Help to start gardening and planting

Hi all,

I don't know where i can ask my questions, so i chose this section, if it is wrong section then please i ask mods to move it to where it should be, but my post this will contain many different questions as i don't want to start many threads just at once, so i will ask my main important questions and later in the future i will share and post more if needed.

First of all, i just moved to my house about 4-5 months ago, and the person who was renting my house before did make a small garden in my house, say backyard and side-yard, i didn't measure the area of it but it is not that big, and it is full of grasses and some trees i don't know and don't want it or looking for to get rid of them and replace with new plants i want/need, and i am planning to use part of it, say 1/4 or 1/3 of it, if it will be good successful plantation then i may use another parts, but i am not in rush to use most of the area of my garden.

So, my question is, what is the best way to get rid of those grasses and then prepare it without much of those grasses remains and also without some pets or insects that may be left in the ground? i am worried if i transplant my plants then those grass will grow back again and some harmful weeds or whatever there left, so i want to be sure that i prepare part of my garden to receive new plants without most issues.

Second, i don't have any tools yet for measuring the salinity[or saltiness] of the soil or the pH, even the moist degree or whatever, so how i can prepare or make a good soil and another materials to be used in gardening? I bought some components and mix them and used them in pots and cups to start germinating and growing some plants, but i need to transplant them as soon as possible, but i can't tell if that mix is good enough or suitable or i need to change/add/remove something, i can't buy many components if you recommend as i am not sure i can find everything, but at least i need to have the basic things to start, and i hope you can guide me about basic components i can use.

I can take photos of my garden and my components and my pots to show what i did and what i am doing right or wrong, the weather here is between warm to normal nowadays, we have lots of sun and we expect to have rains within those coming months but not that much, so we will have sunny and nice weather with some rains time to time.

Sorry if my post is not in the right place, but i wanted to start somewhere here.

Hi Tareq,

Yes, you found the right place.

What I understand: you are renting a new (for you) house.

The previous tenant started a garden and you would like to improve and expand the garden.

You aren't sure where to begin.

I would say begin by finding out what your landlord will allow you to do. The perfect solution would be to kill the grass and make it into a garden. If you are worried about salinity in your soil, a raised garden may be the answer. But first, the landlord. What does he say?

I'm not sure if you are saving the trees so I will assume you are. If so, you will have to plan a garden with plants that appreciate at least part shade. Or full shade if the trees are very large.

One easy way to deal with poor soil is to dig a hole large enough for the plant you want to grow. You haven't given any indication of size or type of plant: vegetables, flowers, shrubs.... If you dig a hole that measures about 20 liters in size and replace that soil with soil you buy, then you need not worry about the grass and weeds around your planting hole. Dig as many holes as you have plants. Small plants, like peppers, can be grown several per hole. Large plants, like tomatoes can be planted one or two per hole. This makes for a messy looking garden but it works. You only water the plants, not the whole area. You can use all the dirt you dug out of the holes to build berms to keep the water where you want it.

Another option is to build raised planter boxes and fill them with good soil that you have purchased. You can build your boxes so you have paths between them. If that is your choice, the grass on the paths between the raised beds could be nice.

If you want to use the entire area for planting, you will have to use an herbicide to kill the grass and weeds already there and then treat the area with a pre-emergent to prevent the return of the weeds and grass. This is time consuming and if you have already started you plants and need to plant them into their permanent spots soon, you should go with other options. Also, the pre-emergent will prevent any seeds you plant from germinating. If the trees are fruit trees, be careful of what you put in the soil as you could poison your fruit crop - your trees won't die but you might.

If you decide to keep your plants in pots, they will need to be heavy insulated pots that are at least 20 liters. The bigger the better. The reason plants don't do well in pots is that their roots get too warm.

Another thought is that you buy a lot of huge bags of potting soil. Lay the bags flat and poke holes in them. Flip the bags over and cut a slit in the other side. Plant your plants. Its an instant, cheap potting method that a lot of people use in the U.S. with great results. The operative word is HUGE bags.

