What implements to clear this overgrown garden?

Hey all,

So I've never done any real tilling work and I'm wondering what would be my best approach at clearing my heavily overgrown garden? When I purchased my home a little while ago I was told that a garden was originally underneath all the overgrowth you see in the pics. What kind of weeds am I looking at and how would you clear it? I only have access to non-powered implement being pulled by a 5hp walk behind tractor (Waterbury model H). A sickle mower is a possibility.



Any help would be greatly appreciated.


IMG_20170425_093916991.jpg


IMG_20170425_093939082.jpg


IMG_20170425_093956962.jpg


IMG_20170425_093924950.jpg


IMG_20170425_093911612.jpg
 
If it were mine I'd start with some Roundup and get rid of all that green stuff. How big an area do you have. There are people that do custom rototilling using small tractor and rototiller which would work
well. Would really help to see what is under all those weeds.
 
Can you hire someone with a tractor and plow to plow under all that vegetation? Then be ready to spray any re-growth with Roundup to kill anything that comes back.
 
Oh I should have mentioned the area size. It's only about 500-600sq feet. Supposedly was a vegetable/flower garden many years ago (maybe 10 years).

I have a tractor with land plow. It is a walk behind so I'm not sure of its power with weeds, but I was hoping that would be usable.

I'm not sure a rototiller would work well here. MA soil is full of rocks. I've never tried so I really don't know. Maybe a shallow cutting plow, 6 1/2 inch so it goes maybe 3 inches into the soil?
 
Cut it, rake it, and bale it. Take the bales down to a wash to reduce erosion if you don't have cows to eat it.

Seriously, I'd mow it to get in small pieces then run a roto tiller over it to get it into the soil for humus then a smoothing harrow to flatten
everything out.. Have done it several times and it is quick and works.
 
Wait until this year's growth is well under way then apply round-up. Wait two weeks till growth is dead then rototill. Given that the ground
is likely full of seeds let the growth start again and give it a second application of round-up. I am not sure you will have much of a garden
this year but as the farmer says, there is always next year.
If these pictures are recent you are fortunate. We still have snow and many farmers did not get last year's crop off the ground.
Best wishes
 
Ask around has to be someone in your neighborhood with a tiller or disk that works up gardens.They could take either and work your garden up in a hurry,I have way more cover crop to turn under every Spring than what is in your pictures and weeds are good to turn under also to increase soil tilth.Personally I stay away from the poisons being sprayed ever in my garden.
 
If it was a garden maybe the rocks were removed over the years. Since you already have the plow I would try that first. It's worth a shot. Do it before it gets
higher.
 

Cut the weeds down with a regular lawn mower, rake and pile for compost. I've cut far worse with a regular lawn tractor. Low gear and lots of clutching.

Use your walk behind with plow to turn it over.
 
I would hit it with Roundup and in two or three days mow it and then plow it under. It looks like stuff that will sprout from the roots and grow after plowing if not killed first. After two or three days after Roundup it will not look dead but will not regrow from the roots.
 
Larger area, you have rocky soil, I'd try a tiller at shallow depths, or moldboard plow and disc harrow.

I've let thick carpet like growths of young pigweed get that tall and tilled it in. It's great for the soil being green manure. I've never seen any need to use any chemical weed killer in my vegetable gardens. I prepare the seed bed with my tiller on the small one, mold board plow and disc the larger one, then make grass hay off my untreated lawn and adjacent field. I collect with a lawn sweep and pile where needed, then cover the gardens with it, around the plants or to cover until I plant. Right now I have a swath of it laid down where I will plant sweet corn. It's a fresh cutting and was dried 2 days then collected up with the sweep. It's rained on/off for 2 days and that will wash in the nutrients into the soil. It has significant nitrogen when laid in thick. I piled a couple of loads one time, at the end of my corn patch around corn that was hurting for nitrogen, those stalks turned dark green, grew tall, and had 2 ears each of some very good sweet corn. The rest of the row did not produce. The soil was lacking fertility. It's the simplest solution, I get no weeds from dry hay grass I make myself. No new weed seed early in the season. Keeps the soil moist and once it breaks down, just till it in. If it lasts a season, pile it up re-use then til in. I don't like tilling in bleached straw like mulch, it's mostly carbon and will rob nitrogen. I've used all kinds of baled hay as well, 2nd cut, first, mulch, lay it down thick and be done. Easier if you can get what you need in bales, but I do enjoy making my own.
 

