I dismantled my bean wigwam and dug up the rest of the potatoes on Wednesday.
The weathers been glorious and I have managed to get so much done in the polytunnel and veg plot.
One area where I don't have my plastic raised vegetable beds is a bit weedy after my trip to Blighty. Years ago I would have cleared the weeds or forked them and used them for a natural green manure.
These days I cadge second hand black plastic used for concrete and I have used pit silage black plastic in the past. This soon blocks out the light and the vegetation dies off really quick.
This method is very useful if you take over a overgrown allotment to rent. You don't have to cover it all. Just cover what you can and after a few months you will be able to cultivate where the cover was and then move it to the next area.
I have saved myself quite a bit of work. Some one thinks I have covered it to make another plant area nursery like I covered two lawns with plastic and my perennials and shrubs. What ever gave them that idea?
Do you put your plot to bed with black plastic?
Carboard also works easpecially if you cover the cardboard with compost or well rotted fym. Just remove any Cellotape first.
You could always dig off the vegetation and compost it or even dig trenches and 'bastard trench' your plot like they did when it was "Dig For Victory".
I have used all the above methods but I am starting to think black plastic is the easiest way.
Do you use black plastic sheeting in your veg plot?
That sounds like a much easier method than all that digging. How do you weight it down to stop the gales taking it away?
ReplyDeleteYes it's good to put an area to bed forcthe winter without much effort JayCee. I use paving flags, my grandma's Belfast sink and soil filled plant pots and timber to hold down the tarpaulin. When it rains, puddles will form and that will also hold it down. I could always propagate some perennials or shrubs to hold it down?🤔
ReplyDeleteI never thought to use it for putting the plot to bed, but that is such a good idea. When I was a kid, my dad got the idea to use black plastic for the plants. He just slit an 'x' in it, dug out a hole under it and set his tomato plant (or whatever) into it, pushing the dirt back up around it. The idea was that the black plastic would keep weeds down. Huge "FAIL". He was looking out the window one morning as he drank his coffee and saw a tomato plant gyrating strangely and then *zoop* it disappeared, pulled right under the plastic by a chipmunk or some other small critter that simply ran under the black plastic and did his nibbling. My father was a very unhappy camper. Another thing that I know about black plastic is that if you are troubled with blight, it is said that if you cover your soil with black plastic, the soil is 'cooked' as the black plastic absorbs the heat. It kills the organism that causes blight.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few people I would like to 'bastard trench' including Gormless Truss and Biffo Johnson. You can throw in Jacob Rees-Mogg for good measure too.
ReplyDeleteYes. I think a lot of people are not happy with the new government in the UK. I hope they give the pensioners a much needed pension increase soon.
DeleteI used the cardboard version covered with straw, fym, and rotted leaf mold stuff to put plots to bed but admit to doing the slog of turning all the weeds over (burying them) to clear the site when I first cleared it. At least I found the bindweed roots 🙄😩
ReplyDeleteYes TM I have tried all ways a part from chemical to clear overgrown areas. I think a fork and bucket is the best way to clear pernicious weeds like Couch and Bindweed. Plastic does a quick and easy job.
DeleteI have seen black plastic frequently used for strawberry beds as an alternative to the classic straw. Small hole with strawberry planted through, keeps weeds down and berries clean from the soil.
ReplyDeleteYes Will. Some people grow onions through black plastic or Mypex landscape fabric with circles cut out for you to plant them.
DeleteThanks Debby for that. I didn't know black plastic killed blight organism. It's certainly for smothering unwanted weeds.
ReplyDeleteWhen we first moved here the front yard was full of weeds. I covered it with cardboard and a thin layer of soil and left it like that. It kept the weeds down for years. Now we have clover/oxalis which I don't mind. It provides a green cover on the winter and just dries up completely in the summer. I've never thought of doing it again but it's a really good idea for our back yard. I shall get togethers some cardboard
ReplyDeleteThanks for that Linda. In America they call cardboard mulch gardening "Lasagna" gardening. You building up layers of cardboard like you do with pasta. If you dug in the clover it would make a natural green manure. Anything organic like weeds, grass, well rotted bark and grass mowing make good mulch coverings. Black plastic would probably work quick in Poros because it gets hot and will soon burn off and kill any weed vegetation. The only thing I don't like with cardboard is the sticky tape which you should take off before using.
ReplyDeleteI did not cover my beds last winter, in early spring I use plastic corrugated sheets like cloches to warm the soil for planting. I haven't had too many weeds, this winter I will plant up both beds and mulch.
ReplyDeleteGood idea to use plastic corrugated sheets to warm the soil. Leaves are excellent for mulching. Better still put them in a black bin liner and store them somewhere out of the way and you will end up with lovely friable leaf mould. The old estate gardeners use to collect mole hill soil for their compost
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