Gardening advice needed
 

I need to control the grass that is invades our garden every time we go away.

Friends up north use Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) which attacks the roots, but it doesn't like to grow in Central Florida Is there an alternative plant that I can use?

I asked the University of Florida and all they could recommend were a load of weedkiller sprays that I do not wish to use.

Thank you

Cover it with heavy black plastic and some weights to hold it in place. It will get too hot for anything to grow under it.

Thank you, but I'm talking about grass that keeps appearing amongst the plants. We used the plastic routine before planting and it killed the grass that was there, but I runners etc. come in from the lawn and re-establish themselves whilst we are away. Yellow rattle latches on to any grass and kills it in situ.

A weed is any plant that grows where you do not want it. Grass, if your lawn grass it is either empire zoysia of st Augustine-both spread by runners. It is either chemicals or physically pulling it and the other weeds out. Proper tools makes it much easier. Also in this HEAT, a little at a time is far easier. Endless debate. Some people use landscape fabric and then gravel. You may have fewer weeds BUT, you will not be able to use tools-it is hand picking.

Far as tools, there are tons of gadgets the old tools the ones that have been used and refined for centuries work best. A hoe, get a small one. A long handled cultivator, if you get the typical four tine one cut of the end time on either side and cut the tines from 6-8 inches to two to three inches. A mattock don't buy those fancy TOYS which are too light and you will surely break. There are heavy ones still made. Mine is marked US so was probably military surplus.

A garden traditionally means growing vegetables. For most of us villagers it is a flower patch. Growing vegetables, the birds and the rabbits think you are providing a buffet.

Thank you, DAVES

We no longer have any grass areas and are establishing a wildflower "meadow" but there is grass growing in it - straight up from the soil, not along a runner. We did have St Augustine, but I suspect this is a wild variety as we border a preserve, and that's where the rest of our weeds come in from.

Mrs Fox does a good job of hand-pulling anything we don't want to keep - with moral support from me, of course - but I was hoping that a southern equivalent of Yellow Rattle would save her some effort, as that is what those northern folk use to control grass when establishing a wildflower meadow.

I would check. As mentioned a weed is just a plant where you don't want it.
Wild flower meadow? Your neighbors may see it as a weed patch. Identifying a weed from a wild flower can be difficult. I have fairy lilies, pop up lilies, rain lilies, first of all they do well here but secondly they look like grass when not in bloom and they seem to go dormant at times. When, I think something killed them they show up again.