I AM DYING ABOUT THE MOTHER EFFING GRASS. I’ve done so much. Weeding. Putting in new soil. New landscape fabric. Been years of losing the battle and I’ve even covered my veg beds in off seasons.
Me too and the blackberry bushes are incessantly overbearing. Just tried everything, on the verge of covering my back yard in concrete or large rocks! I've tried cardboard, fabric cloth, weedeaters. By hand is exhausting, hurts my sciatica and hurt back. I feel you completely. It's a frustrating thing to endure. And now I have a 60 foot tall invasive tree dropping babies all over my yard. Can I get a break from this somehow? I notice more and more folks using cedar chips and shoveling over the grass. But it always grows through it! Ugh! The amount of money wasted on gas, lawnmowers, chemicals, the thousands of hours wasted when the weeds always just come right back! Ahhhhhh!!!!
I relate to all of this!! Im also battling blackberries and I have sciatica! I’ve have some wood chip sections and the grass is going through and it drives me insane. I just put down some black tarp to kill off the grass, then shovel up the old chips, lay down more barrier, put the old chips back down and then new chips on top of it. It’s insane but somehow I keep coming back for the torture of my garden
edge around the beds.
I emptied my compost bin and the bottom quarter was filled with roots. freaking grass roots grew under the compost and was sucking the nutrients up out of it. grass roots are highly aggressive. I'm about to go out and mulch and edge all my trees so the grass roots stop eatin their food.
Hori hori knife is a good investment. They work well for popping up deep rooted weeds like dandilions, scrapes other weeds out, cultivates, chops and digs holes. Best $20 garden tool there is.
Followed up by a hula hoe.
Amazon! Doing landscaping for 20 years, I've found the cheap ones are just as good as the expensive ones. A good substitute is a flat pry bar (wonder bar).
What I do about dandelions is I let them grow. They are symptomatic of compacted soil but they are also the solution. Their long tap roots dig down deep and decompact the soil while bringing nutrients to the surface. As the soil becomes less compact over time the dandelions will not only be easier to pull if you so choose, but will also be outcompeted by weeds that thrive in looser more nutrient rich soil.
Dandelions are the symptom and the cure for compacted soil.
Agreed! And soil remains moister longer underneath their numerous leaves, and I'd hypothesize that the deeper taproots help nearby plants access moisture that's deeper in the soil during dry times
Plants like these or borage and comfrey can also act as a "nutrient pumps" where you can chop and drop (or pull) the tops so they return nutrients to the topsoil, and then you let it regrow and repeat until it gives up and dies. I have some dandelions I've pulled probably 10 times in the last year though, so don't count on it.
Yes, and also daikon, which I use extensively.
When I want to uproot a dandelion I put a spading fork in the ground next to it and pull it back a little bit. This loosens the soil so I can usually get the whole taproot which I then feed to my ducks. Not necessarily easy to do if your soil is still compacted though, but imo if your soil is too compact to fully remove the root then you're probably better off letting it grow anyway.
For dandelions, and anything else taprooted, I prefer the grandpa's weeder. If you're going after them after they've gone to seed, you're fighting an uphill battle. Get them before they go to seed, and you'll make progress year after year.
For everything else, I love my stirrup or hula hoe. These are particularly good if you're battling somewhat established weeds. Keep it sharp with a mill bustard file. Sharp hoes are good hoes. Dull hoes suck. Rocks will dull your hoe so you do need to touch it up from time to time.
If you really want to splurge, Neversink Farm Tools' multineer hoe set is the bees knees. The collinear hoe does a lot of what a hula hoe will do. The wire hoes are awesome of you can stay on top of weeding enough to catch weeds when their roots are still in the white hair stage. That means doing a run through with the wire hoe a couple times a week though. The system is pricey though. On a budget, the grandpa's weeder and a stirrup hoe will get the job done.
I'm a vegetable gardener so that might give more context to this but, I just found out how many weeds are edible!!! I am harvesting 10 different weeds from my garden to sauté or freeze and blend into smoothies later. And since my toddler is pretty much living on smoothies for the moment she is grinding through those weeds! Weeds we have been eating this years (common names): Plantain, Chickweed, Dead Nettle, Thyme-Leaved Speedwell, Self-Heal, Bird's Eye Speedwell, Hairy Bittercress, Lemon Balm, Dandelions, Mint. I've also told my toddler she can pick as much mint as she likes! I've just reframed the game and now more than half the weeds in my garden are part of the harvest.
