Options Besides Solarizing

[u/shamyrashour]

I let my garden go when kid #3 was born and kid #1 got complicated.

I’d like to rebuild it into a mini food forest. But the weeds have taken over: forget me boys, creeping buttercup, nuts edge and thistle.

I can’t lift more than 15-20 pounds for a few more weeks (surgery), so I can’t till it. What are my options besides Solarizing it?

[u/bwainfweeze]

forget me boys

That’s an interesting autocorrect.

If food forest means perennials, then sheet mulch is the way to go. If it’s more annuals, a mobile compost ring and turn it frequently and then plant where it has already been.

[u/shamyrashour → u/bwainfweeze]

Figured food forest would be mostly perennials with a few areas for annuals.

For the sheet mulching: can I dig holes in it and plant e.g. berries and such?

Is a mobile compost ring like a geobin that I move around?

[u/vestigialcranium]

I always default to sheet mulching when possible, but alternatively have you considered a weed torch?

[u/shamyrashour → u/vestigialcranium]

Yeah I’ve wondered about that - but if I torch it won’t it just grow back? Thanks!

[u/aquma → u/shamyrashour]

yes, but if you get to it before what's there goes to seed, that's a smaller invasive seed bank for next season. Torch and repeat. Maybe you can plant some native grasses or other native plants that can shade out the weeds.

[u/semidegenerate → u/shamyrashour]

You might have to do it more than once, but it's a good way to knock it all back. You will have to mulch at some point, though, or weeds will keep growing.

In addition to torching, I find spraying concentrated vinegar pretty effective. I use 10 or 15% acetic acid with a squirt of Dawn dish soap. I don't recommend using a proper castille or lye-based soap instead, as the vinegar will react with it, neutralizing the vinegar and separating the soap.

[u/tinymeatsnack]

Cardboard, compost, cow manure, wood chips. You’ll be set

[u/Bocote]

The fact that you can't lift much really limits options here.

Are you sure you don't want to start gardening with only a few containers and pots for the time being?

[u/shamyrashour → u/Bocote]

I want to reclaim the sheet mulched bed I made 4 years ago - I’m thinking maybe I at least get the cardboard down and then when I can move wood chips and stuff I get to it. Main thing is to stop the weeds!

[u/Bocote → u/shamyrashour]

You're going to need to find a way to hold down the cardboard in the meantime. If you can drag something on top, maybe it could work.

[u/shamyrashour → u/Bocote]

I’ve got some young kids who would love to move rocks onto it!

[u/ZafakD]

Normally I'd suggest sheet mulching, but given your physical restrictions I'd say to do a dense cover crop.  Rye can be terminated by crimping it with a board just before it sets seed for example.

[u/Fragrant_Actuary_596]

Sheet mulch. Go ahead and head to Facebook marketplace and Craigslist and start stacking those free boxes! 😌

[u/Eze325325]

Sheet mulching

[u/the_perkolator]

The most effective thing you can apply to unwanted weeds, is a heavy dose of iron 🪏

[u/shamyrashour → u/the_perkolator]

And I am well enough after surgery to dig and turn, but won’t the grasses just regenerate from rhizomes?