Need advice getting rid of weeds

[enginestar]

We have a garden... it's got sand where the soil was.
We had an extension built and had a lot of sand left over.
The builders came up with the brilliant idea of putting the sand down on what was previously grass that had died.

Now... we have looads of weeds growing out.
I don't know where to start to get rid of them.
If I just pull out, surely the weeds are still left there?
Should I use a weed killer? If so, what should I use? There seems to be many different types of weeds.

See further below for a picture I took of the garden.

After pulling weeds... I need advice on what to do. I'll make another thread for this.

 

[alp]

You just have to do it with your hands with a hand fork. After that, work out what soil you have - sand, clay, loam ??? and test the drainage by digging a hole of about 8 inches and pour water into it to gauge how fast the water disappear. Work out the aspect, south, east ... and your hardiness zones and draw a diagram to put down the plants and we can give you our experience.. not necessarily advice, certainly not from me. After that you can use a weed suppressing membrance which will save you a bit of pain and then slit a cross to plant plants in. After that, you mulch.

 

[enginestar]

@alp thanks for the reply.
happy to get down on hands and dig up.
But this is all? No weed killers?
Surely the weeds will grow back from underneath?

>> weed suppressing membrance
interesting. never heard of that.

right now we have sand - below that is soil.

 

[alp]

If you're not growing anything to eat, you can use weed killers. Roundup has been good for me. I only use it for morning glory type weed and the front driveway. Seldom use it at the back although I only grow beans and rhubarbs.

 

[enginestar]

so... what should the plan of action be?
use Roundup and then clear up remains?
after how many days?

i have 2 patches. on the right, i want to grow grass. so weedkiller ok there.
on the left, smaller patch, i would like to grow things - or at least considering. (for eating).

thanks

 

[alp]

If you want to grow stuff to eat, best is not to use weed killer. If your region is going to rain (roughly where are you please and i can gauge if it is going to rain!LOL!), wait after the rain and use a rake and hand fork to get rid of the weed. You really need to tell us your soil type and you can get some well rotted manure to mulch the area. Meanwhile, sow seeds in a tray indoors so that you have more control over your seeds/seedlings.

 

[roadrunner]

What is your native soil made up of?

I have very sandy soil, here in Florida; however, I like the nutrient-deficient stuff, because it makes a great foundation for building up soil thru mulching, very heavy mulching. That's what I've done with my very weedy, sandy soil and now it produces anything, including very heavy feeders, such as bananas. I keep my 'weeds', because if you wait until they flower, they're actually pretty and good pollinator attractors.

Just a few examples of some of my 'weeds'

 

[alp]

To prevent weeding come back, you can use a weed suppressing membrance and then on top, mulch, mulch, mulch as @roadrunner suggested.

 

[jenner]

I have great results using the newspaper method.

 

[DirtMechanic]

so... what should the plan of action be?
use Roundup and then clear up remains?
after how many days?

i have 2 patches. on the right, i want to grow grass. so weedkiller ok there.
on the left, smaller patch, i would like to grow things - or at least considering. (for eating).

thanks

I looked into this once, and though I cannot remember the details it came out that Roundup is something of a salt and 6 inches of water should get you clear.