I am with Dick2 and DickL. Get someone to come in and turn it over with a moldboard plow. That will put all the weeds and their seeds under 4-6 inches of soil where it is tougher for them to come up. In addition the weeds will decompose in the ground providing "green manure" which will help both your tilth and fertility. Rototilling gives you a nice looking smooth soft surface that is easier to plant in. But it distributes your weed seeds and rhizumes and gives your weeds a big boost. Your county extension service should be able to give you names of some guys that go around plowing gardens.
 
Wow, thank you all very much for the information! Those are just the responses I needed.

So I would like to try without chemicals first. If the weeds keep coming back it seems Roundup is the weapon of choice for most people. I don't plan on using the garden this year, rather get it ready for next year and put my plants in pots for now.

This weekend I plan to remove all the random debris that's been collecting over the years. I do have a regular lawn mower so I think I'll give that a try with the weeds first. Just to get the weeds lower and more manageable. If that works out I'll grab the moldboard plow and try to till from there. I'm hoping to get a disc harrow soon so if it looks good after plowing I'll run over the soil with that. Then it looks like I'll be on weed patrol for awhile haha.

If all else fails there is a horse farm down the road that advertises rototilling, but I'd rather do the work myself. :)
 
another option as you dont want to use roundup, flatten everything down the best you can and cover the whole garden with a roll of black plastic from the lumber yard. stake it down so it doesnt blow away and let it cook for a month. should kill everything that is growing, and the extra heat should cause any seeds to sprout and die. then burn the weeds and debris off.
 
I would use a shovel or a digging fork, if I was doing it. Turn it over and pull out the weeds, then make a compost pile with them. Somewhat laborious but not that bad.
Zach
 
In your picture 2 , the "sticks" are black raspberry plants. In picture 3 you have a very difficult to control plant/weed known as Mugwort. Glyphosate (Round-up) knocks it back and you will think it is dead , but it comes back from rhizomes.I have kept areas of it covered with black plastic for two years straight then removed plastic and the mugwort returned. Spray it with glyphosate and when new growth sprouts, dig them out being careful to remove all plant parts above and below ground, especially all the rhizome roots. Put them in a paper feed bag in a shelter and when they are dry, burn bag and all. Did I say mugwort is difficult to control? I cannot identify the three leafed plants or the grassy plants. Perhaps they are some type of garden plants the previous owner had growing. I do not see any Poison Ivy. I would think it would be too early for it to be growing that large in Mass. as there is none showing leaves here in NC as of yet.
Picture included in this post is Mugwort , also known as Wild Chrysanthemum .
It has a very pungent odor when plant parts are crushed.
a158399.jpg
 
I'm not sure round up would work on that. I believe I would use a mixture of 24D and round up, As 1 reader said, it will come back time after time and round up won't get rid of it by its self. Looks like it can be terrible to eliminate. Just my thoughts, Keith
 
If you can get it Tordon RTU will kill everything right down to the roots. It will even kill Kudzu after
several applications. But, read the directions carefully. Even after using Roundup and 2,4,D, every time
you till or disturb the earth you will bring weed seeds back to to sprout..... forever. The black plastic
idea will cook the seeds close to the surface. If your soil is sandy with few stones a cheaper front tine
rototiller will work pretty good. Just be aware that you will create a hardpack line at the bottom of
your till depth and will need a chisel plow or subsoiler to break it up at some point.

OR GOATS! They will eat the weeds to the point where they kill them. Often the best treatment for Kudzu.
And, they are funny as hell to watch, especially if you don't build a super fence.

