I have a spot that is off the side of my driveway 1/2 on and 1/2 off my property, but ok to plant flowers there. Currently what grows there is all kinds of medium range weeds and small weeds. I pulled out the medium/large range weeds and even dug out the root systems to ensure they won't come back. My question..........is about is the best way to do this? My plan was to rake out the entire area (it's pretty loose, nice soil) and then use RoundUP and spray down the entire area, let it sit for a week and plant the wildflowers. HOWEVER, now I'm reading that RoundUP is only effective on the FOILAGE of the weeds, so by me raking the entire area, then applying RoundUP to the soil may be useless??? What I don't want to happen, is I 'think' I have the weeds killed, then plant all the wildflower mixes and the flowers AND weeds come up together and I'm screwed...... And I will be planting wildflowers from a seed mix, nothing pre-started. Any suggestions are welcome. (And I don't want to use a mesh screen, with topsoil, etc.) . I just want to keep it as simple and basic as possible, because it's 1/2 my property and 1/2 not.....so I don't want to get too crazy with it.

I recently had a landscaper out to give me an estimate on ivy removal. After seeing the quotes, I have opted to take some time and do the job largely on my own. After alot of advice and consultation from family, friends and landscapers alike, I feel confident I can do a decent job of this on my own, though it will take a number of days to finish. However, one thing he said in reference to killing the ivy currently climbing all the trees in the yard is that he would "girdle" them about 3-4 feet up from the base. Can anyone tell me how to do this, what tools, and what materials I might need to do this myself? Thanks in advance.