Double digging really isn't needed @liz 289. It's a very outdated approach. It also just compacts clay soil if you do it when it's wet, as others have said. If I'd had to wait until soil was dry, I'd have been struggling to do it at all. Patience, as @TheGreenMan says, is also needed, but even in wet cold areas, it's surprising how quickly it improves. Done it more times than I care to remember.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thank you all for your answers. Just so I'm clear, should I aim to remove all the plants and roots I find as I dig? The bed contains lots of established perennials, which have been cut back/died down for the winter. My husband seems to think I'll kill them off through the digging, but I'm worried that if I don't remove all the roots they will just grow back. I want to do this properly, so if I have to pull out every root by hand that's what I will do!
I'm a bit confused! I though you wanted to 'start again' clearing the bed and improving the soil. If you want to keep plants, it's completely different.
Are the perennials in good condition? Are they where you want them? You can dig them up and divide them, keeping the vigorous, young bits and chucking away old material. While they are out of the ground, fork in lots of muck, then replant.
If you are happy with them as they are, the best thing is to mulch regularly and feed in Spring. The soil will improve over time.
I didn't realise there was any plants there either. That changes things enormously. You'd need to dig them up and keep them somewhere. However, if you don't like any of them, putting a load of organic matter on top will see most of them off. A good 6 inches or so would do.
Some might survive, but it'll depend on what they are.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Sorry for being unclear. I don't want this keep any of the existing plants. My question was more whether I need to remove the roots entirely, or whether breaking them up as part of the digging process would be enough to get rid of them. What do you think?
As I said - it depends on what plants , and how tenacious they are. Breaking them up could simply encourage more plants, because most perennials benefit from division. If they were completely annihilated it might work, but it's virtually impossible to determine without knowing what they are.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thank you, I appreciate your advice. I'm afraid I don't know the names of the plants. The main one was a relatively tall (about 5 foot) perennial with large-ish yellow flowers, which bloomed around mid-summer. There was also some bindweed and brambles. I'm thinking to be safe I should just try to remove as many roots as I can as I go.
The yellow one sounds like it might be Lysimachia punctata, which is a thug! If you have got that and bramble and bindweed in the same bed, you will never be 'safe' until you have got rid of every bit of them. With very thorough and repeated weeding you might overcome the first two, but bindweed is harder because its roots go so deep, and your soil will not help you there.
The best way to remove the bramble and Loosestrife roots is not to break them into little bits, which will result in dozens of new plants, but to track and follow the roots so you can remove them competely, but it is unlikely this will work for bindweed.
To be honest, weedkiller might be you best bet, much as I hate to say
it, but that requires the plants to be in active growth, which is not
what you want either!
You have some decisions to make I'm afraid. Nobody says gardening is easy, but it does feel good when you finally make progress
Did the yellow one have daisy like flowers? Could be one of the tall rudbeckias which are quite vigorous. I think you really need to dig up and get rid of all the roots you can if you want to start from scratch.
Then dig in manure as previously advised.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
I agree with @Buttercupdays. You clearly have some persistent weeds if you have bindweed and brambles, and if it is yellow loosestrife, that can be just as bad. Brambles can often be dug out, but if it was mine, I'd wait until there's enough growth to use a good weedkiller. You may need a few applications, and you'd also need to keep an eye on any returning bindweed etc, as it's probably coming from a neighbouring site. There are occasions where weedkiller is the best approach, and I don't like using it any more than anyone else, but if it's a big area, you'll just be disheartened because, by the time you get to the end of a bed, the stuff at the other end will start re growing.
If you have a photo of the site, that will help with advice too. It's often difficult to visualise the size of the area or the general site otherwise.
Apologies for the confusion earlier - I thought it was weeds you were meaning when you talked about digging out roots, and then it seemed you had plants you wanted to keep. We got there in the end!
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
Patience, as @TheGreenMan says, is also needed, but even in wet cold areas, it's surprising how quickly it improves. Done it more times than I care to remember.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Are the perennials in good condition? Are they where you want them? You can dig them up and divide them, keeping the vigorous, young bits and chucking away old material. While they are out of the ground, fork in lots of muck, then replant.
If you are happy with them as they are, the best thing is to mulch regularly and feed in Spring. The soil will improve over time.
I'm sorry I got the wrong idea!
That changes things enormously. You'd need to dig them up and keep them somewhere.
However, if you don't like any of them, putting a load of organic matter on top will see most of them off. A good 6 inches or so would do.
Some might survive, but it'll depend on what they are.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Breaking them up could simply encourage more plants, because most perennials benefit from division. If they were completely annihilated it might work, but it's virtually impossible to determine without knowing what they are.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Then dig in manure as previously advised.
There are occasions where weedkiller is the best approach, and I don't like using it any more than anyone else, but if it's a big area, you'll just be disheartened because, by the time you get to the end of a bed, the stuff at the other end will start re growing.
If you have a photo of the site, that will help with advice too. It's often difficult to visualise the size of the area or the general site otherwise.
Apologies for the confusion earlier - I thought it was weeds you were meaning when you talked about digging out roots, and then it seemed you had plants you wanted to keep. We got there in the end!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...