Question
hi charlotte, i stumbled across this site by accident,  and was reading some of the articles u wrote.    can u give me some advice on how to start a bed in an hot area. This will have sun all day long, and is dry.  i am gonna have to put soil there, but last time i did a bed,  it was full of crab grass.  i put down the grass preventive cloth,  but  crab grass grows out from under this.    can u give me some info on what to do to prevtnt this prob if i want to sow a wild flower bed or just a bed .  tyvm  

Answer
Hi Martha;
Wild flowers may present a problem. Some that are considered weeds, and like poor soil, may not thrive in rich soil.
Enriching the soil is what will get rid of the crabgrass.
I put sugar on my lawn to enrich the soil.
Fertilizers kill beneficial microbes that enrich soil. Putting sugar on after you fertilize, and watering them both in together will keep these microbes alive.
I had a yard full of crabgrass, dandelions, johnson grass, dollar weeds, clover, you name it, I had it.
I put down sugar and watered it in. In a cou-le of weeks, about half the weeds were gone. A couple more mowings, and there were no weeds showing.
the weeds came back the next spring, but not nearly as many. Each year there were fewer weeds coming up. About the 3rd or 4th year, no weeds came up at all. None have come up since.
I also have not fertilized since. My soil is rich enough it doesn't need it.
There has only been one drawback for me. The wild violets I had, and loved, do not come up anymore.
I put down sugar in the spring and fall. 1 pound per 399 sq.ft. of lawn.
I just broadcast it by hand, and them water it in well.
One thing about the sugar, if you spill a bunch in one spot, it will not burn your grass like fertilizer will if you get too much.
My Nasturtiums won't grow anymorw, they like poor soil, and my wild ciolets won't but my bluebonnets do very well.
I don't plant many wild flowere, but being a Texan, I gotta have bluebonnets.
Just make sure the flowers you plant need a full sun, and will thrive if it is a little dry.
Charlotte