Weeds in clay soil - help!

[analyticalannie]

Hi,
I have a border approximately 20 metres by 3 metres. It is clay and due to bad weather last autumn some grass, dandelions etc have taken hold (I didn't want to compact the ground).

The worst offenders are random large clumps of grass - and being clay they are not easy to dig out!!! Last Easter we spread lots of well rotted manure as a mulch and this did an excellent job of keeping the weeds down and improving my clay soil.

I don't really want to spray as I have lots of herbaceous perennials just coming through. However I need to manage the border better in autumn to avoid this problem. Nevertheless any advice in the meantime would be most welcome?

We have clay soil too. So much easier to dig after a heavy downpour of rain.

I can dig it at the minute as it is soft enough, but don't want to compact it. I dug out a few clumps of grass but am losing lots of soil also. I think I may have to resort to spraying!

Use Roundup, or any similar weed killer based on Glyphosphate. You can buy spray bottles of it in garden centres. It works through the leaves, goes down and kills the roots and will not be a problem in the soil afterwards. Just be careful not to get it on plants you want to keep.

Thank you Kitden I have a knapsack sprayer. I don't grow anything edible in the border, so it will be fine. When I kill the weeds I an going to mulch really well. I need to keep on top of it come autumn. A few weeks of bad weather and I didn't want to compact my clay. Must do better!

MrsMagnolia - I quite agree, the clay is so fertile it is growing prize winning weeds! The roses, Hebes, arum lilies, geraniums etc also love it, thankfully.

It is too compacted to hoe- I have suffered from tendinitis in the past after using the hoe.

I did use grit when I first planted. The problem us that I would need a lorry load.

I have two hoes and use them in the vegetable garden where I have raised beds. It causes me no discomfort. However the weeds in the border are really well anchored and difficult to shift.

Thank you for the suggestion regarding the curved hoe. I will get one and see if that makes a difference. TBH when I first created the border, I was so eager to plant that I didnot prepare the soil well enough. I should have added a lot more grit. It has now been going for about 4 years and is filling up really well. I have a mass of poached egg plant or custard and cream as I know it. With the right choice of plants, lots of my shrubs and perennials are thriving. Each year it is lovely to see it progressing. I just need to improve the soil.