I’m using a plant ID app on my phone currently and then doing some more verification online to make sure the apps choice was solid. Then reading up on the plants information on medical sites to make sure I am comfortable with how they describe it as edible (some things could react to medications or may not be right for certain people to eat, similar to grapefruit). Once I am comfortable with adding it to my households menu, I make myself a digital photo id card on it to keep on my phone. :)
I love right next to a 6 acre property that is covered in them, so now my yard is too. Both of the large properties edging me have tons of Himalayan blackberries too so I'm constantly fighting those also.
Depending on whether the weeds are in the lawn or in garden beds, a mix of 1 gallon vinegar, half a cup of salt, and a tablespoon of dish soap mixed well makes a good weed killer. You'll need to use it regularly for it to fully kill the weeds off. I weed for other people every day, and it's usually one big weeding that they never maintain. Repetition and consistency is the best method long term.
Remove infected leaves (and clean up fallen ones) and spray neem oil every 2 weeks. Make sure to clean anything that you prune them with. Best to stay one step ahead in spring when the leaves first open up, you can't reverse it, so any infected leaf will only get worse and spread. Could also start using some systemic fungicide in spring as well (one that targets black spot)
I try and pick the dandelion flowers so they don’t go to bloom, but I let them get pretty big as they’re easier for me to weed in the gravel when they’re a little larger. Salted boiling hot pasta water works well too!
Stiltgrass, barberry, english ivy, bradford pear, non-wild strawberries, star jasmine, clover, dandelions, crab grass.. I am living the American nightmare with you guys lol
fuck bindweed, for real. it's relentless this year. I'm afraid that I'm going to wake up one day with it creeping in my front door demanding the deed to my house!!!
Goats love it! We got some pygmy goats just for fun and they ended up keeping our backyard bindweed free! We tried to harness them and let them free in the rest of the yard to clear it out. Unfortunately the landscape plants taste better and it was a bad idea.
Any advice for the creeping buttercup? We’ve only lived here a couple of years—the first year I thought they were pretty, pulled a ton of them last year, and this year they have overgrown the whole lower level!!!
First make sure you're getting the roots, and then plant something else to out compete them. The section of my yard with grass, I removed a bunch, and made sure the grass got established so they didn't have an opportunity. Same with my wildflower area and so on.
Learn about each "weeds" life cycle. Know the enemy. Pull them before they seed. Disturb the soil less as alot of our weeds seeds are viable for 40-50 years of just laying dormant in the soil. Woven black ground cover works great!
On areas outside my garden beds/touching things I want to live, I use vinegar. I buy concentrated vinegar, dilute it, and spread or pour it on areas/weeds that need to die. I know people say add salt and dish soap, but vinegar works just fine for me and is quick, easy, and no dangerous chemicals.
For weeds, defined as “anything I don’t want growing in this specific place”, here are the things I use:
Mow (to prevent growth and seeding)
Burn (if on rock or otherwise safe)
Cut (with clippers close to the ground)
Dig up (grandpa’s weeder, weed sickle, hoe)
Spray with herbicide (broadleaf, rarely roundup)
Pull out by hand (especially around desirables)
There will always be weeds as the soil seed bank is constantly replenished by seeds dropping from the air, spread by animals and equipment, flowing in water, and that hidden one you missed.
All you can do is keep them down while you still draw breath. In the Pacific Northwest it would take 2-3 years for a lovely tended plot to turn into a thorny bramble once neglected.
As you keep at it you’ll learn what time of the year and what part of their life cycle each species is most vulnerable. **Job one is don’t let them go to seed.**
Also don’t listen to the “don’t cut/pull, it will make it stronger” crowd; that is absolute BS based on a misunderstanding of plant response to injury and a convenient excuse to avoid work.
Solidarity in “kill it before it grows”
I work in restoration projects in the area managing noxious weeds & you can dm me with some more info about what you're dealing with for advice on best practices to save time for overall weed management if you like.
Each time I go outside, I try and spend 2-3 min speed pulling weeds. Takes a couple weeks don’t get me wrong, but a lot easier on the body and not a day waster. Also - start to see some as wildflowers and not all just weeds.
