My father was unable to tend his garden in northern Wisconsin during the last few years of his life. Now I am looking at an overgrown, utterly weed-choked garden and wondering how to reclaim it for civilization. (My mother would like to return most of it to lawn, but keep a small part, say a 4' x 8' plot, for a few vegetables and herbs.)

What do you suggest I do?

Annual weeds will of course die off during winter, but if they were allowed to go to seed then you can count on new volunteers. You did not say the overall size to be weeded but I would consider using a flame weeder as needed to control new growth.

what is a flame weeder? I've got the same problem w/weeds overtaking sections of our lawn( we just moved to a new house, the former owner thought the weeds were plants! therefore he never did anything about them

You may want to consider removing what weeds you can in the spring and employ multiple plantings of a green manure such as buckwheat when the soil warms up in the spring. heavy plantings will choke out weeds and add valuable organic matter to the soil. Just remember to turn the buckwheat under as soon as it flowers., then wait a couple of weeks and do it all over again. Repeat throughout the summer and by next year you will have a fairly weed free area to do with what you choose.

Zrusilla, you might check out a book called Lasagna Gardening which Rodale publishes, which should address some of your problems. Also Gardens Alive! carries a product called WOW(without weeds), a nitrgen rich organic product that kills seeds as they emerge. It will kill any seeds therefore you have to time application right. It will not affect plants so you can plant young plants without any problems. Website is www.GardensAlive.com

Zrusilla, you might check out a book called Lasagna Gardening which Rodale publishes, which should address some of your problems. Also Gardens Alive! carries a product called WOW(without weeds), a nitrgen rich organic product that kills seeds as they emerge. It will kill any seeds therefore you have to time application right. It will not affect plants so you can plant young plants without any problems. Website is www.GardensAlive.com Good Luck! Luna

I try to avoid hard work in the garden. The way I deal with weeds is just not to have any. I mulch heavily (3 - 5 inches). This holds in moisture too. Just carefully mulch around plants and between rows. When something comes up through the mulch that you didn't plant just pull it out. I have a 30x40 foot plot and it takes me about 5 minutes every couple of days to do my weeding. You may have to use a little more effort on a new plot however. Good luck to you! Sundown

I'm with you on the mulching! My borders are each 15' x 100+', & I spend very litle time weeding due to the heavy mulch I use. I love to dig, though, so ALL of my beds were originally prepared by double-digging. I immediately lay a heavy mulch layer down as soon as I've finished each area of a new bed to smother the weed seeds my digging has reawakened. I have very few weeds, but any that sprout show up easily after a light rain against the darkened mulch & I yank them right out immediately.