dealing with a weedy overgrown garden

By why does it need to be quick and effective Whaley? Again, it's a home setup, so does it need to be rushed over in such a way ? Is it not a case of just pure laziness ?

No it's just a case of wanting it done effectively. The 'setting' (home, commercial or industrial) is irrelevant.

We used to live in a house with a gravel drive -- glyphosate stopped the many hundreds of weeds which sprung up weekly.

I'd argue it would be stupid to remove them all manually or with the branded on-shelf sprays and by no means lazy wanting it done in a targeted and effective manner.
 
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No it's just a case of wanting it done effectively. The 'setting' (home, commercial or industrial) is irrelevant.

We used to live in a house with a gravel drive -- glyphosate stopped the many hundreds of weeds which sprung up weekly.

I'd argue it would be stupid to remove them all manually or with the branded on-shelf sprays and by no means lazy wanting it done in a targeted and effective manner.

Of course it's not irrelevant.

Can you explain why ground cover which inhibits light and encourages weeds to germinate is not a more desirable option than spraying glyphosate that is a toxic carcinogen ?
 
Of course it's not irrelevant.

Can you explain why ground cover which inhibits light and encourages weeds to germinate is not a more desirable option than spraying glyphosate that is a toxic carcinogen ?
When are you going to address that covering the ground isn't as fool-proof as you seem to think? It simply doesn't work on all weeds, and certainly wouldn't work on cwhaley's gravel path.
 
When are you going to address that covering the ground isn't as fool-proof as you seem to think? It simply doesn't work on all weeds, and certainly wouldn't work on cwhaley's gravel path.

When am I going to address that covering ground cover doesn't work on all weeds ? What plant doesn't need light to grow ?

Why are you deliberately trying to confuse Whaley's hypothetical gravel path scenario with the OPs lawned garden scenario? Completely different scenarios that you seem desperate to merge.
 
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When am I going to address that covering ground cover doesn't work on all weeds ? What plant doesn't need light to grow ?

Why are you deliberately trying to confuse Whaley's hypothetical gravel path scenario with the OPs lawned garden scenario? Completely different scenarios that you seem desperate to merge.
I've already told you about dormant weeds that do not die off with ground cover or spread like mad when attempt to dig up.
I'm not the one who says people are lazy if they use it, you are. I don't have a problem with select usage against difficult weeds.

Oh, and cwhaleys path wasn't hypothetical. Read again, he used to have one. Nobody is deliberately trying to confuse anything, I think you're the one who is confused. All he was doing was giving you an example where the chemical works best, nothing more.
 
Getting to sound a bit like GD with all this slandering. Lets keep that stuff over on GD eh?

Regarding geotherm weed suppressing material, I have a meadow next to my back garden and the borders of this field were broad expanses of nettles, (about 2-3 metres deep and about 3' high when we moved in over 3 years ago). After asking permission from the farmer I cut the nettles down to ground level and covered them with double layers of weed suppressor. On top of this I laid lengths of artificial grass which we removed from my son in laws new home so he could lay a new 'living' lawn. It looked great!
the following year the nettles were beginning to poke through the whole lot! Got talking to the farmer about it and he said, "Leave it to me, I'll send someone round." A few days later a tractor comes trundling across the meadow and a farm hand calls. He wanted to check what plants etc we had near the boundary before spraying a weed killer. Careful spraying at close quarters ensured none of our plants were affected. The weed killer was industrial glyphosphate. It's now been 2 years and we have had the odd one try to rear it's ugly head, (BTW, the weed suppressor and fake grass was removed before spraying so it was bare soil underneath), but we can now treat them with off the shelf killers and the border of the meadow running alongside our garden is lush grass.
 
Wow.

I wasn't getting email updates on this thread, so I've only just caught up on all this spirited discussion :)

I appreciate the sentiment that chemicals are not necessarily the complete solution, and my problems can be fairly effectively divided into front and rear, where the scenarios are quite different:

Front
(9x9m ish area) There once was lots of ornamental planting, this was hacked and left rotting by the previous owners, I've since cleared the lot, all the dead and dying stuff, dug out several tree-stump, removed 1/2 ton of stones and got to a state which is mostly flat. This area will be used for parking/turning. There might be some low-maintenance planting on an edge or two, but this will be low priority and determined once I've figured out how we need to use the space. The ground is uneven from the remains of some raised beds and stump removal, so I'm considering rotivating to get the topsoil to an even consistency, then raking level and covering with geotextile, then gravel. This will be a 3-4 year stopgap solution as I later intend to pave properly with a harder surface. @scbk - I figure putting Type 1 down would be overkill as i don't know what preparation will be needed for the final surface, if I go permeable it'll all have to come out again.

This needs to be sorted relatively quickly, so I don't have time for a softly-softly approach

Back
This again had a lot of ornamental and or productive planting, a greenhouse, gooseberry bushes, raised sections with low stone walls, apple trees and lots of other stuff, the greenhouse has gone, and things have run rampant. I've started clearing some of the brambles and ivy, and dug out some of the ornamental grasses, but it's mostly untouched. I've two small boys that want space to run around, ride bikes and wrestle. @endecotp & @cwhaley - I want a clear level space in the main, turfed and maybe bordered with a bit of something low-maintenance. Whilst it would be nice to resurrect the exotic and varied planting of the previous residents, I don't have the time, knowledge or enthusiasm for tending it. I can mow a lawn, trim a hedge and that's as far as my motivation goes, I got too much other stuff on my plate.

@endecotp -The arum is not as extensive as I though, but it's in the wrong place and it's going, somehow, probably manually as I've been told it's pretty resistant to Glyphosate this time of year. I'll try to get some photos of it next time I'm out there in daylight. Its in an odd location, as you've stated I'd expect to find it in a shady area, but this is out in the open.

@sodthisforfun - I've done fresh turf in the past, and don't have an issue doing it again, but there's a lot more prep needed here as it'll be going over some pretty varied ground.
@HawkEye244 - I'm conscious of the chemicals I use, Glyphosate, if used, will be used sparingly, I've also been recommended Ammonium Sulphamate as an alternative, which on casual reading appears to have less environmental side-effects and may also prove effective in helping me get rid of a large tree stump.
 
Looking better already!! Good luck with it all :)

Thanks, since this photo I've dug out the stumps and remaining plants on the right, and removed the 'mound' in the middle. Hopefully I'll be rotivating and leveling this weekend, then I can get some textile down, as green shoots are starting to re-appear already.
 
Of course it's not irrelevant.

Can you explain why ground cover which inhibits light and encourages weeds to germinate is not a more desirable option than spraying glyphosate that is a toxic carcinogen ?

Sorry only just seen this!

For me glyphosate was totally appropriate and I'll always argue that for targeted applications it is appropriate. On a large driveway it worked.

I will however fully agree with you that it's toxic -- so much so I haven't used it since living at that address nearly 4 years ago. My garden now is 100ft long and was an overgrown mess when I got it. It took me nearly two years of hard graft to fully remove the bindweed, ivy and bramble because I wanted to save the mature shrubs and border plants which were struggling below it all. The original owner of the house had spent a lot of time developing that garden and subsequent owners had let it down.
 
Looks like the Lords and ladies arum to me, I'd get rid of it too. I don't think it's a particularly handsome plant anyway, despite being poisonous and all!
 

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