Sheet mulch. Cardboard and wood chips.
Herbicide if your invasives are tough.
Both if needed.
Do it **properly**. Not half-assed. Not almost.
I was the gardener who, when someone on this sub suggested Crossbow for Oriental bittersweet, declined on principle.
“Some plants need a duel, but I prefer a pickle, so I’ll do 30% vinegar.”
I wish that person had replied:
“You have a preference. The bittersweet has a root system. One of those is negotiable.”
Then I looked at my half-dead lawn and thought: the natives will finish it off.
They did not.
Three years later the grass is still there, tangled through my asters, goldenrod, and baptisia. I wanted a meadow. It looks like overgrown weeds. I created a hostage situation.
Now I’m pulling by hand what I can reach and painting herbicide on what I can’t remove without taking out the native plants too.
The irony: the soil went from bone-dry and rock-hard to dry and loamy in three years with basically zero intervention. The natives did that. The grass also did not leave.
TLDR: Prep your beds. Invasives and grass do not negotiate
by WeddingTop948
4 Comments
Why not do the right thing now, kill the entire bed, and start over?
If it makes you feel any better, I had a clean slate when I started both my native beds and the grass gets in and has to be pulled regardless. I just try to stay on pulling this time of year and by summer I don’t have to pull too much.
Pro-tip: pull grasses after a good soaking rain if you can, otherwise give the area a good soak with the hose the day before you plan to weed.
I mostly agree with the premise of OP. Even after a brutal prep I still have problems with some invasives, and have a bunch of different herbicides for different types, and rely on timing. For example, in March the natives are mostly dormant but some invasive grasses are already greening up and I can hit them with a grass specific herbicide on a warm enough day. I miss the timing sometimes and just let it ride. Mixed native/invasive communities are still better than all invasives. I mow an edge on it and it doesnt look too horrible
https://preview.redd.it/l79y8qo9s0zg1.jpeg?width=3472&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7b48b4787f44023fc5a288cda6b83328fbd393b1
At least birds and such can still use the overgrown turf grass. Definitely not ideal though.