Clearing ground / weedkiller prior to laying new turf

Acc72

Hi All,

I have an old garden (mostly weeds .....) and want to dig this over and replace with turf.

What is the best weedkiller to apply when I have dug them out - just to make sure that I have killed them all before laying the new turf.

I have looked in B&Q etc. but there seems to be so many to choose from.

I also presume that as long as I let the ground settle, the weedkiller would not cause any problems for the turf I lay on top ?

angelavdavis

Go for a glyphosate based weedkiller - this affects the existing plants but doesn't actually poison the soil so you can plant after the original grass is dead.

computerwoman

rule of thumb with gardening weedkiller's once you use weedkiller the ground cannot normally be used for up to 12 month's, I would rotovate it then you know you've got it all out,
cw.

pboae

We hired a flamethrower, burnt all the weeds down, dug the ashes into the ground, then went over it again with the flame thrower to kill any seeds that had been turned up. Then used a rotavator and once over again with the flame thrower to kill any seeds. Then the lawn got laid on top.

Solomon_Broad

pboae wrote: »

We hired a flamethrower, burnt all the weeds down, dug the ashes into the ground, then went over it again with the flame thrower to kill any seeds that had been turned up. Then used a rotavator and once over again with the flame thrower to kill any seeds.

Is it wrong that this sounds like great fun to me?

Anything that you apply to kill them, once you've actually dug them out, will need at least 6 months to dissipate. These sort of weedkillers hang around in the soil, to make sure that there is no regrowth. If you lay a lawn on that, it'll obviously kill it quite quickly. As someone said upthread, a glyphosphate based weedkiller will kill the weeds, including the root, so you don't get any regrowth, but you can lay straight away, once the weeds are fully dead.

computerwoman

pboae wrote: »

We hired a flamethrower, burnt all the weeds down, dug the ashes into the ground, then went over it again with the flame thrower to kill any seeds that had been turned up. Then used a rotavator and once over again with the flame thrower to kill any seeds. Then the lawn got laid on top.

that's about the root of thing's and good fun too.
cw.

Woby_Tide

computerwoman wrote: »

rule of thumb with gardening weedkiller's once you use weedkiller the ground cannot normally be used for up to 12 month's, I would rotovate it then you know you've got it all out,
cw.

not if it's systemic weedkiller

we used Roundup from B&Q(glysophate based), did a couple of sprays about a week apart, rotovated, resprayed again on anything the rotovator had turned up then laid turf couple of days later

BUBBLES_3

Why use a weedkiller at all? You must dig over the ground anyway so why not lift them out as you dig and compost them. you can make sure you get the roots out from docks and dandilions, couchgrass etc. put these in the dustbin or burn them. Weedkiller is an un necessary expense and a risk to the soil. You'll find that when you have prepared the bed for turfing, after a week a thin layer of new weeds will emerge which just need hoeing off. this is because seeds have varying emergence times over years to ensure they survive extremes of weather. Old gardening say - one years weeds = seven years seeds!