In another thread recently it was discussed that you can lay down layers of newspaper under the mulch or cardboard even. These block most weeds at least for a while. There is no herbicide that is safe around roses.

particentral- thanks for responding. I did read a post about cardboard/newspaper layers, I also saw someone suggested roofing shingles as a smother solution. I guess I will have to give one of those a try. Can anyone suggest a nice groundcover to put in the bed after the weed situation is under control? I'm hoping to find something that will fill in and help keep down the weeds some. I assume I will need something with shallow roots so as not to compete with the roses..

Do NOT use that landscape fabric weed barrier crap.
First remove all weeds the best you can, be careful when removing weeds near the roots.
Lay down layers of newspaper or cardboard and cover with
3" of mulch.
Take it easy around the roots to still allow air and water to penetrate the soil to the roots.

Don't use roofing shingles. The advantage of cardboard or newspaper layers is they breakdown and leave no residue. The asphalt shingles and landscape frabric is forever. After a year or so as the mulch you apply on top breaks down weeds will begin growing again due to bird activity and wind blown seeds.
You'll then have to deal with the weeds and the shingles/fabric. The shingles will prevent fertilizer and moisture from easily getting to the root zone.
It's not necessary to remove the weeds prior to putting down the cardboard. They'll smother the weeds and kill them completely. Just make sure you overlap the cardboard. I did this three years ago. The weeds I get now are easy to remove as they are mostly shallow rooted.

I was thinking of getting that Preen stuff for gardens and I'm glad I didn't! I know it won't help in your situation right now because the weeds are already up, but I am really glad I read the back of the bottle. It says that you shouldn't apply it to soils containing more than 10% organic matter! Well, that did it for me! No Preen! I like my organic matter lol!

Ok, you can skip pulling the weeds before laying cardboard/newspaper down, that's just a quirk I have. lol
It's not necessary as Karl stated. lol

Thanks everyone, and no worries about the shingles. I interperated the shingles method as only temporary. Just long enough to smother out the existing weeds. Not used as a layer under mulch, or against the roses. Just a way to take care of the majority of the current weeds. Reportedly they are heavy enough to stay put on their own without putting mulch over them while they rid the weeds.. I just happen to have loads of those around now, so I would not have to wait until I can hunt down enough newspaper or cardboard to deal with a 10ft x 10 ft bed. They will come off and a more permanent method will be installed after the weeds are goners.(Seems reasonable to me the black shingle would work simularly to using black plastic to smother... Temporary.. not permanent and give me time to collect cardboard). I know the landscape fabric is crap. Didn't even consider it... BIG waste of time and money. But either way, whatever I use shingle, newpaper or cardboard, I understand the need to be careful of the roses themselves. Thats why I was hoping for a rose safe weed killer. Did't want to hurt the roses... And I thank you all for your input on how to handle the fact there is none. I still could use some ideas on a ground cover to fill in under the roses after all is clear. Could you wonderful folks suggest some good perennials to fit the bill?

Shingles, though, the rain can't get through them. Cardboard it can.

No better plant under roses than Geranium 'Rozanne' or the very similar Geranium 'Jolly Bee'.

How about Weed-b-gone? I've never used it, but other posters have proclaimed its virtues on this forum.

If the weeds you are talking about are bemuda grass, that stuff roots 2-3 ft down, and until you dig out those roots, it will keep returning to plague you.

Kate

Weed-b-gone????? Are you referring to the formulation with 2,4-D?