Hope this helps.

Daisy

Hi Daisy,

Thanks for your reply, i waited and finally i got answers.

Let me or allow me to discuss you some points, and you can understand better or answer later if you need to.

1. The house i moved to is my own house, but it wasn't live in it, and it was rented by another person, and that person made that garden, and he can't take this garden with you, so he left it as it is, so i moved to my own house after years and i found the garden, so i started to think about using my garden, it is my land, i don't know how you thought it wasn't my land, it is my house and i am the landlord, but maybe my post wasn't clear, apologize my English because English is not my first or mother language, so i have full access to my own house and the garden.

2. The garden is in L-shaped, back side or the house and left side if you face the house, and i am planning to leave that back side alone as most big trees are there and i really don't want to remove them to another part, maybe 1 or 2 trees i don't want, but i think i will leave it as it is, and this part of garden actually is the view of our indoor kitchen, and in the early morning i can see some birds and flies too such as bees or wasps so it is a nice view, i won't use this part of garden for my plant.

3. So above point leaving me with the only left side which isn't full or have many trees big, only,few medium sized or see not so big trees which i can remove without problems, or i can leave few and remove the most, but i was thinking to use also part of that side yard, say it is a rectangular and i will use as start 1 quarter or 1 third.

4. I think the soil is good enough, i don't need to replace all the soil there, i just only need to clean it and add fertilizer or nutrients and this will make it good to go for years, but the grass and weeds is my only concern or worry, i don't know if i use any kind of chemicals or pesticide or herbicide may lead to successful health plants, but you gave a good point of poisoning possibilities to the plant or human, and actually this is what stopping me for gardening, i don't know why the previous renter didn't try to have only useful plants or at least most food eating plants, but sounds he has a farm or a separated garden so he wasn't try to have a better garden in my house, maybe because it is not his house, but now i have to deal with what is there now.

5. I started with pots, i planted some seeds, and most germinated already, and the only plant that is growing fine is the cilantro or coriander, i wasn't sure about it, but i am happy, i may buy a better longer pot so i keep it for coriander only better than those small-medium pots, coriander is one of the most herb/plant i need in food, and i hope other important plant will grow fine as coriander, but i can't depend on pots all the time, so that i started this thread so i can prepare my garden to give my new plant a ground or space to grow better and bigger, i may just keep some plants that don't grow so big in pots, such as mint or even coriander as i will harvest/cut once it reach an appropriate height.

6. I did remove some grasses manually from a portion of my garden, but i don't know if if that really removed those grasses or weeds completely, i removed from roots, but i can't tell how deep i have to dig to remove them or if there will be some remaining of those weeds anywhere, i bought some pots with ready seedlings to transplant but all the plants died before i move to my house, and when i moved to my house i just placed my pots on the ground of my garden, and after few weeks almost all my pots started to grow one type of plant, and when i checked out it turned out to be same weeds around my garden, so how did those weeds came into my dead plants pots, so it is like there are seeds or it moved by worms or pests or wind or whatever it is, for that reasons i really want to make sure that i don't want to see more of those weeds, but i will accept those weeds only if it didn't affect my other plants i need, from what i see in my garden there are trees didn't affect by those weeds, so what is those weeds really do?

Thanks for your answers, i think before i go read more about each plant and how to grow them fine i better prepare my garden first, if i couldn't do that then i won't go far with my plants and end up with many plants die in pots or not growing enough at all to produce flowers and fruits, only those small plants that grow under the soil or small sized, but i really care about some plants that grow up high, no space room in pots, so i appreciate any tips and ideas you may give me, i have photos of my garden and pots i have, but i really don't know where to post them if that can help you to understand about my garden and my plan.

Thanks again,
Tareq

Can you please post a couple of pictures of the area? Look below for "Upload images to your reply" boxes

Weeds can get into pots if the weed seeds blow, or if you take soil from the yard and add it to the pots.