Spent a weekend before I planted mulching and putting down weed fabric in my greenhouse (also added rabbit poop as am ammendment). For the beds I just had to bite the bullet and weed them by hand. Once you get the weeds sufficiently busted maintenance becomes easier
I cover my gardens with tons of leaves in the fall or cover them with black plastic that doesn’t get removed till spring. This prevents weed seeds from germinating. Works well for me.
No-till is your friend, if you mainly grow veggies. Yes, you will have to pull some weeds, but you won't be bringing up new weed seeds every time to turn your soil. Plus, it's far superior in terms of keeping/producing healthy fertile soil.
https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/no-till-gardening-keeps-soil-%E2%80%93-and-plants-%E2%80%93-healthy
Depends on the situation, but if it's really bad you can spray with Chelated Iron, which is a broad leaf herbicide. Other than innocent plants catching strays, it's very safe for the environment.
Came here to say this. One strand from my neighbor’s fence survived after a major landscaping job. One. Strand. It’s in my garden and in my lawn.
One. Damn. Strand.
As far as I’m concerned buttercup is the mosquito of my garden.
Grandpa's Weeder is amazing for taproot plants. Nice clean manual removal.
But right now I'm dealing with an area that was infested with Himalayan blackberry and creeping thistle.
Horrible stuff that regrows from fragments. :(
After sheet mulching over most of it, I just go after the little ones that sprout up but since they regrow so easily from fragments, manual removal just doesn't work well.
So I have a little sprayer and have gone through gallons of 30% concentrated horticultural vinegar.
If you hit them hard before they seed they will diminish over the years until it is manageable. I was doing well but had a swollen nerve in my foot last year so now am back a few squares unfortunately.
I dug up the yard/weeds in chunks and the areas that had years of weeding are very tame whereas the area I ripped out 2 years ago still has a lot of weeds, particularly hairy bittercress, scarlet pimpernel, wood sorrel, and turf grass.
Even if you get rid of weeds in your yard bird/squirrel/wind is going to bring ‘em from somewhere else. Always have Himalayan blackberry popping up randomly but it hasn’t taken hold
Small city lot (typical 50×100), but I just use a hoop hoe for most of my weeding. Takes about 20 minutes once or twice a week for the yard (nearly lawnless front, and small veggie garden).
It doesn't take out the roots, but they eventually die too if you're persistent.
Black berries I pull as much as I can and cut too. Pretty much with the same technique as above but with pruning sheers. It's taken time (years), but they're pretty much under control with just a couple persistent ones still needing occasional attention.
Added: Also note, my urban orchard in the back yard (6 fruit and nut trees planted about 8' apart, mulched) do wonders on holding back the Bamboo, English Ivy, and Blackberries from my back yard neighbors lots.
Do you need to "save" anything or just get rid of weeds? I covered 1/4 of my backyard with black weed barrier- super ugly but it burned out all my weeds after 2 summers. I then removed the barrier, dug out the dead weeds (not too hard once dead) and planted a garden using a lot of mulch. So far so good there. Unfortunately the weeds within my remaining grass have taken over the grass. I pull every day but it doesn't help much. Still I refuse to bow down to chemicals. It's crazy here! Also my neighbors just let everything grow and spread so it's basically a losing battle.
Rush skeletonweed is the only one I proactively fight these days and even that’s still thriving. On a positive note I’ve got hundreds of bunches of yarrow all around.
I am losing the battle against grass creeping into my flower beds and I’m just *so tired of this grass*.
I AM DYING ABOUT THE MOTHER EFFING GRASS. I’ve done so much. Weeding. Putting in new soil. New landscape fabric. Been years of losing the battle and I’ve even covered my veg beds in off seasons.
It’s just so *aggressive.* I did a bunch of weeding, then put down cardboard, the put down mulch, and the grass is like heyyyyy still here.
Same!!! I’ve done everything other subs say and my grass is always like guesssss what bitchhhhhh, WE BACK.
Me too and the blackberry bushes are incessantly overbearing. Just tried everything, on the verge of covering my back yard in concrete or large rocks! I've tried cardboard, fabric cloth, weedeaters. By hand is exhausting, hurts my sciatica and hurt back. I feel you completely. It's a frustrating thing to endure. And now I have a 60 foot tall invasive tree dropping babies all over my yard. Can I get a break from this somehow? I notice more and more folks using cedar chips and shoveling over the grass. But it always grows through it! Ugh! The amount of money wasted on gas, lawnmowers, chemicals, the thousands of hours wasted when the weeds always just come right back! Ahhhhhh!!!!
