Paying the price for a bad spring

[cmd]

In April my gardens were in great shape. I had already tilled some areas, everything else was clean and ready to go. In May bad health struck. First I pulled a ligament in my foot and had trouble walking across the room on a flat surface. My podiatrist banned me from the garden. Not long after that my husband became ill and spent a week in the hospital. I didn't even get all my annuals in the ground. Now I'm paying the price. The gardens have been taken over by weeds. I'm back to square one. As soon as I get the big ones pulled, I'm going to attack the beds with a heat gun hoping to kill the devil weed seeds. Do you think it will work or will
I do more damage. (As for the bad foot, I got orthotics for my shoes and am now doing almost great!)

[Why Syzygy]

1. Do you mind

if I ask what brand orthotics you got? I have a lot of problems with my feet and I'm not sure what to try.

Sorry about your garden. I don't know anything about a heat gun.

[cmd]

2. Not at all

It's just that mine are custom made through my podiatist's office. They cost around three hundred, but have been worth every cent. My insurance covered 80 per cent.

[Kolesar]

3. My podiatrist ordered Northwest brand orthotics with carbon fiber for about $300.

It took a long period for the injury I had to recover. I cannot run or jog anymore, but I can hike 10 miles with scant discomfort. Lucky me

[Imalittleteapot]

4. Kill the weeds then

put down a layer of newspaper and on top of that a layer of mulch. Don't hoe in the spring because that will just bring weed seeds to the surface.

I missed Spring gardening because I was having chemo and just didn't feel like it. My beds are full of perennials and everything came up
okay. But my husband did some weeding and pulled out young perennials that are just now reemerging. Thanks goodness he left some roots.

Now I'm missing fall gardening because of recent surgery. I want to move some of the plants but just can't physically do it. I'm hoping I can get hubby outside this weekend for some labor at my direction.

Good luck with your weeds and your feet.

[OnionPatch]

5. That sounds a lot like my situation.

I had a foot problem too last spring. It led to a back problem, then I wasn't able to put in my garden. It's overtaken with Bermuda grass now.

I like your heat gun idea but I'm not sure if I know what devil's weed is. Is it also called jimsonweed? I don't know how it would make it worse to flame it unless it has seeds that need high heat to germinate. If you put down a lot of mulch once you flame the weeds off, I bet it would work pretty well. I would love to be able to use one of those heat guns but the fire danger is too high here. Anyway my Bermuda grass would probably just grow right back, twice as thick. I tried to kill it by not watering this summer (this is semi-desert here) but it kept growing anyway.

Glad you've found help for your foot problem. Inserts have helped me get back to almost normal again, too.