Perennial weeds

[tuppencethecatParticipant]

Hello Charles,
I have been using the no dig system for some time with great success. We have recently moved to a country property and I have been trying to establish my new beds. The problem I am having is with two very stubborn perennial weeds, namely Sheep Sorrel and Tufted Vetch. Both are very persistent. I have had the area covered with cardboard and tarps for over two years now and still they are trying to send up little white shoots. The minute the tarps came off, they were off and growing within a day. I have spent a great deal of time digging them out but the root system is amazing to say the least. I do not want to spray them with anything.
Do you have any suggestions to add to what I am already doing or will I just have to live with them?
By the way, my garden is in Eastern Ontario, Canada, near Ottawa.
Cheers, Melanie

[tuppencethecatParticipant]

Hello again Charles,
I thought I should add one more thing. I ordered about 15 yards of triple mix when I started the new beds and found that the soil contained millions of weeds. Alas, they are the very ones that I am struggling to get rid of, the same aforementioned sorrel and vetch.
How does one know if one is getting good soil or manure or compost. Naturally one expects that there will be weeds but these nasty perennial weeds??!!!
Cheers.

[charlesModerator]

How exasperating, that is indeed a problem with sou but I presume you mean it contains actual roots – if only seeds they are easy to hoe.
But roots of perennial weeds, no that is not right, ask for your money back at least (I guess it is sold as a mix for garden use?).
Meanwhile I wonder of the tarp is totally excluding light because two years should have killed or at least severely weakened them. Here, just a year in total darkness sees bindweed weakened to the point that occasional use of a trowel becomes an easy way to control it.
I do not have experience of your two weeds but doubt they can be as indestructible as you are finding. Look through the tarp at the sun and see how light it is.

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