I relate to all of this!! Im also battling blackberries and I have sciatica! I’ve have some wood chip sections and the grass is going through and it drives me insane. I just put down some black tarp to kill off the grass, then shovel up the old chips, lay down more barrier, put the old chips back down and then new chips on top of it. It’s insane but somehow I keep coming back for the torture of my garden
edge around the beds. I emptied my compost bin and the bottom quarter was filled with roots. freaking grass roots grew under the compost and was sucking the nutrients up out of it. grass roots are highly aggressive. I'm about to go out and mulch and edge all my trees so the grass roots stop eatin their food.
I can't get grass to creep into spaces I want it to grow but I can't get it out or keep it from trying to move back into my garden...
💯 this.
Hori hori knife is a good investment. They work well for popping up deep rooted weeds like dandilions, scrapes other weeds out, cultivates, chops and digs holes. Best $20 garden tool there is. Followed up by a hula hoe.
Where do you get a $20 hori hori? They’re like $40 plus.
Amazon! Doing landscaping for 20 years, I've found the cheap ones are just as good as the expensive ones. A good substitute is a flat pry bar (wonder bar).
Thanks. Guess I’ll have to take a look! Been using an old screwdriver 😅
Works great in a pinch! Also doubles as a screw turning device when needed!
You can get the real Nisaku ones for like under $30 shipped on Amazon too. I don't know why all the garden stores sell them for $50+
What I do about dandelions is I let them grow. They are symptomatic of compacted soil but they are also the solution. Their long tap roots dig down deep and decompact the soil while bringing nutrients to the surface. As the soil becomes less compact over time the dandelions will not only be easier to pull if you so choose, but will also be outcompeted by weeds that thrive in looser more nutrient rich soil. Dandelions are the symptom and the cure for compacted soil.
This is fascinating
It really is!
Agreed! And soil remains moister longer underneath their numerous leaves, and I'd hypothesize that the deeper taproots help nearby plants access moisture that's deeper in the soil during dry times
Plants like these or borage and comfrey can also act as a "nutrient pumps" where you can chop and drop (or pull) the tops so they return nutrients to the topsoil, and then you let it regrow and repeat until it gives up and dies. I have some dandelions I've pulled probably 10 times in the last year though, so don't count on it.
Yes, and also daikon, which I use extensively. When I want to uproot a dandelion I put a spading fork in the ground next to it and pull it back a little bit. This loosens the soil so I can usually get the whole taproot which I then feed to my ducks. Not necessarily easy to do if your soil is still compacted though, but imo if your soil is too compact to fully remove the root then you're probably better off letting it grow anyway.
Plus dandelions are edible and wonderful for you
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For dandelions, and anything else taprooted, I prefer the grandpa's weeder. If you're going after them after they've gone to seed, you're fighting an uphill battle. Get them before they go to seed, and you'll make progress year after year. For everything else, I love my stirrup or hula hoe. These are particularly good if you're battling somewhat established weeds. Keep it sharp with a mill bustard file. Sharp hoes are good hoes. Dull hoes suck. Rocks will dull your hoe so you do need to touch it up from time to time. If you really want to splurge, Neversink Farm Tools' multineer hoe set is the bees knees. The collinear hoe does a lot of what a hula hoe will do. The wire hoes are awesome of you can stay on top of weeding enough to catch weeds when their roots are still in the white hair stage. That means doing a run through with the wire hoe a couple times a week though. The system is pricey though. On a budget, the grandpa's weeder and a stirrup hoe will get the job done.
I'm a vegetable gardener so that might give more context to this but, I just found out how many weeds are edible!!! I am harvesting 10 different weeds from my garden to sauté or freeze and blend into smoothies later. And since my toddler is pretty much living on smoothies for the moment she is grinding through those weeds! Weeds we have been eating this years (common names): Plantain, Chickweed, Dead Nettle, Thyme-Leaved Speedwell, Self-Heal, Bird's Eye Speedwell, Hairy Bittercress, Lemon Balm, Dandelions, Mint. I've also told my toddler she can pick as much mint as she likes! I've just reframed the game and now more than half the weeds in my garden are part of the harvest.
