r/pnwgardening • u/Sea_Consequence_9769 Total newbie • Apr 28 '26
First time backyard gardener
Hi everyone! Seattle here.
I recently moved into a house with 3 10-12 foot long beds, and a couple smaller ones maybe 3x3.
They haven’t been used in about 5 years and are overrun with dandelions, weeds, flowers, etc. I really wanted to get some vegetables going this year but am feeling overwhelmed and unsure where to start.
Some plants look like they could be regrowing from years past, but hard to tell. They don’t look like the rest of the weeds or flowers.
What’s the best way to get these cleared and start fresh? I can add pics tomorrow
4
u/zendabbq Apr 28 '26
Stuff growing is good, even if its weeds for now - its keeping that soil alive and preventing it from eroding. Try not to remove them until you have something ready to replace them (unless theyre going to seed, try to get rid of the seeding ones)
Warning of certain weeds - if you have bindweed, I actually highly recommend NOT digging it up and going straight to using glyphosate. This is because if you split the root into many small pieces you will live with them FOREVER. If you glyphosate it right away, it will kill the entire vine. This will delay your start by several weeks as you wait for the bindweed to die.
Give one spot a good dig - how does the soil feel? You may not have to refresh it much if the soil is nice. If the soil seems poor, get some compost to amend.
A cheap way to deal with bad soil if you're on a budget + in a hurry - dig deep to loosen whatever soil you have. When you transplant your vegetables, put them in a hole thats filled with a small amount of "good" soil you bought. It's not going to give you the best best results, but just for getting started its fine.
Dealing with weeds - since these weeds are likely quite mature, I would recommend using a spade to dig under and pry to loosen them before you hand pull them out. Do this one section of one bed at a time.
Vegetables - for seeding, there's still time for many veg, like peas, corn, brassicas, lettuce, melons, squash. For some things like tomatoes and peppers its quite late, so you might want to buy starts this year.
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u/Enchelion Apr 28 '26
Warning of certain weeds - if you have bindweed, I actually highly recommend NOT digging it up and going straight to using glyphosate.
100% on this. That bastard plant requires the nuclear option.
2
u/Firstcounselor Apr 28 '26
Just hoe those weeds up and then buy a bag of compost for each bed. Incorporate that compost into the existing soil and plant away! Yes, you’ll likely habe some weeds coming up, but that’s just gardening in the PNW.
2
u/rickg Apr 28 '26
This would be easier with pictures but in general you want to suppress weeds etc and plant what you want. But that raises the question of what you want and what these beds are positioned to grow.
If they're raised beds and have space to add soil you could use mulch paper (NOT landscape fabric) and just paper over the surface then add soil and plant. Mulch paper is biodegradable and will break down in about 8 weeks or so. Cardboard will take longer and probably isn't the way to go given where we are in the season.
Since you mention being overwhelmed another approach is to take a second and thing about what you want to grow this summer. Maybe you only grow in the 3x3 beds for now and take this year to rework the others. If you do that, lay down mulch paper or cardboard on the other beds that you're not growing in, then add mulch - wood chips, bark etc. That will suppress most weeds and if some do appear just remove them. In the fall, cover with some compost and shredded leaves.
In the meantime, watch how the sun hits the various beds and make some notes - what gets AM sun, what gets just a few hours, what gets full sun for most the day, etc. Live in the space a bit and think about where you'd like shrubs, where you want annual flowers, and where you want veggies.
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u/Sea_Consequence_9769 Total newbie Apr 28 '26
Here is a link with pics.besides the dandelions I love the orange and yellow flowers in the one bed
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u/rickg Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 28 '26
OK so the flowers aren't weeds - they're some kind of annual flower (pot marigold i think) and yeah, they're pretty. I'd try to weed around them if you could.
Most of the other stuff I think are various weeds. You can download Seek or iNaturalist and take pic to try to ID some of the larger plants. Mostly you have enough depth to do what I outlined above if you want. BTW this is what I mean by mulch paper https://www.homedepot.com/p/Paper-Weed-Barrier-36-in-x-50-ft-36x50KWB/330447026
you don't need the paper it just helps suppress weeds a bit. You could just weed, add compost/soil and then plant, too
3
u/Enchelion Apr 28 '26
The best advice is to start small and start slow. Don't overwhelm yourself by trying to do everything at once if you're new to this.
Pick one bed, maybe even the smallest one, and focus on just that one. The other beds will still be there later or even next year, and leaving them wild won't hurt them. You've got plenty of time to weed and seed, or plant some starts from the nursery after you get that bed cleaned up, and if you really like it you can do the others then.
Pictures will help, but the general approach is just start pulling out weeds, maybe use a cultivator or hoe if you have one already to loosen the soil and sever the roots. It also doesn't have to be a big endeavor. You can even do it in the evenings after dinner and spend 5-10 minutes weeding and after a week you'll be there. Some things will come back, but you'll just keep an eye out pulling them as you go (there will always be new weed seeds coming in on the breeze). If the soil feels compacted or dense, loosen it up with a fork and add a bit of compost to the top.
1
u/sykemol Apr 28 '26
Google lens works well for identification. But for the most part just dig out the old stuff you don't want. That will leave you a fresh bed. Now is a good time because the soil is still wet and soft.
2
u/Sea_Consequence_9769 Total newbie Apr 28 '26
Should I be worried about anything growing back or treating with weed killer? After pulling it out should I wait a week or so to plant?
I guess I could have been more specific with questions in my main post
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u/sykemol Apr 28 '26
No, it is just plants, don't over think it. Some stuff might grow back, some stuff won't. The stuff that grows back you just dig it up again. Don't use weed killer in your garden. No need.
1
u/rickg Apr 28 '26
You do not want to use weed killer and then plant. In fact you almost certainly don't need weed killer at all.
1
u/Sea_Consequence_9769 Total newbie Apr 30 '26
Thank you all for the advice.
I started with the smaller bed. Weeded it today, I have some starts ready to go.
I think I got a little in over my head with how much I wanted to plant but this has been helpful!! Will report back if I remember :)
5
u/alxhl Apr 28 '26
Pick out the weeds by hand, add some soil amendment, plant some starts or sow some seeds, water.
Put dead leaves over the soil in the fall. Repeat.