Weeds around fruit bushes and trees.

[noviceveggrower]

Hi,
I have several fruit trees and three fruit bushes down my allotment. The problem I have is the amount of weeds I have growing around them and through the bushes.
I was wondering what does everyone else do to keep the weeds from getting round the base and through the bushes?
Thanks

[rustylady]

Depends on what sort of weeds they are. Dandelions and couch grass are the hardest to deal with. Annuals can just be pulled out

[Kristen]

You could just cut them down and then put a 1.5M square of woven weed supressing membrane around them (with a slit to the middle to slid it past the stem of the fruit bush/tree) which would prevent the weeds coming back again, and help retain moisture.

I would put down a decent mulch of compost / manure before putting the membrane down and, ideally, give an additional top-up of manure/compost each year.

[starloc]

I have been chopping the weeds as they get tall but before they seed and leaving it in piles round the plants as a mulch about 3 or 4 inch thick, it seems to work very well and unlike plastic mulch the garden doesnt get stinky underneath or get slugs and snails

There is a book `the no work garden book` by Ruth Stout and in it she uses 6 inch of straw mulch to hold back all weeds all over the garden, never digs the soil either , about to try and buy 100 straw bales if i can find anyone who sells straw...and cover the veg garden all over as i am sick of the weeds , loads of people are doing this, search online for `the Ruth Stout Method`

[Jungle Jane]

about to try and buy 100 straw bales if i can find anyone who sells straw...and cover the veg garden all over as i am sick of the weeds , loads of people are doing this, search online for `the Ruth Stout Method`

Would it be good to mix some grass cuttings in with the straw,so you could use less straw?

[noviceveggrower]

Depends on what sort of weeds they are. Dandelions and couch grass are the hardest to deal with. Annuals can just be pulled out

It is mainly the hard ones I keep having to dig/pull out. Couch grass, creeping buttercups and dandelions. I planted the bushes and trees last year so don't want to keep disturbing the soil around them so much all the time.

[noviceveggrower]

You could just cut them down and then put a 1.5M square of woven weed supressing membrane around them (with a slit to the middle to slid it past the stem of the fruit bush/tree) which would prevent the weeds coming back again, and help retain moisture.

I would put down a decent mulch of compost / manure before putting the membrane down and, ideally, give an additional top-up of manure/compost each year.

I was thinking of doing this but my soil is very wet and boggy especially at winter and I am worried about trapping in to much moisture in and rotting the plants.

[Paulieb]

I was thinking of doing this but my soil is very wet and boggy especially at winter and I am worried about trapping in to much moisture in and rotting the plants.

As long as the weeds/mulch are a few inches away from the stem of the plant/tree it won't hurt the plant. A compost mulch would also be a good thing for boggy ground.

Also is there anything you can do to drain away from this are to reduce the moisture if it is boggy.

[starloc]

Would it be good to mix some grass cuttings in with the straw,so you could use less straw?

You can use anything, its just getting enough of it , I cut the grass yesterday before it flowered after letting it get about a foot high, 50% grass and 50% red/dead nettles mainly I just leave it all over the areas around plants, most of the garden is a field of plants so I haven`t enough for everywhere so most of it is around the fruit trees and bushes

[noviceveggrower]

As long as the weeds/mulch are a few inches away from the stem of the plant/tree it won't hurt the plant. A compost mulch would also be a good thing for boggy ground.

Also is there anything you can do to drain away from this are to reduce the moisture if it is boggy.

My plot is on the bottom of a slope with an underground spring somewhere. There is drainage but it is very old and I think part of it has collapsed. I know roughly where it is so will be re digging it all this year.

[seneca196]

I thought that mulching with grass causes a nitrogen imbalance (too much) and results in trees putting on extra growth at the expense of fruiting. Similarly, flowering shrubs mulched with grass grow much bigger and quicker, but produce a lot less flowers, if any. Interesting, as I need to get my fruit trees planted near a fence to grow upwards quickly, so their canopy is over the shade of the fence and into the sun. The only way I could think of to "turbo-charge" them was to mulch with grass. They might get bigger, quicker. Anyone have another ideas for quickly putting on growth. I know the two main factors are nitrogen and water, but am open to any suggestions regarding other fertilizers, or anything else that may help.