Garden gurus -- what do I seed in a fallow garden ?

[cbelt3]

We are selling my late in laws house ( finally). There is a large garden in the back yard that is one huge weed patch. I weed whack , and they grow back . What can I do do it stays looking like a fallow garden instead of a weed patch from heck ? FWIW, the local deer herd seems to use it as a day care center .. The fawns take naps in the tall weeds while a doe stands guard at the entrance ( it's fenced in but the gate is left open ).

[Spock]

Spray glyphosphate followed by a pre-emergence herbicide to control future growth.

[OWC Jamie]

If it isn't too big you could lay down cardboard once it is cleaned up and relatively flat.
something to hold it down so it doesn't move with the wind , rocks , dirt if that's all you've got. Will break down in a year so only temporary.
Big cardboard like from refrigerators and cabinets.
Which is likely what you want if leaving up to future owners what to do with the plot.

You could plant grass and mow it but that won't be attractive to future owner if they want the garden.


Anything you plant will likely go to seed and become a bigger problem.
Ryegrass is a nice green crop but you have to till it under before it seeds . Or keep it mowed.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Cut the weeds down to the soil, rototill it, smooth out with a rake, cover with landscape fabric, then something like 1" layer of wood mulch on that. Edit: this assumes there are no trees around the border that would be harmed by tilling or lack of moisture. Most plants won't grow under clear plastic if they can't transpire water to cool, but it can turn off some people.

[Black]

From firsthand experience with a similar weed lot:
Do what you need to do to get it reasonably level, and do what you need to do to get the weeds whacked close to the ground, and then mow regularly instead of weed whacking. 1 zillion times easierl.
You could see about getting a very large quantity of wood mulch dumped off from your local municipality, but you'll want the lot newly trimmed when you spread it, and don't bother with less than about 3 inches or you'll only be helping the weeds.

[Speedy]

Asphalt paving. Or Round-up like Spock suggests and then rye grass like billb suggests.