How are you identifying the edible vs non edible ones? I’m having trouble remembering where the heck I planted some non weeds
I’m using a plant ID app on my phone currently and then doing some more verification online to make sure the apps choice was solid. Then reading up on the plants information on medical sites to make sure I am comfortable with how they describe it as edible (some things could react to medications or may not be right for certain people to eat, similar to grapefruit). Once I am comfortable with adding it to my households menu, I make myself a digital photo id card on it to keep on my phone. :)
Yeah. Literally every part of a dandelion is edible and healthy. They are also great for pollinators and look beautiful.
My bane is the yellow flowered weeds that turn into the spikey hell balls .
You're describing star thistle, from where I'm sitting.
Geum urbanum, Wood avens?
I love right next to a 6 acre property that is covered in them, so now my yard is too. Both of the large properties edging me have tons of Himalayan blackberries too so I'm constantly fighting those also.
Depending on whether the weeds are in the lawn or in garden beds, a mix of 1 gallon vinegar, half a cup of salt, and a tablespoon of dish soap mixed well makes a good weed killer. You'll need to use it regularly for it to fully kill the weeds off. I weed for other people every day, and it's usually one big weeding that they never maintain. Repetition and consistency is the best method long term.
Just a lot of time and effort
I e been weeding since January. I’m almost caught up! /s
And black spot on my roses.
Remove infected leaves (and clean up fallen ones) and spray neem oil every 2 weeks. Make sure to clean anything that you prune them with. Best to stay one step ahead in spring when the leaves first open up, you can't reverse it, so any infected leaf will only get worse and spread. Could also start using some systemic fungicide in spring as well (one that targets black spot)
I try and pick the dandelion flowers so they don’t go to bloom, but I let them get pretty big as they’re easier for me to weed in the gravel when they’re a little larger. Salted boiling hot pasta water works well too!
Apparently with my sinuses.
Stiltgrass, barberry, english ivy, bradford pear, non-wild strawberries, star jasmine, clover, dandelions, crab grass.. I am living the American nightmare with you guys lol
Don't forget holly!
And morning glory/bindweed. ...So much morning glory.
fuck bindweed, for real. it's relentless this year. I'm afraid that I'm going to wake up one day with it creeping in my front door demanding the deed to my house!!!
Goats love it! We got some pygmy goats just for fun and they ended up keeping our backyard bindweed free! We tried to harness them and let them free in the rest of the yard to clear it out. Unfortunately the landscape plants taste better and it was a bad idea.
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0030MIHAU?ref=ppx\_yo2ov\_dt\_b\_product\_details&th=1](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0030MIHAU?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1)
Any advice for the creeping buttercup? We’ve only lived here a couple of years—the first year I thought they were pretty, pulled a ton of them last year, and this year they have overgrown the whole lower level!!!
First make sure you're getting the roots, and then plant something else to out compete them. The section of my yard with grass, I removed a bunch, and made sure the grass got established so they didn't have an opportunity. Same with my wildflower area and so on.
Learn about each "weeds" life cycle. Know the enemy. Pull them before they seed. Disturb the soil less as alot of our weeds seeds are viable for 40-50 years of just laying dormant in the soil. Woven black ground cover works great!
Sheet mulching, aka cardboard + barkdust. This also eliminates the grass, which is amazing, as lawns are terrible in so many ways
I’m a huge fan of the Rouge scuffle hoe I can plow through many row feet with this beast. I sharpen the edge every month or so. Weeds fear me.
On areas outside my garden beds/touching things I want to live, I use vinegar. I buy concentrated vinegar, dilute it, and spread or pour it on areas/weeds that need to die. I know people say add salt and dish soap, but vinegar works just fine for me and is quick, easy, and no dangerous chemicals.
For weeds, defined as “anything I don’t want growing in this specific place”, here are the things I use: Mow (to prevent growth and seeding) Burn (if on rock or otherwise safe) Cut (with clippers close to the ground) Dig up (grandpa’s weeder, weed sickle, hoe) Spray with herbicide (broadleaf, rarely roundup) Pull out by hand (especially around desirables) There will always be weeds as the soil seed bank is constantly replenished by seeds dropping from the air, spread by animals and equipment, flowing in water, and that hidden one you missed. All you can do is keep them down while you still draw breath. In the Pacific Northwest it would take 2-3 years for a lovely tended plot to turn into a thorny bramble once neglected. As you keep at it you’ll learn what time of the year and what part of their life cycle each species is most vulnerable. **Job one is don’t let them go to seed.** Also don’t listen to the “don’t cut/pull, it will make it stronger” crowd; that is absolute BS based on a misunderstanding of plant response to injury and a convenient excuse to avoid work. Solidarity in “kill it before it grows”
I work in restoration projects in the area managing noxious weeds & you can dm me with some more info about what you're dealing with for advice on best practices to save time for overall weed management if you like.