If so please see:

"Hazard Rankings
More hazardous than most chemicals in 8 out of 14 ranking systems.
Ranked as one of the most hazardous compounds (worst 10%) to ecosystems and human health."

http://scorecard.org/chemical-profiles/summary.tcl?edf_substance_id=94-75-7

Here is a link that might be useful: link for above

Ok, fwiw,

- I wouldn't use shingles because then you take them off again and it's double work. When you do newspaper/cardboard once, you'll have more confidence on how well it works (btw, we also call it the 'lasagna' method ;-)

- I dunno about your city, but some offer tree chips at the city yard for free, all you need is a truck and some trash cans (ok, and a shovel and a good back). This makes an EXCELLENT topping to the newspaper/cardboard. As an alternative, some tree trimming companies will drop off chips for free (costs less than the dump), just specify (for what it's worth) that they use non-diseased trees, ie the best companies to call would be the ones that cut trees for Edison

- PREEN is okey-dokey ***IF*** the ingredient is 'corn gluten' (the bottle will also say 'organic'). We just had a thread about this last week. I didn't realize that the company makes two different formulations under the same name (dumb). It is a 'pre-emergent' that means it interferes with germination. Works pretty good, obviously don't use it where you want to sow flower seed.

Mulch will probably keep you weeds down better than a groundcover. But a thick groundcover that would be low and spread easily around your roses is creeping phlox. It'll spread really well in full sun, which is probably what your roses are in anyway.

If you have 3 year old mulch out there, it's probably too thin of a layer by now to block out the weeds. The idea of mulch is to cover the ground so weed seeds can't make soil contact and germinate. However, if you're fighting perennial weeds that germinated in past years, mulch won't get rid of them. Many perennial weeds have the type of roots that when pulled, any bit of root left in the soil will grow right back. So pulling them is a losing battle.

I've used Bayer All in One Weed Killer For Lawns to spot spray in my gardens with a hand held trigger spray bottle. As long as you don't do it on a windy day, you'll probably be fine. It kills most broadleaf and grassy weeds. What I'd do is spray the weeds with that, and then the next day cover them all up with cardboard, or mulch or something. Then as new weeds pop up through the mulch, spot spray them right away, before they can go to seed or spread by runners. It will probably take all season to get the weeds under control, but next year will be better as long as you cover up the soil that the weed seeds are freely germinating in.

Deanna

I have heard that black plastic will kill weeds if it is left long enough.....Like Deanna....I use a weed killer in a hand sprayer on a non-windy day and it works just fine. I am very careful.....Another, labor intensive, thing you could do is build another bed for the roses....transplant them. Or put them in pots while you use weed killer to eliminate the weeds, then pile on organic material and till it in, making a new bed - could even put the black plastic on and leave it for a month or so....but you might not want to go to this much work. Personally...I would use weed killer with small hand sprayer.....just kill the weeds then mulch.

If the roses are small enough to move, I would take them out, clean out the bed, improve the soil and replant them. Since you inherited the rose bed, they are probably be too big. It's hard to dig around them, but thick layers of newspaper and/or cardboard do work. My mom uses that around all her shrubs, with a bark mulch over the top :)

You can use Organic Preen (it's labeled as for use in Vegetable Gardens) it is corn gluten meal which is supposed to suppress seed germination. But you would have to apply it ever few weeks.

What kind of mulch are you using? You can get rid of the weeds you have now, but more will come up if you don't have a good layer of mulch to suppress them. I use pine bark nuggets and it does help.

Some groundcover will help, but you can still get weeds inside the ground cover. This year has been a boon for dandelions (I even got an email from Scotts about it in our area). Weeding is a constant vigil. Every year, there are more weed seeds that you need to deal with.

always believe rosenut. i have been using this method for years. The only problem i would have is running out of grass clippings to layer it up. Best method in world! I also have bad back, and couldn't have roses without them. As he said don't weed first. If the weeds are really high, stomp them down or cut them with a careful hand (weedeater) and put the paper/cardboard right on top of them. You won't believe it until you try it!

Kate,

A friend introduce to a wonderful item, the garden claw. Over the last several years I use that thing to redo or make my all garden beds. Works great in getting those long tough weeds, like some tree roots. So caution has to be taken when using it around established plants. Then I use lots and lots of newspaper so I don't get use it as much any more. The weeds are easy to get to by pulling now.