Hmmmm....Hope you'll take their 'help' with good graces. Turn it into a joke as soon as you can. That 'not listening' thing goes both ways, donchaknow.

Depending on how large an area, there is always hand pulling and then mulch like crazy to keep more seeds from sprouting. If your parents are in pretty good shape, they may enjoy a morning pulling and mulching. Ditto for any children in this scenario.

Did the stachys overwinter well? If they are planted thick enough, they may shade out the weeds after the first flush are pulled.

How big an area are you talking about?

Is it sunny?

Is there anything there other than weeds?

What are your plans for the area?

There are a few possible solutions.........

well at least your dad doesn't come over and spray your cabbage&tomatos&beans etc!!etc!!with whatever he's spraying although I tell him Thanks Dad but I don't want it sprayed he just grins and says I've been doing this longer than you.

borderbarb has good advice about being kind to your parents. Their intentions are very good, but when an area has been in weeds for a while, it will be full of weed seeds.

You can try covering the area with plastic to 'solarize' the soil and kill the weeds. You should avoid tilling the soil in the future because that will cause new weed seeds to come to the surface.

cardboard covered with multch of choice

kenr! Hah!
You're right! perennialfan's parents got nothing on your Dad!!

I'm just gonna chime in real quick and say like the others, forgive your parents and accept what they did and if possible, work together to fix the problems so you spend time together and learn together.

I have two suggestions.

First, treasure your parents. You won't have them forever.

Second, cardboard with mulch for the weeds.

What momstar said and that includes in-laws. I was going to share a story about my MIL and my tomato plants, but I've typed it twice and my browser has shut down when I submit the message both times. I'm thinking it's my Higher Power keeping me out of trouble. So, never mind.

..
Mow the weeds. Stomp the stumps.

If not cardboard, cover with several sheets of newspaper.

Wet it down.

Mulch away.

Sprinkle with wildflower seed.

Keep moist.

too sense
..

It can take a few years before weeds stop sprouting like crazy in an area that's had them for a while. I've never tried solarizing, but it might be worth a try if they're really driving you crazy. (The weeds, that is, not your parents.)

When I first read the title, I imagined that your parents weren't composting properly and you needed to add some browns to your compost pile. Glad to hear that's not the case. In the long run, they helped create some workable garden soil. In a few years, the weeds will be gone, and Lord willing, your garden and your parents will still be thriving.

I vote with the cardboard and mulch group. That'll work better than anything else besides spraying the weeds.

Deanna

I vote for cardboard, soak, and a thick mulch like straw - can you get a bale? The area will be boring all summer but should be weed free. In the early fall you can get some perennials and plant by cutting down through the soft cardboard. Add some shredded fall leaves around the new plants to cover the soil you exposed. In spring, if you have some weeds coming up in the cut/planted ares, put down newspaper around those plants and cover with a nice mulch like saved leaves, etc.

Okay, first of all I just wanted to say that I love my parents very much. I just wish they would listen to me when it comes to gardening stuff. I will try the cardboard and straw suggestion.

I'm certain you do. There have been many garden frustrations caused by well-meaning relatives. That goes for parents and hubbies.

Ach, parents! Don't ya love em. Whoever said 'cherish them' was right on though.

I find pulling is so much easier after heavy rains. We've got an area around our compost bins at work that's mulched but we get tons of weeds coming up, mostly tree seedlings I think, from the shredded tree trimming mulch. If the ground is wet I can pull about two weeds per second using two hands.

Amen to momstar. There was a whole thread once on well-meaning garden gaffes committed by loved ones.

ay, there mates.. I will have to vote for the solarization of the situation.. kill as many seeds as possible with the hot summer sun.. then,,, cardboard/newspaper and mulch.. but,, either way, nature will prevail to some extent.. and you will be pullin weeds..

I'm glad your parents aren't cooking in the com poster, that made me LOL!
Is there a cover crop that you can grow after solarizing?
Can one compost one' ex-husband given enough browns? We call him Earl for short.

LOL! I'd love to compost my daughter's ex! Sounds like the perfect solution!

Yikes. Yes, plenty of browns neeeded! Best if you can reduce the particle size first, using a machete or perhaps a chipper (a la Fargo).

[Disclaimer: I neither recommend nor endorse composting ex's. :-]

Yeah, my chipper-shredder arrived yesterday and I have a mountain of browns! We just unpacked about 560 moving boxes. I think the moving company got paid by the box as they had more paper than stuff in each one.
Do live trees count as brown or green?
Starting a new and improved compost pile once I finish mulching. Hw many pounds of browns do you need for a 200lb body? Yuck, sorry. Disgusting! It would spoil my appetite to grow veggies in that!

mulch
mulch
mulch
it's the best thing I learned on these forums since I joined
maybe 3-4 weeds a week have to be pulled from a 1000 square foot vegetable garden
mulch is the answer
I know that
for sure