Some grasses and weeds can be pulled by hand and if you pull all the green parts, they are dead. Other grasses might have roots the grow deep, and pulling just the tops will not kill them.

When you pull all the weeds and grass, something will try to grow again. If you cover the bare ground with mulch, that stops or slows the weeds from growing again. You can mulch around your plants to stop weeds growing in them. Mulch (here) comes in big bags, it is chopped pieces of tree bark or shredded wood for example.

Sure, here are the pictures of the area i am talking about

I will try to find a way for those weeds and grasses if possible, i was going to ask an engineer [in gardening or agriculture] if he knows a way for treating the weeds and grasses, but i came here as i know there are experts here in this field, so i will keep looking at posts and answers.

Thanks

Thanks, it helps us understand.
(And it looks nice and warm and sunny; where I live is getting cold for winter)

Tareq, Your side yard is HUGE! When we say side yard, we are visualizing something along the side of our house that's about 3 meters wide and 10 meters long. You have a bonanza!

1. I assumed you were renting as you moved in after another renter moved out. In the U.S., people who have renters only rent their properties, they never intend to live there themselves. I am sorry I misunderstood but it makes things much easier (You are your own landlord).

2. Your side yard is the biggest side yard I have ever seen. You can do anything you want with a space that big. But, I would take it slow as trying to tame that big an area in one year would be overwhelming. Make a master plan - decide where you want this garden to eventually go. Do you want a sitting area under a tree to have your morning coffee (or tea)? Than plant a tree. Do you want herbs and vegetables? Plan a vegetable area. Do you want flowers blooming around you patio? Do you see where I am going? You can do a lot with a large space and planning a private area, a vegetable garden, a flower garden, are not beyond the scope of an area this size.

3. After you develop your master plant, 1/4 of your area is enough this year (it may be too much). If you decide you want to plant more trees or shrubs for privacy, they should be on this year's to do list.

4. I wouldn't worry about the quality of your soil. Everything in your side yard is green and healthy looking. If salinity were a problem, your existing plants would not look so good.

5. The plants you have mentioned (Cilantro, also called coriander) is a cool weather annual. It is going to die the minute it gets warm so it may not be the best choice for your new garden. The good thing about cilantro is that before it dies, it goes to seed and you will have a lot of cilantro next season. Mint is a perennial. If you are planning to grow a lot of herbs, keep note of which are annual (last one season) and which are perennial (grows year after year).

6. Unless you want to spend a lot of time weeding, you might want to use an herbicide such as RoundUp and a pre-emergent. Use RoundUp BEFORE you plant as it kills whatever it touches. Don't buy anything that says it's a systemic or advertises that its a brush killer. Those will poison you soil. You may have to repeat this every couple weeks until the grass is gone. The pre-emergent works well on weeds (like grass) but you won't be able to plant small seeds in your garden for about 3 months (it doesn't affect large seeds like beans and sunflower) or things that have already sprouted.

My thoughts:

1. Considering the size of your garden, I would plan a drip irrigation system and put a timer on the line. Plants grow better when they have regular water. If it rains, you can turn the timer off until you want to water again. A lot of great gardens have failed because of irregular watering schedules.

2. You don't have to plant your crop in rows. Rows are inefficient for space, water and nutrients. AND it's so boring. Mix it up. Use your imagination and have some fun.

Daisy

To Sally, weather is a nature of GOD will, we can't change it, and if you have cold weather but your country have more green and bushy than our country, i can't find a nice landscape view in my country with green, never, so your cold weather gave your greenery and landscapes, and we travel to your side or similar to enjoy the nature and landscapes of greens.

To Daisy, I couldn't measure my side yard completely, but i measured the width and it is almost 11.9 meters and i assume the length exceeds 12-13meters, it could be 15 meters, so is that really HUGE?!!!

