Skip 'Weed & Feed,' pull weeds from future beds

By Audrey Post
MS. GROW-IT-ALL

Q: I have an area along a sidewalk path that I want to turn into a flower garden. Right now, it is covered in different weeds. Can I spray "Weed and Feed" on those weeds and remove them from the area after they die? After that, I want to add some manufactured soil mix and plant my flowers and cover them with pine straw. Will the "Weed & Feed" be impossible to remove from the soil and kill whatever I plant in that area?

A: Whether you’ll be able to remove the “Weed and Feed” from the soil is really a secondary issue to whether the product will remove the weeds, thus allowing you to plant flowers in the area. Most “Weed and Feed” products are intended to feed the predominant plant in a given area while killing or preventing the growth of other plants.

In the case of grassy areas, “Weed and Feed” blends for lawns fertilize turf grass while inhibiting the growth of weeds and/or killing those that are present. Read the label to make sure you’re using a blend that feeds your specific kind of grass.

“Weed and Feed” formulas for flower beds fertilize the plants that are actively growing in the bed while inhibiting seed germination, generally preventing the growth of new weeds but also stopping any flower seed from germinating. It requires removing the weeds that are already growing before applying to be effective.

Using any kind of “Weed and Feed” concoction without removing existing weeds will simply feed the weeds that are there and prevent any seeds in the soil – whatever they are – from germinating. Since you want to convert a weedy area into a flower garden, this is not the right product for the job.

The best way to remove the weeds from your future flower bed is to dig them out by hand. You can use a chemical weed remover – not a “Weed and Feed” but a weed killer -- but you’ll have to wait until the residue has washed out of the area before you plant. The label on the weed remover will tell you how long you need to wait after application before you plant, but it sometimes takes multiple applications to kill existing weeds – especially if there are a lot of them. This could take a while, so you’ll save time and money as well as going “greener” if you dig out the weeds.

Once you have the weeds out, you can amend the soil with peat moss or compost to improve its structure and quality. I’m not sure what you mean by “manufactured soil mix,” but it doesn’t sound like anything you want to put into the ground. Save it for containers.