Particular weed removal from raised bed

Hi. I was hoping to add images but can't see how. We're moving into a new flat and it has a large raised bed which is ours to plant up. We've been told the previous tenant had real trouble with a partucular weed that they couldn't shift. Here is where the pics would have helped! The bed is currently carpeted with a layer of very thick but low growing weeds. I'm wondering if there is a weedkiller we can use to blitz the whole thing before we start planting, that won't then kill the plants we put there, or if we'd be better digging out the entire growing layer, replacing the compost and starting from scratch? Thanks.

 

Worked out the picture thing...

 

More...

 

Main one is ground elder, best thing to do would be to spray it off with glyphosate, do it on a dry day. Takes a couple of weeks but it goes right thru the plant.

Ground Elder spreads by roots, and can form a new plant from any bit of root left in there.

 

Looks like you've also get Willowherb in there, which spreads by means of underground roots and will regrow from any bits left in.

 

I agree with @Zigs.

Generally, I garden totally organically, but there are times to call the big guns in. Ground elder is one of those times!

I would spray, wait a few weeks, spray again. Then, and only then, hand fork through the whole area, bit by bit, removing every bit of fluorescent white root you can find (normally 1-5" below soil level). It is tedious, but you can do it.

It will take a couple of years to clear the area, and you will still have flare-ups, but you can get on top of it, if you really work at it...

 

Agree with what's already been said on getting rid of the Ground Elder.

Also, in the second photo, the slightly taller weeds with the small white flowers are Bittercress. Unlike the others, this doesn't spread by underground roots, but by producing tidy seed pods very soon after those little white flowers, which then go 'ping' as soon as you touch the plant, scattering hundreds more Bittercress seeds for next year.

It looks like the ones in the photo haven't quite gone to seed yet, so if you pull them out now it will prevent them producing any more seeds.

 

But there's probably already loads of seeds in the soil, and if tempted to move the Aquilegias (the only plants I can see that aren't weeds) before spraying it could spread the seeds to another part of the garden. Somebody brought a load of manure contaminated with them to our allotment site, gave some away and they spread all over the place, seeds flying in your eyes when pulling them out.

I wouldn't be tempted to compost any of the above weeds.

 

Thing is, it's a rental property, and we were hoping for a solution that would take less than a couple of years, as we may not even be there then. That's why I thought that digging out the entire top layer might serve as a quick fix solution. There's some waste ground at the edge of the property which is growing wild and we can tip the dug-out soil there, then replace the entire top layer with fresh compost. How far down do the root systems go?

I know this sounds extreme, but as I say, we're looking for a fast solution. We were told we can do what we like with this bed, and it's right next to the flat & would look lovely planted up. We want it looking nice for this summer....

Thanks everyone.

 

What I would do for a quick fix with a weedy patch like that is carefully pull the Bittercress,
dig out the Ground Elder & Willowherb, removing as much of their roots as possible, then cover with a sheet of 'Mypex' type woven membrane [1] and plant everything (flowers and/or veg) through smallest possible X shaped holes in the sheet.

[1] Something like

http://www.therange.co.uk/apollo-ground-control-roll-95g-1m-x-12m//the-range/fcp-product/21189

or from Wilkos

 

This looks good, but I don't know my bittercress from my ground elder from my willowherb. Can I dig it all out then use the sheet?

 

Yes, but what plants do you want to put in that bed, Flowers, Veg? (and what size is it)

 

It's about 1m x 2m

Mostly flowers I would think, the kind we usually put in pots, so erysimum, daisies, stuff like that, but probably some herbs too.

Anything we grow from time to time like tomatoes can stay in pots where they're easy to manage...