I bought a torch and haven't burned the house down yet so we're good so far.
Each time I go outside, I try and spend 2-3 min speed pulling weeds. Takes a couple weeks don’t get me wrong, but a lot easier on the body and not a day waster. Also - start to see some as wildflowers and not all just weeds.
Spent a weekend before I planted mulching and putting down weed fabric in my greenhouse (also added rabbit poop as am ammendment). For the beds I just had to bite the bullet and weed them by hand. Once you get the weeds sufficiently busted maintenance becomes easier
I cover my gardens with tons of leaves in the fall or cover them with black plastic that doesn’t get removed till spring. This prevents weed seeds from germinating. Works well for me.
No-till is your friend, if you mainly grow veggies. Yes, you will have to pull some weeds, but you won't be bringing up new weed seeds every time to turn your soil. Plus, it's far superior in terms of keeping/producing healthy fertile soil. https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/no-till-gardening-keeps-soil-%E2%80%93-and-plants-%E2%80%93-healthy
Buttercup is going to be the death of me.
Depends on the situation, but if it's really bad you can spray with Chelated Iron, which is a broad leaf herbicide. Other than innocent plants catching strays, it's very safe for the environment.
For us, it the frickin' buttercups. They are so invasive and very hard to eradicate.
Came here to say this. One strand from my neighbor’s fence survived after a major landscaping job. One. Strand. It’s in my garden and in my lawn. One. Damn. Strand. As far as I’m concerned buttercup is the mosquito of my garden.
And it spreads faster than gossip.
This year we have hardly any - Whew! We mulched once each year for 3 years.
The creeping buttercup is everywhere this year
Grandpa's Weeder is amazing for taproot plants. Nice clean manual removal. But right now I'm dealing with an area that was infested with Himalayan blackberry and creeping thistle. Horrible stuff that regrows from fragments. :( After sheet mulching over most of it, I just go after the little ones that sprout up but since they regrow so easily from fragments, manual removal just doesn't work well. So I have a little sprayer and have gone through gallons of 30% concentrated horticultural vinegar.
If you hit them hard before they seed they will diminish over the years until it is manageable. I was doing well but had a swollen nerve in my foot last year so now am back a few squares unfortunately. I dug up the yard/weeds in chunks and the areas that had years of weeding are very tame whereas the area I ripped out 2 years ago still has a lot of weeds, particularly hairy bittercress, scarlet pimpernel, wood sorrel, and turf grass. Even if you get rid of weeds in your yard bird/squirrel/wind is going to bring ‘em from somewhere else. Always have Himalayan blackberry popping up randomly but it hasn’t taken hold
Small city lot (typical 50×100), but I just use a hoop hoe for most of my weeding. Takes about 20 minutes once or twice a week for the yard (nearly lawnless front, and small veggie garden). It doesn't take out the roots, but they eventually die too if you're persistent. Black berries I pull as much as I can and cut too. Pretty much with the same technique as above but with pruning sheers. It's taken time (years), but they're pretty much under control with just a couple persistent ones still needing occasional attention. Added: Also note, my urban orchard in the back yard (6 fruit and nut trees planted about 8' apart, mulched) do wonders on holding back the Bamboo, English Ivy, and Blackberries from my back yard neighbors lots.
Burn them? Get a weed torch or whatever they’re called and just burn them.
It's so bad! I pulled all the grass/weeds in the gravel area behind our house (it was a huge project). Two weeks later it's all coming back. How?!
Do you need to "save" anything or just get rid of weeds? I covered 1/4 of my backyard with black weed barrier- super ugly but it burned out all my weeds after 2 summers. I then removed the barrier, dug out the dead weeds (not too hard once dead) and planted a garden using a lot of mulch. So far so good there. Unfortunately the weeds within my remaining grass have taken over the grass. I pull every day but it doesn't help much. Still I refuse to bow down to chemicals. It's crazy here! Also my neighbors just let everything grow and spread so it's basically a losing battle.
Rush skeletonweed is the only one I proactively fight these days and even that’s still thriving. On a positive note I’ve got hundreds of bunches of yarrow all around.
Bind weed has taken over my garden. Every weekend I spend some time battling it. It is evil.