will buy you a lot of time before it looks weedy again.
Rip everything out go get some sod put it down. Keep watering it until it catches. It’ll look beautiful.
Roundup is pretty effective for killing weeds
Painters plastic and mulch/rocks
This is not what âgetting weeds like crazyâ looks like
They look dead on the inside because the leaves lower along on the branch die off as theyre shaded and serve no purpose. It looks like that on any dense shrub you see
Call your local agri life extension and ask them for native plant resources for home landscaping.
You’ll never stop pulling weeds because soil has a seed bank. Not just that but birds poopin’ in your yard, wind blowing in seeds, etc will always result in stuff growing. Go to your state, county or city’s website for guidance on planting native plants. You can go a few different ways depending on your zone but whats great about planting native things is that they evolved to just grow there so once established you shouldn’t really need to keep watering. Also, insects also evolved alongside those plants so you’d be creating a habitat for local butterflies and other pollinators and even birds. In the meantime you can lay down cardboard, cover it in mulch. Just know that mulch isn’t ground cover. It’s more of an in between plants cover. Once plants are grown they’ll do a lot of the weed blocking for you. Please don’t grow a lawn. Theyre bad for you, bad for nature, and you’ll need to constantly dump chemicals. Theyre like deserts. Their roots are shallow and need tons of water that don’t even contribute to the soil. F lawns.
What region are you in? If youâre in an area with sodded grass you can put down pre emergent to prevent the weeds from sprouting. Itâs too late in the season at this time so wonât immediately work but if you do it every fall and spring that should help keep them at bay. Also, depending on grass a general herbicide like 24D can be blanket sprayed and take care of weeds without hurting grass.
Again all of this depends on region and grass being planted if any.
Sedums are a great low maint perennial and groundcover for non irrigated beds ! Many different types. You could interplant with a few other perennials for interest in the spring and fall like asters and amsonia, maybe a few small grasses ? You can try ordering plugs online just make sure to water several times a day for the first couple weeks then gradually decrease.
Cover the ground with mulch. Cover the ground to suppress the weeds and then watch the garden spaces for the first year to see what you have, how the sun and the wind move, what it looks like in all the seasons. Plan your moves but donât execute until youâve had a year to experience what you have
Maybe stick a rose đš đ¤ in there.
Nature abhors a vacuum. If theres space, something is gonna grow there. You need to give those weeds some competition. Also it may just be that you have a robust seed bank in your yard. In the long term youll want seeds from desirable species that can out germinate the ones you dont want but in the mean time its a lot of pulling. Youâre also at the mercy of every neighbor that lets weeds seed and scatter instead of maintainingÂ
Aw looks like you pulled out a young native redbud tree. That would have been cute there. A cultivar like ârising sunâ would stay smaller and also be cute. Looks like youâve got hot dry full sun. Get some calamints, little bluestems, asters, and wild strawberries as ground cover
Donât lay any rock or stone, weeds will eventually emerge and it becomes a mess.
start weeding?
Put down landscape fabric and cover with mulch or rock. That will keep,the weeds from growing for at least a few years
Ask your local tree trimmers if you can have some chips.
Nuke it and throw out some nice grass
It can be transformed into a garden
Be mindful that the inside of a bush often looks dead simply because the branches donât grow leaves inside (no air, no sun) and there indeed might be some dead wood as well since itâs difficult to trim it from the outside, wouldnât generally mean the bush is doing poorly though. Itâs a different story if you have a significant volume of dead wood in the top part.