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Does anybody else use this, and if so with what results?
Having had to work with a new turf-covered plot this spring I've resorted to it because I didn't have the time (or the energy!) to get everything dug. Squashes etc, broad beans, brassicas and sweetcorn were transplanted into uncultivated soil through rolls of black plastic sheeting and I must say the results have been most impressive. Less satisfactory have been the potatoes - I dug trenches but used the mulch as an alternative to earthing up. They've grown well enough but the slug damage - while not disastrous - means that there isn't really going to be much suitable for long-term storage.
Since the stuff will last for a few seasons I'll definitely be using it again for squashes, courgettes, cucumbers, cabbages, sweetcorn and broad beans. I may persist and do half next year's potatoes like that to compare against earthing-up to see if that results in less slug damage, but after that I'll probably just restrict it to the very earliest of the earlies.
Having had to work with a new turf-covered plot this spring I've resorted to it because I didn't have the time (or the energy!) to get everything dug. Squashes etc, broad beans, brassicas and sweetcorn were transplanted into uncultivated soil through rolls of black plastic sheeting and I must say the results have been most impressive. Less satisfactory have been the potatoes - I dug trenches but used the mulch as an alternative to earthing up. They've grown well enough but the slug damage - while not disastrous - means that there isn't really going to be much suitable for long-term storage.
Since the stuff will last for a few seasons I'll definitely be using it again for squashes, courgettes, cucumbers, cabbages, sweetcorn and broad beans. I may persist and do half next year's potatoes like that to compare against earthing-up to see if that results in less slug damage, but after that I'll probably just restrict it to the very earliest of the earlies.