That was my plan about dividing, one quarter for vegetables, another quarter for flowers later, and another quarter if possible for trees could be fruits or anything else, or rather, i divide it into 3 parts, the further part that is next to the back wall maybe for trees and fruits, the middle third is for vegetables, and the front third for some flowers not much and keep a space for as you said morning coffee/tea place, but i am not sure what i can do with all or most trees that are existing as you can see from the pics, should i remove them all? keep some/few? keep them for now and use the spaces that are in the middle far from those trees? as you said, if i have enough space to do whatever i want then it is difficult to think of the best way or plan to do it, mostly i won't use this garden for tea/coffee chairs place at all, sometimes me and my family are bothered by bugs or insects that are walking/flying around so we don't like to use the garden for fun sitting inside, instead, i was going to buy a tent and place it outside on that ceramic tiles with the view to the garden, the tent is big so it may take 1/3 of the space of the garden, and this will prevent me using it effectively for plants, let's say my garden is dedicated completely for plants.

Good that my soil is good enough, i thought it wasn't, but when i looked at it i believe it is good enough, with just little more fertilizer and say some compost potting as a layer it will be ready t go completely, only the weeds and un-necessary grass is the problem.

I will think about what you call it as "drip irrigation system or network", not sure if i can find something in my area with good price, and i don't know how to make it, so if i can find a farmer or person in gardening field who can do it for me with reasonable price that will be great, but i will make that before i prepare my garden and planting it or after that? because i don't think i will put that irrigation system to that entire area of the side yard and at the end i may use portion of it, unless i am sure i will use the whole area then not a problem to irrigate it all, but do you have links about different irrigation ways/systems so i can look at it just for record?

If you look closely to the wide shot pic, i was thinking to dig/prepare the quarter of the front left or closer left space, the man removed some in front as portion and i don't know when he can expand that later, i will visit one of those gardening shops and see if someone there can come and remove the weeds effectively as they might have experience in that and at the same time preparing the space i need, maybe they can tell me what i should do or what is wrong with my soil or they can mix the potting soil with fertilizer and sand i bought for pots/containers and use it for the garden, the weather is getting a bit nice and colder those months so i can be outdoor more and watch my plants more than in summer when it is killing crazy hot, we will see.

Wish me luck!

We are both, I am sure, looking forward to seeing how your garden develops.

The best addition to any garden soil, is organic matter, such as compost or bagged 'manure'. I'm not sure what is available in your country. You don't need to buy sand, as it is not practical to change the soil by adding sand. Organic matter in any amount is good for the soil and plants.

My plan, or suggestion, would be that you (eventually) have gardens all along the walls, up to about two meters out, and more garden in the middle as you have started. Between them, keep the grass (or something) as a path to walk around. Depending on the direction of the sun, and the small trees, or shrubs you might add, you can have plants that like more or less sun, in different places. THigns you grow for food generally want all day sunshine like in the middle of the yard.

But I am coming from, and have my experience in, a place that gets 40 inches (over a meter) of rain per year, and has the seasons. You need advice on plants that grow in your area. "Daisy" may be able to do that from where she is posting.

Welcome Tareq.
I live in a place with the opposite weather, cool and rainy, so can't help much with the details of gardening in a hot dry place.
I have a suggestion- to help decide which of the trees to keep, you should find out what they are. One way is to use the Dave's Garden Plant Identification Forum. Take photos of the whole tree, then several showing the branching, bark, leaves, and how the leaves join the branch. The DG Plant ID forum has lots of folks who love to help with this. Another way, is what I did here, take branches to a local Plant Nursery and show them to the people there, they will likely recognize them easily.
The tree with pink flowers looked pretty, you might want to keep others too. Some of them might be too close to the house. A tree too close to a house can damage the house. The branches can rub on the house, and the roots can grow into the foundation.
Good luck. Keep us updated with how this is going, it is fun for everyone to see the progress of projects like this.

Thanks everyone!

Well, i am still working on my garden plan, but i was hoping for better details, first i drew a plan of the selected area in my garden where i want to plant it, but that plan is as a file of word doc and also converted to PDF, and both formats i can't upload here to show you what i am thinking/planning to do, so without it it can't be much clear, and i was looking for suggestions out of that plan drawing, pity!

