Landscaping advice please

[PaDisney02]

Landscaping is going to be the death of me! I feel as if every year I spend tons of money and time into lanscaping and it always gets ruined! Heres me dilema....I have a hill in my yard. On the hill I have srubs and mulch around them. In June we just layed new paper down and put mulch on the hill (approx 7 large bags) and right now it looks like a jungle out there! I admit...I'm not the best with keeping up with pulling weeds but it is crazy how quick they take over. How often do other people tend to their landscaping? how often do you pul weeds from your yard?

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I have heard of a product named round up. It is supposed to kill weeds. Has anyone ever used this? I'm worried if I spray the round up on the weeds it will kill my shrubs as well.

Do you think my weed isues have anything to do with the type of paper I am laying down under the mulch? I'm using black weed barrier paper.

Thanks

 

[java]

When we did ours the guys used the black PLASTIC stuff. And the weeds don't get through- except near where they overlapped the plastic. and on the edges. But really not so bad.
Roundup didn't work for us. I think you just need a better barrier.

Oh and soaker hoses go UNDER the weed barrier to water properly.

 

[minkydog]

Roundup works very well, but you have to put so much on the weeds it will kill off your shrubs, unless you are careful to pour it into a container and just paint the individual weeds (like I'm gonna do that) I don't know what to tell you to do. We gave up and called a landscaper. For a few hundred dollars he made plans for the front yard. He was very knowledgeable about xeroscaping, so he reduced the size of our lawn, killed off the weeds, and planted shrubs and plants that are native to Georgia. That was 2 years ago and we have lost a grand total of *1* shrub since then(out of over 100.) IMO, well worth what we paid. In fact, we liked it so well(and so did our neighbors!) that we had them come and do the backyard too.

 

[Plantlady]

I use a few layers of newspaper, then mulch. It stops a ton of weeds.

 

[AlleyKat]

I mulched several months ago and have just now started to see a few weeds pop up.

This is the first year that I laid "yard fabric" over areas that had weeds as the horrendous rains kept "feeding" them and it prevented me from getting the areas tended to.

I've seen no weeds in the "fabric" area, just a few coming through here and there within this past week.

My mulched areas used 6 yards of mulch, not just a few bags SO I would think your weed problem may stem from trees overhead dropping seeds, trampling on or near the shrubs, things of that nature.

One culprit could be your mower. NEVER have the lawnmower shute facing a mulched or garden area while cutting. Always have the shute facing away from those areas as weeds, seeds of any kind, some grasses, anything has the potential to re-seed itself!

 

[suejai]

I'm not a big fan of mulch. I know all the arguments for using it, but I found I had more weeds when I had mulch. I tend to go on a big rampage of weeding when it gets really bad - it seems like I'm always weeding. We used to use Round Up but it has been banned here. Right now I have a grip on it and find if I use a scuffle hoe once a week it keeps them at bay.

The fabric breaks down after a couple years, and the plastic is good but if you want to plant more things in the bed it can get awkward.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Do you have a picture?

So you are saying that you are having weeds come in around the shrubs under the mulch, right?

7 bags of mulch seems pretty thin to me. How many shrubs are you mulching?

Your mulch should be at least 3 inches thick. I prefer 5 inches.

How is your grass on the hill? Is it grass or full of weeds?

I pull weeds daily, takes me 5 mins. Esp. cannot let the crabgrass go to seed in your yard if you have it.