I need something to kill off the weeds taking over our back garden

[lucysmam]

There's thistles, nettles, dandelions, something that looks kinda like grass but is very tall & fine out there and it's OUT OF CONTROL!!

HELP! WTF can I use to reclaim the space?

TIA if you can help

please? Someone must have an idea

Is it the lawn? If not you need to dig it all up & plant plants instead

If it's the lawn I think you put weed killer down

if its lawn then mow it and then use a weed and feed product (or the other way round, read the instructions). Then keep mowing regularly and use weed and feed a couple of times a year.

If it's flower beds you either have to weed them out by hand (and dig the roots out, not just rip off the tops) or use weedkiller just on the weeds that's based on glyphosphate - read the packs in the shop, do NOT use anything called PATHCLEAR or that claims to stop stuff growing back, it will kill your plants too. You can get sprays and gels and just target the weeds. BUT you will still have to clear them up.

If it's a flower bed with no plants in it you could put weed supressing membrane over the whole thing then a thick layer of bark (10cm) on top of that and put plants in pots on top of that.

Bumping for op

I have to second glyphosate weedkiller. Will go to the roots and kill the whole weed so it's best way of tackling them. So long as you are not organic or it doesn't worry you about planting veggies there afterwards.

(At my allotments, all the older guys swear by this stuff, been using it for years and they all seem fairly healthy still! :-))

pull them out and use glyphosphate on really stubborn stuff.

My ex-MIL who is gardener extraordinaire just came round with some cuttings as I was digging up BIG problem weed area - big area, big weeds.
'No, no, no,' she said. Then told me the secret. Lay two layers of newspaper over the weeds, then cover with either compost, or grass cuttings or any rotting matter. Not only do you get (after a lot of hard work, admittedly) a weed free bed but a lovely looking one. Grass cuttings will rot down and turn brown very quickly. The paper rots and by next season (yes, it is a slow process) you will have a lovely new bed.
I started the process after she left with some leaf rot. If you do, say one or two newspapers worth a day in no time at all the garden will look a lot better.