I do use that DG Plant ID, it is very helpful and helped me truly, and still i have a lot to show for ID, one by one, and i trust people here, they know better, and i am sure all or most my plants aren't something mysterious anyway, and if here i couldn't get the answer i can always try another sites or ask someone in my area in this field who has knowledge, i will never give up on the plants in my garden.

Other people have posted plans but I'm not sure what format they were in. Don't give up yet. Lol Can you take a picture of your plans and post them?

I will try to take a picture of my plan drawing, but is there a way where i can convert my word doc file into a pic format and upload it?

Or, is it not allowed if i upload it to one of those webhosts and post a link here so you can download it?

In all cases, to take a photos of my plant is like a cheat the method, and i don't know how is the quality of the pic will be compared to direct draw.

Ok, i just took the snapshot or the photos from the monitor, cropped a bit to keep within the white and exclude the border non-white, so what do you think?

I don't know much about computers, so there is probably a lot more that you can do then I can tell you. But I do know that lettuce is a cool weather veggie so I don't know if it will grow in your area at the same time the other crops do. I can't grow them at the same time here. I lot of gardening is trial and much error, because every year is different.

I agree, tomatoes are the most important! Lol I think you need more space per plant, the vines can get huge. Also, corn is wind pollinated so it should be grown in squares ie 4' x 4' to get the best pollination. I'm not sure how close the corn plants should be to each other.

I agree with Lisa. Tomatoes that grow well need to be at least two feet apart and three feet might be better.
Sweet corn is to be grown in a block at least 4 feet on each side as she said.
Lettuce may not do well, but in containers you can give them shade for part of the day and help them.
Watermelon vines can get very long and grow out over the grass or into the other crops.
Except for lettuce, those plants grow in hot weather. But maybe not your hottest hot weather. In some of our hottest parts of US, they grow things in the cooler part of the year.

Tareq I think the photos of the plans work fine-that's what I do. Sometimes I will make a line drawing or cartoon, then just snap a photo of it and upload that.

I didn't measure the total area of that selected area, but let's say it is nearly 5 meter by 6 meter, which is nearly 17' by 20', so can't i pick 4x4' out of it for sweet corn and leave the rest for something else?

That selected area has a side near the wall, but there are some previous plants and trees, i will ask about them so i can decide to remove them or keep them, but if i remove them then i can have slightly more area say 6 meter by 7 maybe or 6x6m, then i can choose say 5 meter alongside the wall by say 2 meter, this is nearly 17' by 7' only for sweet corn, so instead of 4x4' i have 17'x7' dedicated for sweet corn, and i leave little space say about 1 meter apart for that sweet corn block, then i will have nearly 2m or 3m by 5m parallel to that sweet corn block, and this will be for tomatoes part of it and something else.

I didn't know that i have pomegranate trees and mulberry which limits my selected area, so i only use that front or lower west part of the side yard only for my plants, and i leave the rest.

Ok, here is an update and photos from above:

I measured the selected area supposing i am taking it from that wall after removing the trees to the middle of front entrance between the metal bars/fence, and then from that entrance to the end of where i want that selected area just before getting near the Pomegranate plant, and i found it is measured as 7m by 7m, or nearly 23ft by 23ft.

Say i will take a gap from all directions about 20cm so it will be a square area of 6.8m by 6.8m, say even as 22ft by 22ft, is it enough for something worthy?

20ft by 20ft if i want to make it narrower and little space around and away from the wall and the fence, still not enough?

In your diagram of rectangles, if those rectangles are each 2 feet by 3 feet, the total area is 8 by 18 feet. The tomato rectangles will have one plant each.

It seems you are looking for more of a square so how about 8 tomatoes in one row (3 feet wide) at one end, planted 2 feet apart (16 feet). Then leave a three foot path on the garden side of that. Then a square of corn and a square of watermelon, next to each other, could be 6 feet square each with 4 foot path between, perpendicular to the path by the tomatoes. This makes a total area 16 by 12 feet.
The paths sound wide but you need to get in to pick the vegetables, and when leaves grow and stick out the path gets tighter.

