We have not had a good frost yet, but it will come soon!
Gathering plants and bulbs to get in ground before it freezes in November.
There were some good buys in shrubs too so I am planting a shrub arrangement.
My grand plan (for the day when maybe shovel in the ground is not my activity) is to plant shrubs and surround them with bark mulch. I prefer living mulches of low ground covers, and I am working towards that in some areas. Bark mulch is quick and easy!

I have tried that but the weeds (chickweed and horsetail) erupt no matter how much bark and mulch I put down. Very discouraging. And not like I can just spray (or pour) broadleaf killer on it. It would harm or maybe kill my bushes and trees to say nothing of nearby peonies, lilies, etc. I have tried even putting down cardboard and covering with thick layers of mulch. Barely lasted a year. Suggestions?

Could you use some corn gluten to act as a suppressant on next years newly emerging crop, I found it to be a very good pre-emergent.

That is an idea!
Sometimes I can spray between good shrubs or plants by pulling plastic bags over the good plants. Other times ---I paint the weeds with a brush.

Caroline, wouldn't the spray get into the soil and hurt the surrounding plants. I used Preen this year and I should have repreened every two weeks. I am neck deep in weeds. Drat

I think that is a pre emergence type of weed prevention?
What I spray is just a herbicide to get any weeds that I can not pull easily.

For how long does the corn gluten have an effect?
It sounds like a good way to keep weed seeds from sprouting, but I also like to sow wildflowers. If I used corn gluten in the fall, could I expect wildflowers to sprout in spring?

I doubt it. Yes, Preen is a preemergent which is what I want. To prevent the gazillion weeds (those that grow from seed - won't help for those that have roots beneath the surface) from germinating. But despite that as the soil is disturbed new seeds come to light and so it seems you need to spread it (being careful not to overdue - it seems to have a bad effect on garden plants if over used) in early spring, then after placing any new plants/annuals etc. And if you pull weeds, that moves the soil and potentially exposes more. Really a never ending process

Oberon46 said:Caroline, wouldn't the spray get into the soil and hurt the surrounding plants. I used Preen this year and I should have repreened every two weeks. I am neck deep in weeds. Drat

I used spray in several flower and my vegetable garden and If you are careful, bend over as close as you can and just spray a certain plant or area, no you should not have problems.

I sprayed inches away from tomato plants with no ill effect and bushes and even peonies are quite tough.
If you get overspray on peonies in spring you will see the effects but it will not permanently hurt the plant.
I purposely spray part of one peony that was getting to large and the part I sprayed showed the twisted stems that come from chemical over-spray but the next year it was bigger than ever.

For chickweed get a dedicated chickweed killer.
I spray that in my veg. garden often as I had a massive infestation and as I said just get down and control the spray and it will not harm the garden.

I have quack grass in the peony beds,
and was thinking once the peonies go dormant,
then I could spray the herbicide.

CarolineScott said:For how long does the corn gluten have an effect?
It sounds like a good way to keep weed seeds from sprouting, but I also like to sow wildflowers. If I used corn gluten in the fall, could I expect wildflowers to sprout in spring?

I would probably not use the corn gluten in the fall if you wanted wildflowers to sprout in the spring, don't think I would take that chance...its very effective in my yard and garden.

Thanks.
And does it work on all types of seeds or just small seeds or grass seeds?

Thanks RpR. I will give it a shot on the weeds that look like they grow from roots and just let the chickweed die a natural death. Then next spring the battle will be joined anew.

Roundup will work for chickweed, but I haven't had much luck using it on horsetail; the only thing that has worked for me with that is persistence in digging it out...

Roundup doesn't stay in the soil, and it won't hurt nearby shrubs as long as you don't get it on the leaves. Or at least that has been my experience. There have been a few times that I have felt quite desperate in the spring about all the weeds in the garden and sprayed with RU, and then planted my seeds and plants a few weeks later, with no apparent problems.

Sounds like my kind of deal. I have started my fall dig up. I have a 30' arc about 2' across which is 3' from a kidney shaped bed. I have dug up all the block between them and will then close up each end and fill in the path between to make one large bed. Ordered 3.5CY of garden dirt to fill it in. Then as soon as I can will dig up all my dahlias and rototill in mulch, compost, etc. I have all sorts of ground cover and perennials in buckets that I dug out that need to go back. I am afraid all I will have time for is to dig trenches and get them in the dirt til next spring. Hate to do that, especially with the peonies, but I don't know for sure how I want to arrange the new bed. Plus I will need stepping stones into the center for tending it. My hope is that I can rim it is sedum and the blue-gray short ground cover that sends up blue spikes only about 3" (can't remember their name) on the east, south and west side. Then plant peonies throughout, with lilies between. Then mulch the heck out of it to try to keep the weeds down. Somehow grass got into the bed and it got completely away from me, hence the major dig out. I may put some breadseed poppies in their also to cover between the peony blooms and the dahlias and lilies. But I want to be able to deal with any weeds quickly.

I would love to move one of my gorgeous Little Lamb Hydrangeas to the north side of the new bed, about the middle, but the moose would have a field day eating it to the ground. Guess that would be okay as long as they left my yard in time for it to start growing. Hmmmm. May give that some thought

A big project, Mary -- but it will be beautiful (and weed free!) once you are done with it

I had hoped to do something similar with my perennial flower bed this summer -- but between the unusually hot weather, relatives from Florida who have been spending the entire summer up here and thinking we all need to be constantly partying, and a problem I've been having with sciatica (or something similar), it just hasn't happened. Maybe next summer...

It was a last minute decision and really no choice. The bed is a disaster of grass, weeds, etc. It was far simpler to bite the bullet and dig the entire bed, and incidentally meld the two beds than to try to dig grass clump by grass clump, especially considering that the weeds had infiltrated the grounds covers. I will knock the dirt out of clumps, pulling weed and grass roots before replanting. Then catch any strays that try to grow one by one. Or so that is the hope.

That's pretty much a perfect description of my flower bed!

Damien made progress after I dug up all the inside brick layers. He dug up grass and using the newly available brick/stones enclosed one end with a nice graceful swing from the front bed to the back. Dirt is coming Monday. Rather than have him dig up the grass (a back breaking job) in the rest of the 3' path between the two beds, I am going to cover with a lot of newsprint and some cardboard then dirt. It should kill the grass. I am hoping for an early frost (a strange desire) to kill off the dahlias and harden their tubers so I can get them dug up. I am concerned if I dig them now they will be too green and will rot over winter. Meantime I have pots and two wagons full of plants that need to go back into the garden (Iris, lilies, sedum, and agastache (sp)). Then on to the next bed. All filled with weeds and flowers that have overrun.

Sounds like a great deal of work to me!
It will be nice when you get it replanted.
I am taking the lazy way and going to spray the quack grass.
I just spread it when i dig it.