How to Stop Overgrowth Behind Garage

[Brian]

My detached garage is only a few feet from my neighbor's detached garage and every summer there is a ton of overgrowth of weeds and little trees between and behind our garages. I spend several hours a week pulling weeds and cutting things just to keep it under control. This is not an area that is viewable from the street, but I don't want the weeds and trees damaging my garage. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to limit the growth of this stuff and cut down on the amount of maintenance I have to do to keep it under control? Any ideas will be appreciated. Thanks for your help!

Thanks,

Brian

[Doug Kanter]

My neighbor had the same problem. Her soil was easy to cultivate in that spot, so she got a weeding tool which cut the growth UNDER the soil line, which is what YOU have to do, to begin with. When winter finally killed everything, she cleaned up as much as possible and put down a layer of pond liner. Places that sell pond supplies can sell you the stuff from a roll, so you can buy as much as you need. It's black, thick rubber (or some material) that's extremely tough. Lay that down and cover with paving stones or whatever fits your budget. Even a few bags of mulch would be enough to keep the rubber in place. In my neighbor's situation, just an occasional weed pokes up around the edges, but it's rare.

[paghat]

Put cardboard boxes down to smother all plant life, & cover the cardboard with fully composted manure so it looks humusy & pleasant Almost nothing will seed in pure manure compost because it would need to be mixed with dirt to be suitable for plant growth.

A year later, when the cardboard is worm-eaten to nothing, upturn the by-then plant-free soil & work the manure into the soil a bit, then plant a sturdy shade-tolerant one to two-foot-tall groundcover such as Pachysandra which can keep anything else from growing in that spot. I'm assuming it's a shady spot; if it's sunny you'd have even more choices groundcovesr or creeping vines. This method should result in the area rarely ever needing further attention.

You could alternatively arrange some flagstones to create a little path & fill the area with space-appropriate perennials or dwarf evergreen trees or swordferns -- turning it into a real garden instead of unused ground that just invites weeds.

-paghat the ratgirl

[Philip Lewis]

yup... pond liner, layers of newspapers, weed barrier, concrete, etc.

you want a barrier that they won't grow through.

Things to consider: Where is the runnoff going to go if you use a less permiable barrier? What kind of monitary/time investment do you want to make? With anything "permanent" think about local codes. (since this is a property border)

good luck.

[Doug Kanter]

Into the neighbor's garage. :-)

Probably a good reason to use some sort of paving tiles instead of little stones. But, if the neighbor's amenable to whatever is done, why worry? If one neighbor or the other sells the house, the new owner can be consulted as to whether they'd like the stones/pond line/whatever left in place, or if they'd prefer a sumac hell.

[Ron Hardin]

Get a scythe with a brush blade and work is reduced to mere seconds ...

the ``outfit'' with the 16" Styria Brush Blade rather than a grass blade, for close work. Also they have to substitute the ring to accommodate this heavier blade (ask for this).

I mention it because I find it a great hobby for the moment.

Just the slightest movement of this blade takes out light brush, there's no swinging or hacking. Outfit comes with sharpening stone. This is one case where a scythe is faster than a motor.

I assume you're not also interested in also scything the lawn (instead of mowing), or I'd recommend some grass blades too.

If you also want to take out grass behind the garages, order later a short grass blade, if the brush blade isn't quick enough for you. It's not designed for mowing but will work, just a little slowly if there's much area.

[Philip Edward Lewis]

of course paghat's "impermiable layer" of groundcover is great too.... it'll likely look much nicer, but will likely require at least a little more work over time. I've not alot of expereance with the groundcovers in that enviroment, but i know i've seen weeds, etc popping through some pretty thick stuff.

[Vox Humana]

Once the weeds are under control why not just run the lawn mower over they area when you mow. It will keep everything very short.

[Doug Kanter]

I agree, but try and poke through pond liner sometime. It seems to be somewhat fibrous - hard to cut even with tin snips.

[Vox Humana]

There will be weeds in groundcover, especially the first few years. Eventually, they will all but disappear. You can use a preemergent herbicide to control annual weeds. Preen has a formulation for groundcover. The worst situation is when you get a vining weeds in a vining groundcover. I have an area of vinca that became invaded with a sequence of wild honeysuckle, then persicaria, and finally wild strawberry. I still get the occasional volunteer tree or perennial in the area, but they are easy to control. Hostas are one of the best groundcovers for me. They block out the sun so completely that I never get weeds in areas that are thickly planted with hostas. There are hostas that will grow in about any condition with the exception of standing water, especial in winter. I find that gold standard is a good grower and it will brighten a shady area. Lancifolia also grows like a weed as does aureo-marginata and undulata mediovariegata. I get good results with hosta shade fanfare in full sun. Lancifolia also thrives in full sun but does equally well in mostly shade.

[Zemedelec]

My candidate: liriope--grasslike, short, but it has those pretty pale purple flowers from time to time, loves shade, and wipes out everything else in its path. zemedelec

[Doug Kanter]

Will it strangle dogs?

[Vox Humana]

Ajuga is another good one and it comes in several colors and has flowers in the spring.