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You know, in my grassy/weedy area, I saturated it with water and then waited a few hours. Then I went out and pulled the grass and weeds and they easily came up roots and all. It took very little time as these things go. It was much easier to till too.
Good to know about the thread-like roots. I was kind of worried. I have been dealing with weed sprouts in my garden. There are quite a few, but I just try to deal with them as they come up.
if doing it by hand use a garden fork to loosen the soil as you are pulling the weeds it works much better than just pulling or turning.
as to being too late, that is nonsense, this season you could even plant through strips of commercial barriers to keep the area directly around your new plants weed free...
next year should be fine, but you can definitely have plenty of crops this year.
20 X 20 is not terribly huge. Is the ground soft? If it is, use a garden fork and get after it.
It's going to take a while, but it can be done. How old are you? When I was younger I used to have a huge plot.
This year I just did two 8X4 raised beds. Didn't take me long to dig them out. Weeds weren't as tall, but don't think oh the length of the weed, you are just digging up the root.
I found mulching with cypress mulch kept the weeds out and soil soft. Good luck. You can do it! A garden fork is your friend.
Not cool at all. Do you get the same plot year after year? If so, break it up into small batches of work. (If not, walk away--that's ridiculous.)
If plot has ever been gardened, you can easily irrigate & pull those weeds out with gloved hands. It may not be, as bad as, it looks.
Remove all that plant matter & get rid of it. You may have to weedeat to get volume down after you get the big stuff removed. Weedeating will release any seedpods, so best if grass only. Then lay down newspapers, rolled black plastic, or whatever blocks light to fully kill rest of grass for later removal.
Make yourself a small area of clean well worked soil & plant something right away to keep your spirits up.
Then each day go back to where you are blocking grass growth & pull out weeds and grass to clear a new spot...plant. Move to next section next time. I'd plant some annual herbs & salad greens & simple care-- fast enjoyment radishes, carrots, peas to start & some edible & nonedible flowers.
You will have to block future weed regrowth between rows with newspaper or landscape fabric. I have used rolled roofing (dented on sale cheap from building supply) for none muddy pathways.
I agree with the black plastic. Those weeds will die and mulch great for next year. You might add organic matter (horse poo, etc) then the plastic. Or even leave a corner available where you can shove your veggie peels under the plastic during the year. THEN I'd seriously do the straw bale planting. Straw is pretty cheap (don't buy hay, it costs more). The bales will hold down the plastic. You can plant whatever will grow this time of year where you live. Google straw bale gardens.
I found a great site... 2015 Best Planting Dates Calendar for New Haven, CT. We're moving and there's no time for me to plant anything but this is great, just plug in your city and you may find something you can plant. Lettuce, radishes... etc.
It's exciting!! Don't kill yourself on those weeds.
Forget the plastic; that ends up being a mess. I think several people have already posted about the cardboard and straw method, then putting mulch/manure on top of that and planting in that. You can Google "no till gardening" or "lasagna gardening" other names for this. I'm doing it in my garden this year, tired of fighting weeds. I
So far, with about a 12 X 15 area it has taken LOTS of cardboard (but cheap, easy to find), 6 bales of straw (cheap but messy to transport in a car) and at least 15 bags of manure/compost. It's a big investment of time and some money but should pay off with the much smaller amount of upkeep needed.
You know, in my grassy/weedy area, I saturated it with water and then waited a few hours. Then I went out and pulled the grass and weeds and they easily came up roots and all. It took very little time as these things go. It was much easier to till too.
Good to know about the thread-like roots. I was kind of worried. I have been dealing with weed sprouts in my garden. There are quite a few, but I just try to deal with them as they come up.
Forgot all about this. I soaked an iris bed once before digging it up. Worked well.
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