Bill
 
I didn't even think of a no-till type a deal with the black plastic. That's a super neat idea. It might not work for my situation, but I'll keep that in the back of my mind.

Weldon K, thanks for identifing the weeds!! Now that I know what I'm dealing with I'll research and plan accordingly.
Seems I might be using a little bit of everyone's methods to figure this one out. Speaking of which, WNYBILL I wish I could keep goats, haha.

So I take it I should not till the mugwort back into the soil, correct?
 
Im sorry, Im lousy at math. Whats the sq footage of the garden, 40 X 60?
Think id be afraid to eat anything off of ground that was sprayed with any chemicals
Id find somebody who advertised plowing gardens, and have him do it with a real 4 wheel tractor and
plow. Even at that, youll have your hands full keeping those weeds down if after you plant a
garden. Think id do like was said, plow/disc/harrow it then plant buckwheat or something like it.
Plow that down when its around 2ft high, and if its too late for a fall garden, plant it again with
sudan grass, and plow it down when its around the same highth. Youll have a fantastic garden next
year ready to go.
 
(quoted from post at 19:41:35 04/27/17) Im sorry, Im lousy at math. Whats the sq footage of the garden, 40 X 60?
Think id be afraid to eat anything off of ground that was sprayed with any chemicals
Id find somebody who advertised plowing gardens, and have him do it with a real 4 wheel tractor and
plow. Even at that, youll have your hands full keeping those weeds down if after you plant a
garden. Think id do like was said, plow/disc/harrow it then plant buckwheat or something like it.
Plow that down when its around 2ft high, and if its too late for a fall garden, plant it again with
sudan grass, and plow it down when its around the same highth. Youll have a fantastic garden next
year ready to go.

Farmallb, We are in agreement about turning it over, but about the chemicals, are you alive? are you horribly sick? Have you always raised all of your own food? If you or your mother or wife have bought food at a grocery store you have been eating food grown on sprayed ground.
 
Why spray chemicals when its totally unnecessary? Chemicals have a longer long term effect than their supposed 'life'. There is nothing in that garden that can't be killed by a disk harrow,since he has all season just keep disking about every 3 or 4 weeks and
it'll let all the weed seeds germinate and the ones that come up can be turned back in as green manure.I couldn't care less about a few weeds coming up in my garden that's what the tillers and
cultivators are for and if a person is too lazy to hand weed out a few weeds between the rows they're too lazy to plant,harvest,preserve the produce out of a garden anyway.
 
" So I take it I should not till the mugwort back into the soil, correct? "
Correct. The only way that I have eradicated mugwort is by digging all plant parts from the soil and NEVER allowing it to grow to seed producing stage.
 
Thomasthetankengine - I'm over by the Comcast center (Mansfield)



(quoted from post at 20:17:17 04/30/17) Put a fence around it. Buy or borrow a couple pigs. Problem is over. Spray it, not me , not ever.

Yes that sounds like good fun haha. Definitely not a bad idea. I briefly looked around at animal rentals and people want so much money for a week of time!

--------------

So I had some time to go out and remove debris and chop down the weeds so I could see the debris. My lawn mower decided that it didn't want to start so I just used a weed Wacker. It worked, but took awhile. Most of the weeds are in a big pile waiting to be bagged and burnt/disposed of. Of course I only mean the leafy part of the weeds. The roots are still there. I plan to pull up as many as I can and then as others have suggested plow/disc every couple weeks throughout the season. I guess I'll see where that takes me for now. Thanks to you guys I have tons of ideas.
 
In addition to the mugwort previously identified, I also see significant growth of Bishop's Weed (also known as goutweed). This is going to be a real challenge to control, much less eradicate.

I don't believe you should start with an implement, especially since this is a relatively small garden plot. The job calls for hand tools, and hand labor...

The best way to reduce its presence in your garden is to use a spading fork, and turn the soil over one small patch at a time. Once that is accomplished, carefully pick out every single piece of root and vegetation that you can find. This weed propagates by sending underground shoots (actually rhizomes), and if you miss even a tiny piece, the weed will re-establish itself.

