New allotmenteer.

[nick the grief]

Hi Caroline, welcome to the Vine.
You can get Black Polythene that will break down & rot after 12 months now. It is designed for horticultural use but costs a fortune for someone like me. I agree with the recycling Idea but sometimes you have to admit defeat & just take stuff for disposal.

Knowing the potential problems with carpets I always reccomend that folks use the black plastic that is used on Silage pits ( second hand is OK) . But I made the choice to use the carpets myself ( I suppose it's a hang up from work where we have to consider health & safety first) Also I'm not totally organic, I have to resort to some sprays to control things like White rust on Chrysanths which is hard enough to contain if you use sprays, the only non chemical control is a bonfire!

We pays our money & takes our pick

[noshed]

carpet

what would happen if you spilt rhubarb schnapps on the carpet? A critical mass? The China syndrome?

[Janette]

Maybe if you spilt rhubarb schnapps on the carpet you would be close to eating it as a terrible waste if you dont lap it up. I agree with the look of the thing - not nice which every way up it is, plus it is like wrestling with an anoconda trying to get it up when it is soggy and stuck with mud. Inherited some when I took over a plot. Dirty, smelly and generally not nice. The slugs seem to love it though.

Janette

[kentish girl]

I covere a patch of my allotment with carpet in Jan & it has been the best & easiest bit to dig so far. I have rampant couch & although the council weed killered & rotovated the whole plot the weeds still came back just as bad. I have transfered the carpet to the next patch to try & kill off some of the green.:0

[stuartlawson]

I also have just taken on an allotment with rampant couch grass. Although I intend to cover half of it with black plastic, I have dug 4 raised beds that I would like to grow in this year. What can I do about the b***** couch grass please!

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Stuart welcome to the grapevine. The only way I know to get rid of couch grass is to dig it out. Making sure that you get every single little bit of the root out or else it will just grow back.

[plot 11 pam]

hello stuart, couch grass and every other known weed was in our negleted plot 3 years ago. start small with the cultivation. Buy as much polythene as you can or borrow it, weight it down well, and before you dig, once the weeds have gone pale and limp shear off the thatch that is on the surface and rake away as much as you can. Burn it so seeds cannot come back into cultivated areas. Then take a garden fork and lift each clod carefully, this helps to keep the roots whole, sift it through fork and with much aching of the back remove as much green/yellow/plant stuff and root as you can. Cover it over when youv'e finished digging and when you come back to it pull it through with a pronged cultivator tool adding compost or rotted manure as you go.
When you sow or plant hand pick out any rogue weeds and root and then keep on top of weeding by hand or hoeing every time you look at your plot.
After a year it gets easier and then you hardly see any nasties.
Keep unused areas covered until your ready to tackle them, that way you know weeds are being thwarted even though you hav'nt got to them yet.

[nick the grief]

1 years seeds 7 years weeds - well thats what my dad always said. I'll let you know in 4 years time co s thats haow my lottie was Stuart! if you keep turning it ouver you'll soon beat it. I read some where that if you keep mowing it it weakens it as well, don't know if it works. I prefer the Black plastic method.

Spuds are a good pioneer crop as you dig to plant them, dig to earth up then dig to harvest them. But I guess you don't really want a lottie full of spuds!

[NOG]

The problem is the foam backed stuff. What tends to happen on our site is people cover the plot with them then when they want to use the plot they burn them and this gives off massive of black smoke and upsets the neighbours.

I would also be careful this using black plastic to keep down weeds one of my plots was vacant for 5 years and when I came to clear it the plastic had started to break down and the weeds were comming through it and you couldn't get the stuff up.

On my last plot it was chest hight in brambles so I burnt if off and rotovated it then went back turning it over with a fork pulling ou all the roots weeds and rubbish.

[nick the grief]

...On my last plot it was chest hight in brambles so I burnt if off and rotovated it then went back turning it over with a fork pulling ou all the roots weeds and rubbish.

It works in the rain forest unfortunately Nog. I used a slight ly different technique with mine as it had been ploughed before I got it. I rotavated then waitetd for 3 weeks & then sprayed anything green with round up. Then dug over what was left. I worked but wasn't Organic. I now try to use sparays as little as poss, but it was a quick & effective remedy for the time I had available.

[George Gray]

Some Local Authorities offer a service for new tenants where they will cut back, weedkill (if your not organic) and rotavate your plot. It's worth asking. Often they keep quite about it hoping no one will know they are supposed to do it!

[Worldor]

I have the opportunity of a plot which is in a bad state. I have asked the council to help but they say they are too busy at this time of the year with football pitches to help.

[nick the grief]

Hi Worldor,

A lot depends on how much of a rush you are in.

It's too late to plant tatties now so I would get hold of a load of black plastic to cover it over. If it's really bad with brambles etc hire or borrow a strimmer & cut every thing down to ground level & rake it all off & dispose of it then at least you'll be able to see whats what then.

Cover it over with the plastic & then roll it back a bit at a time & dig it over getting out all the weeds . You can then sow some stuff in this, anythin that is fast growing to give you some results for all your labours e.g. salads, carrots & some Brassica's if you can get some plants, there are several place that sell veg plants if you haven't got any Marshall's do & also try looking here

http://www.organicplants.co.uk/index.htm

you can leave the plastic on for as long as you like I will kill most weeds. If there are brambles you migh want to put some cardboard over this first thoug so it doesn't puncture the plastic & let the light in & defeat the object.

Take your time & you'll soon have it clear & productive. You can always grow some flowers & Veg in some cheap tubs to brighten it up & hold the plastic down.

Hope this helps