Black plastic? Carpet? UGHHHHHH!!!

[plotman]

Why is it all i read on here are so called organic gardeners trying to suppress weeds with Black plastic, Nylon carpet etc. Hardly enviromently friendly. More like cheap fix with no effort. Allotments are about sharing with nature. Using its resources such as light, rain insects etc to work with yr efforts to grow your healthy veg. Two aspects of healthy living is good veg, and EXERCISE!!!! no shortcuts Your carpet denys yr soil air, trace elements via rain etc, good insect preditors and just looks an eyesore as does plastic. Leave them in recycling bin where they belong and roll your sleeves up

[shirlthegirl43]

Hope you feel better for getting that off your chest

[lynda66]

i use cardboard and black plastic to attract slugs so the chooks can eat them, and it gets them out of the soil i'm not gonna use it when i have veggies in, cos i don't want the slugs staying there ........ but my veggie bed lloks crap at the mo anyway, it needs a lot of work before i can plant anything, i do see them both as a quick fix to slug removal though

[zazen999]

And breathe...

Each to their own...what suits one person won't suit another.

[Nicos]

Although I thoroughly agree with you!!!...

...some of us aren't as fit as others- nor have the time to put in the hours..and would otherwise be denied the wonderful experience of GYO.

Straw as a mulch.....

come on folks- lets share ideas on how to GYO as environmentally and easily as poss......

[plotman]

Phew, Yes think i do now thanks Shirley, Guess i better get back to it now lol

[lottyrep]

Hi all, I'm relatively new to this but i totally agree with you on this. Our council have been asking us not to use carpets for the main reason that over a period the colouring and toxins leach out and contaminate the soil. When I took over my lottie there was a strip of carpet about 4 ft wide down one side and even after 4 years I still do not get as good a crop of anything in that 4ft. I'm a site rep for 72 plots and it's very discouraging to walk around the site and see all the plots covered with carpets and black plastic.So now I've got that off my chest as well.............
Alan

[greendean]

i have a piece of carpet in my shed to wipe my boots on

is this ok?

[OverWyreGrower]

I use cardboard (from my sister's shop) and straw (from our ducks and chooks). I have been known to use black plastic, but that's only cos my veg garden is infested with couch grass etc, and it's good at weakening the weeds before we pull them out.

Can't believe how much straw is on my garden, yet I've not got enough even though the birds are cleaned out 3 or 4 times a week!!

[TEB]

Blame Mr Organic AKA Bob Flowerdew, he must of carpetted most if not all of his garden at one time!

[Eyren]

We're not allowed to use carpet on our plots any more (though some of the older ones still have it in place) - anyway I wouldn't as it's usually full of chemicals and rots down to lumpy stuff that's no good for the soil, so I'm totally with you on that count, plotman! I don't think anyone here is advocating using carpets, though you will still see them mentioned in older books.

Fingers crossed I will get my plot sorted out this year, and not need to use ground sheeting such as cardboard or plastic so much. A mulch of compost or manure is much nicer (provided you can get manure without any nasty aminopyralids!)

[zazen999]

I've got huge swathes of card on the plot this year...in 2 places. One where the couch grass is just too thick so we are weaking it...and another where we have stupid horseradish that was trying to take over the world. If it doesn't work for either - then they WILL be black plasticed for a while until it is under control.

Last resort though - infinitely better than weed killer on my plot.

[gojiberry]

I don't see anything wrong with carpet and black plastic. It isn't as if anone goes out and buys new stuff, so if its only going to a landfill surely it is doing more good helping allotmenteers keeping their plots tidy. My paths are permanent as I have raised beds so no real problem with contamination of growing area. It gives me more time to concentrate on the essentials i.e. growing vegetables and fruit. Now I've got mine off my chest, grrrrrate!!!

Ian

[Jedi Gardener]

When I took my plot on it had both black plastic and carpet covering most of it. The carpet was a pain in the ass cos I am having to cart pieces of it away to the tip a bit at a time. (mucky wet stinky carpet in my car - yuk )

[plotman]

Well gojiberry Apart from the chemicals in the dye in carpets, and the eyesore of allotments covered in old bags, carpets etc Plus the fact that it actually harms the soil structure over a period of time, then i guess there is no harm. And instead of exerciseing and staying fit by weeding , they can pay to join a gym instead lol. But dont forget to drive to the gym like all the youngsters do lol lol