My $.02: don't use herbicides or insecticides *at all* except as a last restort! You want to think of your garden as its own little ecology. Over time, herbicides and insecticides will kill beneficial insects and microbes, and produce disruptions that end up causing problems that make you need to use more pesticides ... and so on.

Weeding by hand is not that much work in a garden plot. You might even find it enjoyable: it gives you an excuse to spend a little time outside, getting to know your plants. But you can also slow or prevent their growth by using mulch.

I'd also recommend planting a bank of pollinator-friendly and predator-harboring flowers. The National Wildlife Federation has some good recommendations:

https://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Gardening/Archives/2010/Enticing-Predators-to-Patrol-Your-Garden.aspx

They'll be beautiful and quite helpful, too!

I looked into mulch pics, but i don't know if it is only one kind of many kinds, and from where i can get it? and if i will use mulch on my garden to stop weeds how long it will be effective? and will that stop another plants from growing too? or how long i have to wait if i will get and use mulch on weeds before i start planting?

Ok, i also prefer not use any kind of chemicals if possible, but i don't know if my plants will be healthy enough and i can treat it without using any herb/pesticides for diseases or whatever.

Sally, i didn't know what is the total area of that selected one, so i went yesterday to measure it and i said it is almost 7m by 7m or 23 feet by 23 feet, but i don't think i will use that full every cm and i will leave little gap in all directions, so maybe i will use just 20 feet by 20 feet, my diagram it was based on much smaller area i thought, so i can change it and make it even bigger or more space, so instead of 4 rectangular in each column i can go up to 6 or 8, so maybe you are right, i can go up to 8 tomatoes in one row, and yes i can leave few feet for path and to be safe each plant with others, but i still didn't get your way of planning, if you draw that in paper and take a pic of that so i can see what do you mean.

Tareq, I will make a picture.

Mulch- Where I live is naturally forest, and trees are abundant and grown for paper and for building material too, leading to lots of wood scrap and waste bark. This is chopped up to make "mulch". I don't know if you can get this kind of mulch there. By "Mulch" we mean something that covers the bare ground, which prevents many weeds. If wood mulch, it also eventually decays and helps the soil. You place mulch around your plants. If planting seed, you wait for your seeds to start growing, then mulch around the plants.

Don't worry too much about bugs for now. Since you are just starting, they need to find you first.

I see, not sure if i can fine those anywhere, but i will try to visit any carpentry around and ask if they can save something for me, but i don't think i can find that mulch in buildings materials shops, is there something else in those shops i may use instead of mulch?

About bugs, i just plant and watch, whatever happen let it happen, i can't just control each plant and follow them 100% accurately and prevent them from anything around, if they grow fine and healthy that will be great, if they didn't because of bugs or weather then it will be a lesson for me for next try.

Don't worry about wood mulch. You might not have a lot of weeds anyway.
Here are two plans. Red shows 20 feet each side. Tomatoes means one plant in each rectangle or square. Watermelon is one group of plants in the middle and room for vines to grow. Corn is a couple rows to make a block. ? Is more room for something else maybe green beans?
Other pic shows mulch preventing weeds.

Sally, that is great plan, but it lacks one thing, the directions, so i am including a very complicated but more detailed plan drawing, hope you can understand it and never get lost, i can draw another one without much details and just mention the things around like the wall and the villa and fence so you can draw again and i know the direction, my plan showing the row for tomatoes to be perpendicular to the wall not parallel, with yours should i go parallel to the wall or same as mine but place the corn and watermelon exactly as you did?

