I'm almost there. Each of the beds above is roughly 5' x 12'. And I have an additional one in the back yard, as well as a 3' x 24' bed alongside the house. For this year, I expanded two, and dug one more full bed. Since I dig all of this by hand, it's usually the most strenuous part of the growing year. I still have three more beds to fully prepare. Periods of rain have been a pain, requiring several days of drying before the soil can be tilled.
This season, I'm hoping to get most of my planting done by mid-May.
I don't know the names of most of the weeds I pull from may garden beds. There is one notable exception.
My nemesis:
Creeping Charlie. Late each fall, its seed sneaks into my garden beds unnoticed. By mid-spring, it is expanding in all its glory.
Wikipedia said:
Glechoma hederacea (syn.
Nepeta glechoma Benth., Nepeta hederacea (L.) Trevir.) is an aromatic, perennial, evergreen creeper of the mint family Lamiaceae. It is commonly known as Ground-ivy, gill-over-the-ground or Creeping Charlie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glechoma_hederacea
The problem is that it not only propagates by seed. An entire plant can re-grow from the roots, or from even the tiniest segment of stem that contains a node. So just tilling makes it worse. It has to be carefully dug up, roots and all, and removed without leaving a trace. Not easy.
Creeping Charlie has many bogus "medicinal" uses, and is sometimes eaten as a pot green, or raw in salad. It also makes a peppery, minty tea. The problem is that it contains terpenoids that are toxic to your liver and kidneys. So, thanks, old-time people who imported it into the US for its "many" uses. Like all members of the mint family, if Creeping Charlie is ignored, it will take over any garden.
It is relatively resistant to many herbicides. Boron (as Borax) may kill it, but the effective concentration is only a tiny bit lower than the level that is toxic for many other plants. Besides, boron is an element, and will never break down. It must dissipate over years. Seems like a truly bad idea.
Creeping Charlie in one of my garden beds. Boo.
The way I approach Creeping Charlie is to use a wide spade in mid-spring to undermine each entire plant. With warmth and breeze, the root clod begins to dry. I then go in and lift out the entire plant, shake off the dirt, then cast the plant upside down on the lawn to roast in the sun. Once it has thoroughly cooked, I mow over it. Charlie creeps no more--until next year.
Bob