Thanks dchall san antonio for the recommendation. I actually bought the fiskars 3-claw garden weeder from amazon and then read your post. I will see how that goes, it is stainless steel and had good reviews. Looks similar to the WeedHound tool. Bassplayer7, well my yard is 0.318 acres and the weeds are not too much, about total 10 plants, but there are lots of large (10-12 inches) patches of white clover growing here and there. I don�t think I will tackle that, it looks very green and pretty. For now I will leave the clover, because i dont think i can dig that out, it will leave large bare patches.

First yuou need to take a good look at the soil, never assume anything about soil. If the leaves from the trees that once grew there were allowed to accumulate you may have a pretty decent soil, but if they were, as is usual, raked up and thrown away that soil might really be pretty bad. Contact your local office of your University of Massachussetts Cooperative Extension Service about having a good, reliable soil test done so you know what that soils pH and major nutrient levles are and then dig in with these simple soil tests, 1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. to see what else you might need do to make that soil into a good, helathy soil that will grow strong and healthy plants. Here is a link that might be useful: UMass CES

As far as removing the weeds, I can't speak to how to eradicate them per se. But in my beds I try to keep a layer of mulch down on everything and while you will likely never be free of weeds the mulch certainly keeps things considerably more under control. I can tell you that with vinca if you encourage it to grow and the plants are close enough together eventually they should form a mat that prevents weeds from getting a good foothold. Kate

I know that the weeds will not be gone forever. That would be a dream come true! :) I have already hand pulled a lot of the weeds out a few weeks ago, and am now in the process of pulling the roots out since the smaller stuff is now growing large. Since the house was built at least seven years ago and no one lived in it until four years ago, the grass in that area has been allowed to grow crazy and native. I wish that we would have started by removing the top layers of ground cover and start fresh! Lesson learned for next time! I plan on doing this massive root removal until the whole area is done and then try to pull stuff as it appears, but no less than once a month. I just wanted to make sure that what I was doing was on the right track for a mistake in the first place. LOL I haven't seen any of the weeds go to seed this season yet. I think y'all are correct about having perennial weeds! I know there is poison something in there (most likely sumac) as I learned another lesson the hard way- wear gloves! I know we do not have the weeds that stick upright with the four strands of seeds at the top (I call them helicopter weeds since they looks like the blades in motion). I have seen what appear to be violets, some type of itty bitty yellow flower (about the size of my pinky fingernail), and something that has long thin seeds that are on needle thin plants. The weed I hate most in our yard is the ones that look like it is in the cactus family. It is spiky, low to the ground, and produces a white/yellow flowerish mass. I have tried Round-up and digging it out with the shovel. The root is thick, white, and extends down really far. Any idea on how to best remove them? Thanks for your tips though!!!! I will make sure to not weed once a year and to get an earlier start on it next year.