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Help with controlling weeds

The back third of our garden is planted with mature fruit trees, but is very overgrown with nettles, brambles and other weeds. There are quite a few mounds, as well as lots of roots.

My plan was to cut the weeds down, lay membrane over them and then add soil on top. I'll then scatter some wildflowers on top of the soil.

A few people have suggested that we'd need a huge amount of soil in order to allow space for the roots - how deep will I need to have the soil? Would it be best to try and get rid of all the weeds and wait and then just add soil without the membrane?

I want to keep it looking natural and a little woodland-y, so it won't have lots of plants, but I don't want to spend ages down there weeding.

Posts

  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,023

    If you want wildflowers then membrane is not a good idea. If the brambles and nettles aren't dealt with and got rid of they will sent roots sideways which will crawl along under the membrane and pop out at the edges. A lot of wild flowers won't want to grow in the shade of the trees or the dry earth under them, so you need to research what to plant.

    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • highhopeshighhopes Posts: 6

    Thanks. Looks like we're going to have a few seasons of serious weeding on our hands then.

    In terms of the plants, would I be better going with bulbs like bluebells etc?

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