# New England Gardening: An Exercise in Frustration? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 17, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-england-gardening-an-exercise-in-frustration/720245 "2015-05-17T16:45:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-england-gardening-an-exercise-in-frustration/720245/1 "2015-05-17T16:45:22Z")
I give up-the weeds invade my flower beds, even after pulling them and mulching. They seem well-adapted to drought-we have had very little rain here in April, and yet the weeds flourish. They even push their way through landscape cloth with 4 inches of gravel on top. In most places, you an put in a flower bed, and enjoy it for years-here, you pant it, and the weeds invade in the first year. The weeds are deep-rooted (hard to kill unless you get the whole thing), and prolific in throwing seeds-they seem to spread every day. And commercial weed killers do not seem to help-many of them turn brown for a while-then resume growing. What can I plant that will block these horrible weeds? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-england-gardening-an-exercise-in-frustration/720245/2 "2015-05-17T19:36:40Z")
When used with landscape cloth Round Up will\* eventually \*kill your weeds. So will individually painting them with bleach. If I correctly recall the bleach is the only thing that worked on the [joe pye weed](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutrochium). It is largely an act of frustration, though, and it took two and a half years of dedicated weed killing to convert formerly completely untamed sections along the end of my road into significantly less maintenance heavy flowerbeds. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-england-gardening-an-exercise-in-frustration/720245/3 "2015-05-17T19:42:07Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > What can I plant that will block these horrible weeds? More rocks, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-england-gardening-an-exercise-in-frustration/720245/4 "2015-05-17T23:39:25Z")
Mint of course! Of course some people consider it a horrible weed, which it is, but at least it’s edible and has pretty flowers. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-england-gardening-an-exercise-in-frustration/720245/5 "2015-05-18T02:49:22Z")
You’ll have to give up part of your garden for a while, but solarizing kills weed like nothing else. In essence, you cover your garden over with clear plastic, and basically let the sun steam/bake the weeds under the plastic. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-england-gardening-an-exercise-in-frustration/720245/6 "2015-05-18T14:28:32Z")
Unless, like I am, you’re dealing with bindweed vines. Nothing kills them. When you pull the vines out, any root remnants grow into new vines. And now they’re in my lawn. When I cut the grass, I’m basically helping the bidweeds to reproduce. Sure, I could use weed killer, but then I’d be killing everything else too. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-england-gardening-an-exercise-in-frustration/720245/7 "2015-05-18T14:40:45Z")
This is exactly what I’m dealing with now too. After some pool work trashed a bed I hoe’d it clean, applied week killer when stuff first started sprouting, laid weedblock fabric down, mulched very heavily (5-6") and then planted weeks later. Now I’ve still got some thin grass and blackberry vines poking through. Amazing. I guess I’ll keep selectively spraying with Roundup, using a piece of cardboard to keep it off the Gaura I want saved and eventually it’ll get there but what an extended chore it can be.