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HELP! - Removing weeds prior to topsoil

HmmmmmmmHmmmmmmm Posts: 13
in Problem solving
Hello All - We had a company level our garden. Then another company was supposed come and put in topsoil. The topsoil company was delayed due to covid and loads of weeds have now grown. They just rang us after 2 months and said they are coming Tuesday. Very little notice. I need to prepare the ground before the topsoil. i.e. remove the weeds. I sprayed glyphosate free roundup yesterday but it has done nothing but stink the garden and wilt them a little. 

Question is - what now! 
1) Go get some evil strength chemicals? 
2) Rent a rototiller?
3) Since some of the weeds are quite big 15/20 cm should I use a trimmer first?
4) should I just go in there manually - not ideal. The ground is clay and hard as a rock. Plus its covered in chemicals even though its glyphosate free.
Any other ideas?

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Don't rotovate. It'll just give you more weeds.
    The weed killer should have worked well enough by Tuesday, but the only other alternative is to hand remove them. It will also depend how much topsoil you're putting on. If it's around 6 inches or more, and most of the weeds are knocked back, it could be fine. 
    What are you planning to do with the space though? That will also determine what you do now. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • HmmmmmmmHmmmmmmm Posts: 13
    edited September 2021
    Fairygirl said:
    Don't rotovate. It'll just give you more weeds.
    The weed killer should have worked well enough by Tuesday, but the only other alternative is to hand remove them. It will also depend how much topsoil you're putting on. If it's around 6 inches or more, and most of the weeds are knocked back, it could be fine. 
    What are you planning to do with the space though? That will also determine what you do now. 
    Thanks for the reply. Its going to be 4 inches/10cm. Then spreading grass seeds. Not enough topsoil? Also what do you mean if the weeds are knocked back? Should I just get a trimmer and knock them to the ground? At the moment the weeds are just standing upright after the weedkiller. Maybe in a couple of days they will die? 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    edited September 2021
    Unless the roots are killed, they'll come back. If the weed killer has worked, the top growth will die back, and hopefully the roots as well. There's no great advantage to trimming the dead growth off.
    Knocked back just means if they're killed off enough   :)
    It's a question of waiting. I used some of the newer weedkiller a couple of days ago, and it seems to be doing the job. If you can't delay the soil delivery [and I can understand the problems with that!] you might just need to go for it.
    A thick layer of soil will help, but as you've used weed killer, you can't sow seed for around a month. It'll prevent germination. 

    What are the weeds - do you know? I can't tell from the pic. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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