Question
I have 2 small raised bed gardens I started on my lawn.  I did lay down newspapers to kill the grass when I started the gardens 3-4 years ago.  I planned to plant some garlic bulbs in one of the beds this fall, but when I spaded up on the raised beds, it was full of roots, some fine and some fairly thick.  I suspect they are from grass that was not killed by the newspaper, since there are no trees or bushes close enough to the raised beds to be the source of these roots.  I do have pictures of the roots I dug up if there is a way to post them on this site.  By the way, the other raised bed is also full of the same type of roots.

My question is how to kill the roots before planting the garlic. which I probably need to do fairly soon while the bulbs I purchased from Burpee are still fresh and healthy.  Is there a weed killer that quickly kills grass but will not attack garlic if it's planted fairly soon after application.  Ideally, a herbicide that kills grass (or even everything), then quickly breaks down into harmless chemicals.

Answer
Paul,

I would be interested in seeing the roots, you can attach pictures on this site.  Was anything growing in the beds before you started digging them up?  The roots may be from those plants and just have not composted yet.

If you have dug the bed thoroughly you can clear the roots by hand as much as you can, add in some compost or manure, some organic fertilizer and dig it again, then plant the garlic.  Garlic likes be be mulched.  Straw works, make sure you use about 4-6 inches of mulch on the beds.  This should keep any weeds/roots that may want to grow.  The garlic will start growing through the straw in February or March (if you live in North America).

I hope this helps, please let me know if you have any other questions.

Catherine,
http://www.your-vegetable-gardening-helper.com