This topic contains 11 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by Ana Cristina 9 years, 7 months ago.
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Sounds a big project. From what you describe I would use a sharp spade to remove the maiin (not every) root of bramble and the top 6 inches of docks, then cover with a light-excluding mulch until next spring. Any compost you can spread before covering will make for a nicer surface to plant into next year, when there will still be bindweed to keep on top of, probably the weak remains of couch and g. elder too.
Cover with as much compost as you can get your hands on. I used about 4 inches. Weed at least weekly getting as much root as possible each time. It started out taking an hour a week but quickly reduced as weeds became weaker.
I add about 2 inches of manure when it looks to need it that helps keep it down and have put card and woodchip on the paths as it was free and I knew I would have limited time to spend on the plot this summer. Also on my light soil it will help to retain the moisture.
2 years on I have the other half of the plot too and can weed the whole in about an hour a week
So keep at it regularly and you will soon have a relative weed free plot. Enjoy
I’ve been reading about getting rid of ground elder and couch grass in particular. Ground elder leaves are edible according to the book “Edible Plants” from Plants for a Future. Couch grass is the most difficult apparently.
In one of these two books, they reccommend covering the ground with hedge clippings, or woody clippings which lay more or less flat. Then newspapers – whole ones in an overlapping patchwork, and then flattened cardboard boxes. Follow this by old carpet (must be made of natural fibres though).
After this, you can mulch with woody trimmings again, followed in any order by these three — wood chippings, then compost, then your growing medium and use these three layers to create the top surface you want. So I would end with the woodchips on the top.
If I understand it corrrectly you can grow straight into the top of the 6 or 9 layers.
Couch grass can survive for a year underground apparently so is by far the most difficult to defeat.
The book says that Ground Elder has a very long history of edible and medicinal use, it was cultivated for both in the Middle Ages. Leaves have an unusual tangy flavour, can be served in salad or cooked as spinach. Used a great deal to treat gout and counteract the highly rich diet of monks and clergymen.
Hope this helps. The other book is called “Plants for a Future” by Ken Fern. Both are admirable and appear to cover most if not all edible and useful veggies and flowers. Both cheap from Amazon.
Good luck.
Julie
I would stack the manure, say in a corner of the weedy area. There is risk of nutrients leaching and encouraging more slugs from spreading it fresh. If some is part rotted, say 3-6 months old, you could spread an inch or two before covering as you cover will be on for several months and it will be good worm-food in that time..
my plot was also cover in brambles docks bindweed ect ,i just coverd it in a 1ft layer of grass clippings , i have an unlimited supply, now it is a tilth worthy of planting in to with no weeds hardly coming through, but i will put a 2inch layer of manure on first to feed the soil ready for next spring, grass clippings do smell a bit and go mushy but cover the weeds deep enough and leave it to the worms,it does the job
Unless you have hours to spare I would recommend that you concentrate on part of the allotment and do it thoroughly rather than tackle the whole thing and end up with weeds that get away from you. Cover what you can’t deal with this year and get back to it when you can manage.
Each year the part you have dealt with is so easy to cope with that you can then tackle the next bit.
hello Charles,
I had a truck load of cow manure delivered in June, 3 months ago. I’m now laying new vegetable beds for overwintering too. It’s a new plot and I’ve tried to get rid of most weeds. The manure was covered with a plastic sheet over the entire hot summer, so I believe is part rotted. I don’t plan to use the beds until February or March ( the season starts earlier here in central Portugal). Can I spread an inch or two of this part rotted cow manure on top of my beds and cover with cardboard or other weed suppressing material until March 2015? As the cow manure is only 3 months old, I hesitate doing this as I realise you don’t normally recommend using less than year old manure as a mulch.
Many thanks Charles!
Three months is young but its hard to say without seeing all the details… if soil is currently moist or soon to be, that’s good for adding mulch as worms will get busy on it… if the manure has decomposed well under its plastic cover, that is good – may be it composts fast in Portuguese heat…. if you are not planning to sow carrots in February etc… then yes it is a good plan. Above all keep those weed leaves in darkness until well withered.
Thank you Charles!
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