Hi Tareq-
About mulch-
many things can be used for mulch. It is used to keep the light off the surface of the soil. Light triggers weeds to sprout. Also it is used to reduce water from evaporating out of the soil, a physical barrier. One common material for this is straw, which you might be able to get. Straw is the leftover stalks of grasses that were grown for grain, so most of the seeds were already taken away. Here we can buy a 'bale' of it. You can also just use the bagged manure you bought, if you have enough. But really, you can even use old newspapers or cardboard!
Some farms used to not use a special product for mulch, They used a 'dust mulch'. This was just the dry soil layer at the top, after regular and routine hoeing to stir up the top layer, maybe 3-5 cm or so. Once it was very dry and like dust, no weeds could sprout simply because it was so dry, even though the light would otherwise tell the seeds to sprout. This might be good for you, as I think it is quite dry where you live.
Your vegetable garden is going to be in the center of your lovely yard, and with the patio and tent you are planning to put right next to it, I think you want your vegetable garden to look really nice, so newspapers might not be good. Maybe a layer of cardboard, with a very thin layer of the bagged cow manure on top? By next year, the cardboard will have rotted, and all is just mixed in. This is good for the soil.
Oh, and another thing. It used to be that the ink used in newspapers was theoretically toxic. Here in the U.S. they switched to ink made out of soybeans which is OK in the garden. I don't know about UAE, probably it is the same.

Well, it sounds that i just will try to remove the seeds or weeds just normal way by hand or the Forged Cultivator and don't think so complicated about it, and plant my seeds, but maybe better i transplant seedlings from pot to the ground so i know that the grass or weeds won't affect the seeds in the ground, and i just keep removing the grass/weeds by hand and keep the main seedlings to grow then it won't hurt much later, i just didn't want weeds or grass only because it may damage another planted seedlings.

I won't use newspapers because i don't have enough or not much as i stopped reading newspapers long time ago and i am not interested in collecting them from others, and mulch could be a good idea, but sounds all your options or solutions will keep me waiting long before i can put my garden in use, so better not wasting time and remove what i can remove and start planting and keep removing time to time until i have my main plants already grown enough height.

I was thinking if i use a very hot water and pour it on those weeds or grass will this damage then or kill them? let's say i keep pouring very hot water for 2-3 days, or pouring another drinks that can affect those weeds or grass so i can remove them and i don't see them coming out very soon, and while the ground is resting from that drink or liquid i can start to add mixed soil and plant directly with that so i don't let any grass or weed to grow when i add mixed soil.

This message was edited Dec 15, 2015 1:19 AM

Yes you have a small enough area that manual weeding/hoeing should be just fine, then call it a "dust mulch" and people will be impressed that you are doing it ;-)
Great idea aboiut the hot water, this should work. I often take boiled water from cooking and then pour it on weeds in my rocks. Later it does not work so well because it will damage the roots of your vegetables, but it would work great to clear the soil before you plant. A similar idea- I even have a "Flamethrower" that does the same thing. Probably not safe in your climate, you could burn the house down. It works great and can be used close to plants if one is careful.

http://www.gardeners.com/buy/weed-dragon-mini-propane-torch-flame-weeder/8590163.html?q=weed&pmin=30&pmax=50

Using flame is not recommended, not because the weather, but because the smell it will leave and the result of burning those weeds and not sure if the soil itself will be damaged and even later if i correct/fix it maybe it will still have something on new plants, so i will skip that flame idea.

Hot water or boiling is more affordable or easier to do, i will give it a try on a portion of weeds and see if that did a job, i was thinking to add salt and pepper in water and pour it on the weeds/grass so maybe the salt can kill and pepper is enhancing the killing process, it may affect the soil too, but i want to see if some of those methods can have an affect on the weeds so then i quickly finish this job then let the soil rest a bit then i renew or replenish it for new plant.

Almost 75% of that selected area is cleared but i still see some grasses grow again, and i got busy these days and forgot to take photos of 2 or 3 trees waiting to be identified so i can decide to remove or keep it, i don't want to start with that 75% as i may damage some parts when i work on that 25%, i prefer to make it all ready than start on 50-70% and wait the rest to be ready.

Don't use salt, if you use enough to kill weeds, it is bad for the plants you want to grow.

You are right, salt can affect the soil so it will affect the new plants too.

Ok, i will give update later about my garden.