Weeds are a fact, that's a fact. Tom makes a good point that some weeds here and there are nothing to worry about. Those who say (over and over) that all weeds can be controlled by enough mulch are correct, but a constant heavy layer of mulch is plenty of work to maintain and really is only practical for quite small gardens. In my case, where I want to grow enough crops to provide all my pulse and some grain, maintaining a foot of mulch on over a half-acre is not going to happen. Other ways to keep weeds controlled must be utilized, and fortunately the lore to do so exists and it works. IME, grassy weeds are the main problem, and a heavy continual presence of those despite periodic tillage indicates a mineral balance in the soil that is not close to optimum for crop production. What you want to see is the "fertility" weeds, which are easier to control be mechanical means and are much less onerous for the crops. This is achieved mainly by raising calcium.

Clubbing baby seals? Our version of that is tilling the area to become a lawn. DON'T! So basically you need a lawn care mental make over. I'll get to that for you. It is pretty easy but it is equally easy to really do it wrong. I would suggest a grass called Shadow Turf. It is a variety of zoysia that really does grow in the shade. I'll post a picture after saying a few words about it. Shadow Turf was developed in West Texas at Texas Tech University along with Frontier Hybrids, a corn hybriding lab, in Abernathy, Texas. The owner had an interest in grasses and got two really good ones on the market before he passed away. The other one is Tech Turf, a buffalo grass hybrid. Tech Turf requires FULL sun while Shadow Turf only tolerates full sun. Shadow Turf really thrives in the shade. In the photo below, the Shadow Turf is under an English walnut tree. I had to duck to walk under the tree, so the canopy is probably down to 4-5 feet. You can see the density of the shade from the sunlight coming through the tree. The house faces west and has a huge tree across the street. Sunlight on the grass is limited to just a couple hours from noon to 3pm. That lawn was plugged on 12-inch centers about 18 months before I took the picture. The location is Abernathy, TX (obviously not a coincidence - Abernathy is a one-horse town). The reason I took that pic was to show where the grass had not quite fully filled in after 18 months. That spot is the least sunny part of the yard and probably receives no direct sunlight at all. Still the 1-inch grass plugs had spread to six inches or so in diameter. Clearly the rest of the lawn had filled in. Shadow Turf is a very dense, sod forming turf that might work for you in your application. Another variety of shade tolerant zoysia is called UC Verde. It was developed in California. It has a good reputation for the short time it has been out. I would check prices for both. Shadow Turf is not cheap. I paid about $85 for a flat of plugs. It spreads quickly, though, once it pops. I planted in May and by mid July I thought it was dead. SUDDENLY it was everywhere. It had been sending rhizomes around underground, and they all popped at once. Shadow Turf is moderately compatible with bermuda. Both can be mowed very low. Shadow Turf can also grow taller but when you do that, it is like bermuda in that when you mow the blades off the stems, it looks stemmy and brown. Getting the blades back on the ST takes a little time. It works much better mowed low and/or mowed often. Here are the basics of lawn care (lawn care mental make over). If you follow these guidelines you'll be okay even if all you have is weeds. Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an hour in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. Mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. Bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses are the most dense when mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. Dense grass shades out weeds and uses less water when tall. Dense grass feeds the deep roots you're developing in 1 above. Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 4 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above.

If you can get 1/2 inch PVC tubing in 20 foot lengths, you can make a hoop over a 4 foot wide bed that's roughly eight feet high in the center. Shove four rods of rebar thin enough to go inside the tubing and long enough to get a firm hammering into the ground with a foot or so sticking up. A couple of bent nails or electrical conduit 2-hole clamps can help with steadiness by "attaching" the rebar to raised bed sides if necessary. Slide the tubing down over the rebar. Don't worry about roots. You can put up hoops in parallel like a Conestoga wagon or cross them in an X. You can also put up plastic tubing "poles", which means straight sections that don't hoop back down; they will be more flexible. How's your wind, and are you comfortable putting large sails into the wind? I was given a hot tip for edged and grommeted shade cloth: Harbor Freight. They also have scads of cheap clamps or you could use those huge binder clips! Also remember, you don't have to shade all the plants if some are in the shade of others. Here is a link that might be useful: Harbor Freight

Hello Houzz friends. Another update. we hung 3 shelves over the dining table. They are not decorated correctly yet so disregard that. I love the placement and it does a few things for me, 1. Fills the space without overwhelming it, 2. Allows for changing of decore and art when desired, 3. I didn’t buy anything new, just used what I had 4. Adds some color to my room which is predominantly black, white and grey. we tried moving up the light in the space but it looked super weird. I think it stays where it is. I ordered new knobs for the cabinet, they arrived today but were the wrong ones. 🙃 Last things to do for now are wallpaper inside the black hole that is the cabinet and recover the ottoman. A few throw pillows and good to go.