Greenhouse - Weeds and Grass

[PatrickB]

Hi,

I'm new to gardening and have recently built a 120m2 green house for my employer. They have asked me to get the seedlings underway and eventually plant. The area the greenhouse is built over is grass and weed. What is the best way to remove all vegetation prior to planting? I turned the ground over (reasonably deep 10 - 12" after digging out all the weeds I could find but the grass and weeds are emerging again. The owners want to leave chickens in there to kill everything but I don't know if that is an actual solution. Is it best to spray with a non-selective herbicide and allow appropriate time for it to dissipate before planting?

Thanks,

Patrick

 

[CanadianLori]

Welcome to tne forum.

I don't normally recommend chemical solutions but in this case and because you have tbe time to flush the ground after, you might want to use an herbicide and get it over with at once.

 

[Chuck]

If you don't want to plant this year solarize it. If you are going to plant this year you have no other choice but to use Roundup or something similar. Roundup, although nasty stuff will disappear within a month but you can plant in the soil after about 2 weeks. If you don't solarize or use chemicals all of the seeds that have been buried for years will start to sprout and you will have a nightmare on your hands.

 

[PatrickB]

Thank you @Chuck and @CanadianLori . I will go with a herbicide and get it over and done with. At least I will have plenty of time before I can put the seedlings in the ground

 

[Becky]

Hey there @PatrickB just wanted to say welcome to the forum

 

[PatrickB]

Thank you! @Becky

 

[Upsy Daisy]

Hi there @PatrickB welcome !

 

[DirtMechanic]

Welcome to the forum @PatrickB! Are they planting in the soil under the greenhouse?

 

[Silentrunning]

Welcome to the forum Patrick. You are going to have one major problem with your plan. That is chickens. Seedlings of any kind are like ice cream to them. I lost a whole flat of 2” high squash yesterday because one hen managed to sneak into my shed and got up on one of the growing shelves. They also scratch the ground constantly and will uproot any small plant you have.

 

[Gardening Girl]

Why don't you just put ground cover like the nurseries use to place their liners. It will be a whole lot nicer than using sprays. You just put it down with ground staples. You can walk on it. It will stop the weeds from coming up. If you are using raised beds in there you could just put the cloth between the beds. It should be UV protected, I think most all of it is, but I would check for that first. If it is not it will degrade in the greenhouse. We use this in our garden rows as well.

 

[CanadianLori]

Why don't you just put ground cover like the nurseries use to place their liners. It will be a whole lot nicer than using sprays. You just put it down with ground staples. You can walk on it. It will stop the weeds from coming up. If you are using raised beds in there you could just put the cloth between the beds. It should be UV protected, I think most all of it is, but I would check for that first. If it is not it will degrade in the greenhouse. We use this in our garden rows as well.
View attachment 35492

Wow @Gardening Girl that is huge. How long have you owned this greenhouse?

 

[Bluesamurai]

You can yank it all out yourself, if you dont wanna take the risk; however it's pretty time consuming.