What is the best low maintenance ground cover that chokes out weeds? This is a 50X6 or so unusable area behind the house and garage and a mower cannot get there. It currently has crabgrass and nutsedge in it.

I just put a bunch of info/thoughts in as a reply, not knowing whether the modifications to the post would let respondents know that it had changed. So if this popped up as changed, see way below for that "reply."

...and apparently the photo had not loaded properly so it has been re-uploaded.

Some kind of creeping mint would be your best bet. They're tough and smell good. Just be careful they stop at the fence - say, by digging in a root barrier - or your neighbours trying to cultivate a lawn might become irate. https://lawncaregrandpa.com/a-...
Another possibility is crown vetch - very attractive, very invasive. https://www.americanmeadows.co...
Vinca is nice and likes shade, but it needs a head start. https://www.gardeningknowhow.c...

Sun or shade?
Irrigated or dry?
Deal with the weeds already growing first, though, or nothing will out-compete those.
The crabgrass is easy. Nutsedge should really be called Eternity Weed, and it drinks roundup for breakfast.

Step ables!!

First eliminate the sedge or all your plans, and plantings, will be in vain. Buy sturdy weed fabric, lay it down (use long garden staples sold in garden centers or online) and leave it untouched for a year. Then hope and pray for the best.

Hi @toxiczombi

Do you definitely want to grow something in this space? I can't think of a maintenance-free ground cover plant. Weeds will invade just about anything.

If you don't care about growing anything, you can buy a soil sterilant that will kill any and all plants growing in the treated soil. Even nutsedge! It's effective for at least one year. Be sure no desirable plants, including trees, have roots in that area. You could put down bark mulch and treat it too. I would avoid the temptation to use a "decorative" rock mulch on the bare soil. Sooner (probably) or later it will need maintenance - removing debris that lands on or is blown onto it. Easier to use a leaf blower or rake with bark mulch.

Otherwise, I'll second Arlene @pirl, a ground cloth covering for a year would be good preparation for any attempt to plant in your narrow space. It may not be long enough to eliminate the "nuts" underground but it's worth a try. To allow the cloth to lie flat, you may have to spray the weeds with weed killers first and remove the dead tops.

And I'll second Ken @kenisaac's questions - we need more information to suggest what might grow there.

Good luck!! Let us know what you try.

Pat

Go to Outsidepride.com they have ground covers for every zone.

In my area... Nutsedge grows right through those ground fabrics.
Suggest finding some old wall to wall short fiber (not shag!), lay over ground pile side down.

That carpet works a treat for most of these applications.

Of course... I have heard of a chem called brand name sedgehammer... For those people brave enough to use that kind of dangerous stuff when the tv is so full of lawyer ads about those nasty herbicides...

Choke out the existing vegetation?

Not gonna happen.

Worse... Planting that kind of aggressive stuff is always worse than the original problem...

Like they say about ass deep in alligators...

Those aggressive plants that you purchase to crowd out the existing vegetation always escape and destroy the surrounding countryside.

What's wrong with just digging it up and pulling the weeds out by the root?
I have used old rugs quite successfully, as I have no objection to the garter snakes and crickets that shelter underneath. But I'm definitely not a fan of spraying any kinds of poison around a yard - under any circumstances, but particularly if there are pets or children playing in the yard.

One alternative is to a take weedwhacker to that section from time to time, before the native weeds get a chance to produce seed. For the sedge, you'd still need to control the spread of rhizomes along the edges, so a root barrier still a good idea.

Roundup the whole thing, dig out woody weeds or vines, mulch it.

I've got a similar situation behind my garage that's 9' x 22'. I've slowly been planting excess daylilies, Queen Anne's Lace, some spare hostas back there. It really only get mid-day sun for maybe 2 hours, so I'm surprised anything has grown back there other than weeds. But it's a constant battle to keep the weeds out. Add to that from the neighbor's yard comes a wild grape vine, which is nice, but it then climbs up the garage and is hard to pull down, and it's impossible to try and walk back there to do any cleanup because you'll trip on the grape vines. I'm ready to start killing off the grape vines at this point.

The previous owners tried laying down plywood, but that's decomposing and the weeds root in the slightest crack anyway, so it really didn't do any good. I've also found old carpeting that they put down, and the weeds just root in that as well once anything starts to break down. It's an endless battle and I feel your pain about it.

Slate works but weeds find their way around the slate.

They also have a double row of pavers about 6" x 12" down the center of it. And of course the weeds grow between every single paver as well on all sides of them. As the weeds grow, they separate the pavers a bit more that lets more weed seeds take hold. It's the Never-Ending Battle Zone for me.

You can try the vinegar, few drops of liquid detergent (to make it more spreadable), and salt. It will probably have to be done few times. Make a big batch!

I may give that a try, thanks for that. I'm first going to try and clean out more of the grape vines, it's really hazardous to try and walk back there.

Yes! Clear out anything that could cause a fall. It becomes more frightening as we age.

It's hilarious even when I'm careful though. You manage to step into a good safe spot, do whatever you need to there with grabbing weeds, and move on to the next spot. Except now your foot is caught and caught really tight. And I'm doing a jig trying to get one foot out while not getting the other foot tangled up in an equally bad spot. Good thing it's behind the garage so nobody ever sees me trying to navigate back there!

Thank you all for responding to my query.

To answer a few questions: the ground is not loose soil, but more clayee, and it gets several hours of sun a day. Needless to say, the weeds thrive without being watered directly, but a hose can be dragged back there as needed to make sure things get watered and started nicely.

I am not interested in sterilizing the soil. However, I have no problem using Roundup or Spectracide or whatever to kill what they can, and doing my best to dig up the nutsedge and other evil things that remain therein. Since herbicides of that ilk say that the ground is OK for planting in several days, I figure they are not going to do too much damage. (And yes I have used them in the past.)

This is an area that is unused and unseen. Frankly, if I thought something like gravel would work as a cover, I would be happy to have someone come by with a truckload and spread it (thank you very much). But as noted, stuff will rise up through that. The idea of covering the whole area with a weed barrier and letting it lie there for a year sounds like a good idea. I can then think about whether I want to seed the ground with veth or clover or something else (nothing that gets too tall) upon removing the cover. Or I could have gravel laid over the cover.

Note: As you can see in the photo, the tricky part with the barrier is going to be getting it around the humongous stump, which has major roots spreading out. I am guessing that as for that portion, actual stapling may be the way to get the material affixed in place. There are also pieces of slate and etc. that will need to be gotten rid of as well. Much of the nutsedge is off camera.

But thanks again.

Looks like the photo did not upload

sallyg said: Roundup the whole thing, dig out woody weeds or vines, mulch it.

Clearly you've never dealt with nut sedge.

Those dangerous herbicides... Monsanto lies about their safety...

Remember when they told us that it was so safe that you could eat it?


Hmmm....
This is interesting.... Ever wonder how they were able to get so much positive press?
Apparently Monsanto was ghostwriting the reviews on glyphosphate and then getting prominent scientists to rubber stamp the propaganda:

https://www.npr.org/sections/t...