As others have said, make sure you collect and confine all of the roots/rhizomes/plant pieces, and then incinerate them.

It's very likely that you won't be able to clear the plot entirely of the weed at first, but as with many things in life, "Time, patience and perseverance will accomplish all things."

May also be advisable to lay down a black tarp after the growing season is concluded, to heat and deprive the shoots of light and moisture.

Caution: If you use a powered implement to till, you're just going to cut the roots/rhizomes into hundreds of small pieces, each of which will try to re-establish itself as a new growing plant.

That's my 2¢ worth. Hope you get good results and can plant a productive vegetable garden!
 

Hey thanks for identifing the other weed and the info on it. Today I took my shovel and turned over about 5 sq feet of the plot. You aren't kidding about how hard it's going to be haha. In that 5sq feet or so I think I got more roots than actual soil. Ill definitely have to take my time with this one. Even if I don't have a garden for a few years it'll still be worth it when it's growing :)

I think a good combination of hand tools and careful use of the a moldboard plow might work nicely. Perhaps I can make 1 furrow at a time and hand pick all the weeds out.
 
(quoted from post at 13:05:33 05/13/17) Even if I don't have a garden for a few years it'll still be worth it when it's growing.

Yes, it's a big job that you're undertaking, but the task will be SO much easier if you don't plan on having a vegetable garden this year.

If that is indeed the case, may I suggest this: Work the area with hand tools, picking out all vegetation as has already been suggested, and level the entire area once that's done.

After that, you can be sure that anything green that emerges from the soil is going to be an undesirable weed, and you can go around with a hand trowel or dandelion weeder and pick out the plants and roots. Having loosened the soil with a spade or spading fork, the shoots should pull out relatively easily, especially during the first week or two.

I've eradicated Bishop's Weed from an area next to my house; every day when I got home from work I'd check it for new growth and pull out any shoots and the roots (rhizomes) they were connected to.

Do this to your garden plot every couple of days at first, then once or twice weekly; by the end of the year you should have a weed-free plot, and you'll be able to plant vegetables next year.

Also worth noting that you should keep an eye out for Bishop's Weed in adjoining areas, and even if you can't dig it up, you can remove buds and blossoms to prevent development/dispersal of seeds.

If you manage to keep the area weed-free for a few weeks, lay down a dark tarp or a sheet of black plastic to prevent new weed seeds from blowing in and establishing a beachhead.

"Time, patience and perseverance will accomplish all things."
 

Thanks so much that was a very well written peice of advice. I've been turning over the soil and ripping out roots/vegetation as suggested. Then I've been putting all the roots/veg into bags that I'm leaving to dry. It looks pretty good right now, I can actually see the whole plot. I have not got all the roots so they have come back to about 1 inch sprouts in about 5 days. I will be removing those as soon as possible. And so on and so forth...haha. I didn't think it would be, but picking weeds is rather relaxing when the sun isn't too much. Now if I could only make a game out of it...

Now that I know bishops weed/mugwort I can identify them anywhere...and they're everywhere in my neck of the woods!
 
(quoted from post at 09:52:30 05/23/17)
Thanks so much that was a very well written peice of advice. I've been turning over the soil and ripping out roots/vegetation as suggested. Then I've been putting all the roots/veg into bags that I'm leaving to dry. It looks pretty good right now, I can actually see the whole plot. I have not got all the roots so they have come back to about 1 inch sprouts in about 5 days. I will be removing those as soon as possible. And so on and so forth...haha. I didn't think it would be, but picking weeds is rather relaxing when the sun isn't too much. Now if I could only make a game out of it...

Now that I know bishops weed/mugwort I can identify them anywhere...and they're everywhere in my neck of the woods!

I am glad that you are seeing how counter productive roto-tilling would be. Chances are that the previous owner of the property helped the weeds to get as thick as they are by having it roto-tilled.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top