smothering old flower bed with black plastic

[flatlander52]

FINALLY!! Someone who knows what I'm talking about!
Thanks, J&Em! Those 2 links were very helpful and interesting! I just didn't know to look up the word 'solarization'
Thanks, Butterfly, for your input, too!

To some of the other posters.......
I already said I'm not going to dig it up. I can't. I'm 53 and have some physical problems. And even if I could, I do not want to disturb the soil right next to my 112 year old foundation! Besides, there are TONS of stubborn, deep roots. Why make it harder than it has to be??

I will spray RoundUp soon. Then, when the days get hot, I will cover it all tightly with the plastic for a couple months. Then I want to plant only 3 small shrubs and lay down some mulch for a nice clean look. This whole bed is next to my house and visible from the street.

[J&Em]

You are welcome. Good luck with it. The further north you live the longer it takes and the less chances of full success. It will most likely take a bit of repeat effort and some elbow grease to get rid of invasive weeds. If you can't apply the elbow grease for whatever reason you will most likely need to become friends with products like Roundup.

[FW transplant]

I think plastic will harm the soil, so I don't recommend it. You want good soil later.

I've used 2-3 layers of overlapping newspapers, topped with mulch to hold them down, and waited a few months until all growth is dead and the roots are weak. Summer is best because of the heat, so it may not take too long. Just check occasionally and see how it's progressing.

I'm not impressed with roundup. I sprayed it on bermuda grass and the grass turned yellow, but didn't kill it. After awhile, the grass turned green again.

[pocketdrumz]

Roundup? Are you serious? Chemicals aplenty in the soil. NO thanks...I think the reason most people are wanting to use plastic in the first place is to get the job done neatly, efficiently and ORGANICALLY! I have cut open some heavy black plastic garbage bags and stapled them securely and tightly (overlapping) across the top and sides of a grass-infested raised bed. I will let the heat of the sun do its magic. Afterwards, I will replenish the soil with good organic compost and re-plant~

[NYC refugee]

Cardboard works, too, and unlike plastic, it won't do any harm when and if it finally decomposes. I used newspaper around a small tree, just cut layers of it into circles and put it around and used bricks to hold down the edges. It looks like I made a nice little bed for the tree and it has no weeds directly around the trunk and no problem getting water through. You can't tell it's newspaper from a few feet away. You really never need to remove it, either.

No matter what you use (besides RoundUp), there's a chance weeds will just start to grow on top of your sheeting and mulch after a while.