Question
Hi, I recently purchased one acre of wooded lakeshore. I cleared off all the brush leaving all the bigger trees. Property gets abundant sunlight coming thru. The forest floor had all ferns and otherforest type weeds which I weedwacked. I live in northern Minnesota. What would be the most economical way of preventing this type of forest floor growth from returning and grass to start? Would I poison the ground first with something or what. Any help you can be would be greatly appreciated. Bob

Answer
You can let the weeds and undergrowth grow back a bit. Then spray it with "Round-up" which is a non-selective weed killer.

This product is taken up through the leaves and will kill the weeds. The product does not translocate in the soil and is safe to use around trees.

The reason I recommend letting the undergrowth grow back a bit is that it has to be actively growing and putting out new leaf material in order to arbsorb the weed killer.

watch out when spraying as drifting on to desirable plants will kill these, too. Spray on a calm day, wear protective clothing/mask.

Once the product is dry, the vegetation would start to die back shortly and you can then till the soil and replant with grass seeds.

The type of product to buy is called ROUND-UP. don't use brush/grass killer as it destroys the soil for months or longer. Only use a vegetation killer (like Round-Up).