Got Weeds?

Because we have several large patches of bare dirt in our backyard (in various places), we have several large patches of weeds.  I don’t mind pulling the bigger weeds, but sometimes there are a lot of small ones, and they are a pain to pull.

So I thought I’d share with you a little trick to kill large patches of weeds without a lot of effort…and no…it doesn’t involve Round-Up :)

I did this just over the weekend because I will leave it through the winter and hopefully have some nice, somewhat-amended dirt in the spring – weed free of course!

First – the weeds.

Next: some compost.  I sifted this through my little compost screen.  You could also use grass clippings or mulch as well. 

Then:  lay down newspaper, at least 4 pages thick.  Cover all weeds and overlap the edges.  Then soak it with the hose.  The idea here is to smother the weeds.

Finally, cover up your newspaper with compost/mulch/grass clippings/etc at least 2-3 inches thick.  This is an in-progress picture – you’ll want to completely cover all your newspaper.

   
This will smother your weeds and the newspaper will break down on its own.  It’s a great way to cover up a lot of weeds (and prevent their seeds from spreading this fall) and I can just let it sit all winter and break down.  Then in the spring, the weeds will be composted into the soil, no new seeds will have spread, and I can start planting in this area.  :)

Happy weeding!