Ongoing weeding

jackp

Hi I am looking for any advice re weeding 
I put down composted stable manure as a thick mulch 2 months ago and hardly any weeds came up until now (prior to putting it down it was thoroughly weeded ).
The man in the garden shop reckoned that the weeds seeds didn’t come from the bags as it’s high quality product etc but the manure speeds up the weed growth from the soil underneath ? Appears to ideal growing conditions for Bind weed in particular which is now taking over despite several attempts at getting rid of it 
I am keen to get the borders to as little maintenance required as possible .Not keen on the plastic weed suppressing fabric but been looking at one which lasts about 5 yrs then composts into the ground then putting hardwood chips on the top .any ideas ?

BobTheGardener

Bindweed and oher pernicious weeds like ground elder which grow from fleshy underground roots will even come up through tarmac, so mulching or weed suppression membranes are of limited use (with the membrane often causing more problems than it solves in the long term.)  While I try to avoid weedkillers, I do use glyphosate-based weedkillers on this type of weed.  However, you need the weeds to have a decent amount of green leaf area and absolutely have to wait a minimum of 2 weeks after spraying (better to wait until the foliage has gone brown) before removing the foliage, so you know the stuff has been taken down to the roots.  Pull too early and very little will change.