I'd love to @fidgetbones@Dovefromabove, sounds like it would save a huge amount of work but I'm the top floor flat diagonally opposite the garden so no close power point...
Ground floor flat abandoned and I don't own a mower... Hired one last week for £20 to cut the lawn but it was massive petrol one... I struggled to get it up and down the stairs through the close to the back garden...
I'm not working due to illness and I've no help from others in the tenement so it will be digging for me, I'm afraid I think. We'll see. But I'll have a look on gumtree to see if anything cheap.
I always had in my head that section of the garden was a raised bed used for composting by my old neighbour... Sadly he passed away in March, I wish I'd asked him abt the garden now.
But more positively, I went up to my parents garage and nicked the old hoe and spade, don't think they're going to be up to much but I'll see what they can do tomorrow😊
Thanks again for the advice and encouragement👍 Julie
It could be good fertile soil then. Back to plan A. Fork out the roots. You could sprinkle some annual flower seeds on there once you have it clear, or even a green manure like Phacelia tanacetifolia... it has gorgeous lavender blue flowers the bees love.
I would just oik out what you don't want, wear long sleeves and gloves if you are concerned that plants might be irritating etc. Can't see anything really worrysome there myself.
Awaiting the arrival of the fork and rake so tried tackling the weeds overtaking the pavement...
I also tried to find the concrete edge of the lawn with the hedge shears to get back to some definition as suggested previously. I only really managed to clear the weeds on the section towards the garden... closest the back door still is very weedy and needs worked on. (2 before and 2 after photos).
I was wondering how I kill the weeds in this area? Much over it is lawn grass that's started to grow throw the pavement... Someone suggested a salt solution can kill everything for good which would be fine as its supposed to be pavement. Is this worth a shot?
I will try to get to the willowherb section either tonight or tomorrow😊
I had a look into this "salt as weedkiller" theory. I've never tried it myself but there must be someone on here who has ! The general opinion seems to be that it's not all that environmentally friendly (and neither is using vinegar). The only other thing that seems to work if you don't want to use weedkiller, is one of those flame gun things (and l don't want to be the one to suggest that - https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article70035367.html).
I have just been reading that boiling water slowly poured over weeds will kill them. Obviously I don't think carrying a kettle full of boiling water is a good idea (and it would probably be cold by the time you got down there), but if you have a thermos flask it might be worth trying on a section to see if it works.
We used to use a flame gun on our paths and it worked quite well. It only reliably kills the top growth (as obviously some roots are deep and protected by the path) but it was quick and more effective than hand weeding - it did seem to reduce the numbers returning but like all weeding had to be redone regularly. (We have stopped because we are reducing our use of fossil fuels and landfill so didn’t want to carry on buying the gas canisters).
Salt and vinegar only work because they poison the soil - having said that wether they would work as well trying to get at roots and soil under paving I’m not sure? I think I read that you have to use a very concentrated vinegar to get any results - not your usual kitchen variety.
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
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Take it steady !
The general opinion seems to be that it's not all that environmentally friendly (and neither is using vinegar). The only other thing that seems to work if you don't want to use weedkiller, is one of those flame gun things (and l don't want to be the one to suggest that -
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article70035367.html).
Salt and vinegar only work because they poison the soil - having said that wether they would work as well trying to get at roots and soil under paving I’m not sure? I think I read that you have to use a very concentrated vinegar to get any results - not your usual kitchen variety.
East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham