In most zone 5 regions, you still have time for containers. In fact, what you really should do to minimize weeds, is to cover the area you want to effect with a thick layer of compost and mulch to smother the grass and other weeds. Then you can dig down to the soil in spots to plant the sprouts from your containers. What you need to do is give the flower sprouts a head start and handicap the grass/weeds. If you just throw seeds down, the weeds already have strong root systems developed and the seeds/sprouts won't stand a chance. You could also cover the weeds with black plastic as soon as you have a day without snow. The plastic will help to warm the soil and start the weeds growing. But, they won't have any sun and they'll die. No matter what you do, I'd recommend mulch between any desirable plants. It will prevent seeds brought in by the wind from sprouting, and it will make pulling undesirables much easier.

As far as the compostable containers, they have certainly been tried. Many report that they dry out too fast because the container tends to wick the moisture from the potting mix. The newspaper idea has also been tried. Many like to make smaller newspaper pots and put several of them into a milk jug to increase the number of types of seeds per container. Again, there is the drying issue, but it works well for some. One of the fun parts of wintersowing is trying different systems and finding what makes it the most fun and convenient for you.

Hope that helps.

Martha

You have time. go! I sow Dianthus all summer as well.

Okay! I'm going! I'm going! lol

I am going to be doing the baggie method for WS (bought the wrong kind) and will see how it goes :)

As for the weedy grasses, they have a date with some thick contractor garbage bags that I'm cutting open this morning! I'm also asking my local coffee shop to save their old newspapers and coffee grounds for after the black plastic comes off. Doing a modified layer system type thingy before my compost goes on! I love that gardening has no rules!

Ooh Martha you helped me a bit too, thanks. I have two neglected veggie beds in the back that I didn't garden in last year because I was pregnant. I want to fill them up this year but they are infested with weeds. I am going the black plastic route and will probably leave it down until around May when we start planting directly in my zone.

Well I did it! Last night I planted 15 little baggies. I'm not sure if there's enough dirt in the baggies, all the directions just say to "add soil" so that's what I did...1 big heaping cup measure :) it was easiest for the 5y.o. to help with.

This is what I planted:
Tomato - SuperSweet 100
Tomato - Heirloom Black Krim
Bell Pepper - California Wonder
Carrot - Short 'n Sweet
Pea - Sugar Sprint
Green Bean - Burpee's Tenderpod

Marigold - Scarlet Starlet
Morning Glory - Grandpa Ott
Morning Glory - Flying Saucers
Nasturtium - Jewel Mix
Nasturtium - Fordhook Favorites Mix
Sweet Pea - Galaxy Mix
Sweet Pea - Sweet Dreams Mix
Thunbergia - Black Eyed Susan Vine
Zinnia - Pinwheel Mix

My daughter and I had a blast doing this! Though she's a little on the Born Organized side of life, so she was definitely not sure about planting seeds in baggies outside. The wheels were definitely turning in her little head.

We have plans to add some Moonflowers as soon as I get them and a Native Hummingbird Box Mix when I find a container big enough :)

Though I'm still trying to figure out a way to use this for Guerrilla Gardening...will keep posted :)

Here is a link that might be useful: My little baggie babies :)

Nice! Congrats to you! :) Good luck and can't wait to hear how your seed babies do.

Can I put in a word of caution on the black plastic? This will end up needing to be taken up before you can layer other materials on top of it. Why not just start with a thick but "rottable" layer of cardboard, then newspaper, then coffeegrounds and compost and and...

A few years ago we had a section of lawn that I want to claim as a bed for WSed flowers. In late March, I was able to layer cardboard first (boxes cut and flatten to one layer)wet it down, put on a thin layer of compost, wet it down, put on newspapers (one sheet thickness) and wet it down too! Then put on all the other "natural" layers (a little dirt, a little compost, a little coffeee grounds, etc) and leave it be. I was able to plant some WS seedlings into it by summer (busting through all the now rotted layers to dirt) to make a small hole. No grass/weeds came through.

Thank you nan, I appreciate the information. I do know that the black plastic will need to come up. I'm just hoping to bake some of the early risers out before they get a good foothold. After the plastic comes up I'm going to do the newspapers and such.

The area I'm trying to work up is a long neglected, south facing 12' x 4' 'raised' flower bed. My landlord finally gave me permission to till it up, but it is actually partially situated above a concrete filled cistern AND has a border of hostas from so many years ago no one remembers who planted them. SO! I can only go so deep even if I wanted to.
Will take a picture of it while waiting for the school bus today :) and post it.

Whatever you do, don't till it. That will bring long buried weed seeds up into the light where they will be able to sprout. I guess if you mulched it immediately following the tilling you would be alright, though. Simply layering organic material will invite worms and other critters to soften up the ground for you and save you a ton of work. And like Nan-6161 says, you can dig through the layers and plant seedlings while still preventing the weeds from breaking through.

Martha

Please listen to docmom and disturb the soil that is holding the bounty of all those weed seeds as little as possible! My first few years as a gardener, I could not figure out why I ultimately had MORE weeds after I had done "such a good job" getting beds "ready"!!!!! I guess I'd been watching farmers around here plow up fields and I thought you had to really have the garden soil all dug up and loose to plant in it. I've learn my lesson on this. Once I get an area of the bed fairly weed free (by pulling the weeds/grass/etc and their roots or, if it's a new bed, the cardboard method) I try very hard to just leave the soil undisturbed, dress it with my own weed seed free compost, and plant into it by digging the hole without too much disturbance to the soil around it.

Weeds - -they have such a will to live!!!!