Is this normal??

[gothmaga]

Hi guys quick question has anyone else come across or practice this?

I went don't to the allotment yesterday to make a start of preparing some of the ground and found that about 3 inches below the soil is a layer of carpet

I had to give up yesterday and going back tomorrow morning with a knife so can cut up the bits I have unearthed and carry on removing the rest in manageable pieces. They must of rolled out a whole carpet in one piece and covered it?

I thought carpet can leach chemicals etc into the soil? Am I wrong? And am I right to be removing it?

Cheers in advance for your help

[Nicos]

Yes- remove it.

It may break up depending on how long it's been down there- so do it carefully.
Can you tell if it's wool /synthetic/mix????

[veggiechicken]

There's a Closed Thread that may help http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...pet_83867.html

[gothmaga]

I can't tell if its wool/synthetic etc as think its been down for a long time but I will give it praise must of been a good quality one as couldn't get through it with spade or fork to try and tear it into smaller parts!

[Nicos]

Carpets are banned on most sites these days, so it looks like maybe someone decided to hide it rather than go to the trouble of taking it up and going to the tip with it maybe????

[gothmaga]

I am going to get it out as soon as possible I think!! more trips to the tip for me lol

[Scarlet]

Good luck! What a pita!

[lottie dolly]

would it be worth saying something to the allotment peeps about the carpet,and ask if a valenteers are available to help get it up and rid off,

[Bigmallly]

I would lift it when you can but would not be overly concerned. I can only assume carpets used to be used as a weed suppressant many moons ago. In 20 years time someone will post a thread on the vine saying "I was digging my plot over and came across some strange black fabric under the soil, do I pull it up?"

[spamvindaloo]

Carpet is a big annoyance for me. Trying to clear my first plot was made worse by loads of disintegrating carpet fibres under the soil. Mind you, the sheet of buried chicken wire wound me up a bit too....

[hamamelis]

In the days of biodegradable wool carpets, it probably made sense to use old ones as weed suppressant, and I've found recommendations to use it in some surprisingly recent books.

I keep digging cassette tape out of my plot. People bury some weird things on allotments sometimes...

[Bigmallly]

Cassette & Video Tape were used as bird scarers, a 12" length would be tied to a bamboo cane.

[Cadalot]

The plonker who had my new plot 23B liked to dig craters line them with carpet the fill them with hardcore! He also buried a roll of carpet. My first plot 1A take a look at Alans Allotment: October 2012 was half covered in carpet but you would never have known it. When I cleared the surface and the bind weed away and pulled the carpet back I discovered polished rock hard shiny clay and had to take a pick axe to it to break it up. there was glass, blow away frames and skins, scaffold fittings and all manor of other dross to contend with.

[ESBkevin]

Carpet is a big annoyance for me. Trying to clear my first plot was made worse by loads of disintegrating carpet fibres under the soil. Mind you, the sheet of buried chicken wire wound me up a bit too....

I have a pet hate of any plastic in our plot. I come away with it stuffed in my pockets whenever I disturb the soil, it makes adding compost a fun time too because I search through and take out foreign objects.
On the chicken wire front I can understand. My raised beds and leaf mould cage have been invaded by moles eating my precious worms. This autumn I will be lifting both the raised beds and placing wire mesh under to control the little vermint! the new location for this years leaf collection will also be blessed with a mesh floor.

[ESBkevin]

Sorry duplicate post for some reason!