Weeding out garden-bed

I would never spray weed killer in a bed you want to grow herbs and veggies in. Just pull the weeds out by hand

razorblade705 wrote: ↑ Our house has a garden bed in the backyard, that wasn't really well taken care of by the previous owners - it's mostly all weeds with a raspberry bush in it as well.
We'd like to grow some herbs/ veggies this summer.. wondering how best to go about the de-weeding process.

Is it safe to spray a ton of weed-killer, and then plant seeds after a while? Or is there maybe a more natural solution that would not contaminate the seeds/ plants?

Dig out the soil and you will be able to separate the weeds and roots of the stuff that you want to toss out (paper bag it in the yard waste bags).

The soil in the current garden bed ... shovel out (not all) ... reuse the soil on the lawn as it gives more soil for your grass to grab onto for a thicker stronger yard.

Buy bags of triple mix and some cattle manure ... i normally go with a 3-1 mix ... 3 triple mix + 1 cattle manure.

Then turn over the new soil every few days with the warmer sun and temperatures before planting.

Every spring ... I prep my vegetable garden that way ... with fresh soil. Normally after about 2 weeks of the fresh soil being in the garden then I begin planting (after Victoria Day).

Three main options:

Get some thick black plastic or cardboard and cover the bed over. Leave it for a couple of months until the weeds have all died. Get a garden fork and dig it over, adding some manure/compost as you dig - no need to remove the soil first. May not be the ideal scenario if you have raspberries already in it.

Get cardboard and cover the bed, then add ~4” compost/ well rotted manure and plant straight into it (look up “no dig” gardening for a more detailed overview).

Get a garden fork and dig the bed over, turning the soil and removing the weeds as they are loosened from the soil (mixing in compost/manure). Ideally you want a fork, not a spade as the latter just doesn’t work as well and can create more problems if you have perennials that grow by root (couch grass etc).

Unless the soil is really bad (I.e 100% clay or sand, very rare) then adding nutrients like compost or manure is all you need to do. People get too carried away removing dirt.

jdmfishingonly wrote: ↑
Every spring ... I prep my vegetable garden that way ... with fresh soil. Normally after about 2 weeks of the fresh soil being in the garden then I begin planting (after Victoria Day).

About your vegetable garden, do you have any problems with animals eating your veggies?

kimmelite wrote: ↑ About your vegetable garden, do you have any problems with animals eating your veggies?

Yup ... I have plenty of rabbits running around ....

I wrap off the garden with a tall mesh (around 24" high) each year after planting ... they never get in.

I toss the veggie ends in shreads (when prepping dinner) in to the backyard to feed them ... they in turn leave their droppings ... which is natural fertilizer for my backyard lawn ... I don't need to fertilize it ... its a great trade off.

They leave droppings all over include the flower beds around the roses and all the other plants ...

Andy34 wrote: ↑ Get cardboard and cover the bed, then add ~4” compost/ well rotted manure and plant straight into it (look up “no dig” gardening for a more detailed overview).

Get a garden fork and dig the bed over, turning the soil and removing the weeds as they are loosened from the soil (mixing in compost/manure). Ideally you want a fork, not a spade as the latter just doesn’t work as well and can create more problems if you have perennials that grow by root (couch grass etc).

Thanks.. those two seem like the best options. Appreciate the response!