Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi Eliza
Just to keep your post alive …
I think it is better to remove the slabs.
If you have 2’x2’slabs you could lift a few to give a 2′ wide bed, and also scrape out scalpings/sand/mortar or whatever the slabs sit on; removal of slabs and foundation will give several inches extra depth and easy access to the soil below for the roots of your crops. Removing a double row of 18″ square slabs would give a 3′ wide bed. If the line of your service pipes coincides with your new beds and the pipes are encased in a few feet of concrete then you will have no soil to access but this is highly unlikely.
If there is access to soil below I doubt that you will need deep raised beds and one could argue, in a best case scenario, that removal of slabs and foundation would give enough depth for several inches of compost over the soil with no need for a raised bed. It all depends on what you find below the slabs.
There is fear of roots interfering with underground water pipes but, as long as you intend to grow annual veg rather than a willow plantation, all should be ok.
Good luck with your project
Hi Ken and Brereton
I think there are two things that need addressing, these being to clear the plot of weeds and to improve the soil.
Annual weeds soon die off but some perennials take much longer although you say you have twelve months before thinking of cropping and this should be sufficient to clear almost everything if you cover with black polythene or mypex-type membrane.
Why not start the soil improvement immediately by adding as much compost/manure/green waste as you can get hold of before laying the plastic/membrane? The manure needn’t be fully formed compost as you have twelve months for it to mature during which time the soil fauna will be digging the soil for you. The organic layer will also help with weed suppression but you do need a thick layer to combat many perennial weeds unless plastic/membrane is used on top.
I definitely would NOT rotovate. It is the best way to propagate bindweed and other weeds by root cuttings! Let the organic matter do the work.
I would leave sowing the green manure until you have a weed free plot.
This link might be useful although, since doing it again, I have mucked and covered at the same time.
Hi Charles
Lovely comments from Don and highly seconded.
I attended your day course in Spring 2015 and I was in awe of all the salads in the polytunnel, particularly the strong flavours of the mustards you encouraged us to sample. I now have a greenhouse full of Rouge de Grenoble, mustards and rocket, all due to your inspiration.
Best wishes for Christmas and 2017.
John
I mentioned above that I followed winter field beans, sown in October/November, with brassicas which is almost the same as brassicas following broad beans; tops are cleared to the compost heap and then brassica modules are planted within the left-in-the-ground roots. No need to kill off and no digging.
This sequence fits in very well with the no-dig system and I wonder if more experienced green manurers can suggest other sequences, particularly involving over-wintering green manures, which have worked for them.
Hi Ken
Over the last twelve months I have grown 7m x * 1.2m strips of several green manure crops, namely field beans, phacelia and buckwheat. In each case I have scythed down the top growth and added it to the compost heap. I have then planted modules, such as brassicas after the field beans, although not immediately. I have not done any digging.
I have a few photos on my blog – here and here.
I also have a couple of beds of grazing rye for over the winter. I haven’t decided what to do yet but my thought is to cut down the top growth in Feb/March and then cover with mypex until the strips are needed for planting modules. My neighbour tells me that the main benefit of the rye is the dense fibrous root system which I guess is best left where it is.
I also have a couple of strips of comfrey. It’s amazing how well they have grown from 25mm root cuttings and I will start cropping this next year adding it to my compost heap.
I have found that more or less equal parts of veg waste/green manure, old small wood chippings and farmyard manure give excellent compost after sixth months or so.
It’s good to hear other people’s thoughts and experiences with green manure.
Hi Lief
My ‘late Spring’ should really have read ‘mid Spring’ as the dinner was on April 21st but Spring comes early in sunny Exmouth!
I had lifted them much earlier but had stored them in sand. A few weeks later they were rooting into the sand and had started to sprout. I guess that March-April is the best time to eat them if you want to have artichokes rather than fartichokes.
Hi Don
They are commonly known as fartichokes!
John
PS The name is well deserved until late Spring when, in my experience and that of eight guests at a dinner party, all was sweetness and light.
Hi Simon
It might be worth mentioning firstly that wood chips vary considerably in size. Mine are small and can be seen in this thread . They are free on my allotments so my mode of practice is affected by this.
I do put the chips over bare ground, but only after I have used membrane or plastic to get rid of all annual and most perennial weeds. I still have to trowel out bits of bindweed but otherwise I just hoe over the woodchips, regularly before weeds are noticeable, as Charles does on his soil beds. Minimum depth is a couple of inches, sufficiently deep so that I am not hoeing into the soil beneath. There is no problem with walking, barrowing or kneeling; they provide an excellent surface.
On my first allotment I used them between beds edged with 3x1inch timber as shown here
My small wood chips do break down within a year or so and I plan to use the old chips as browns on my compost heap. I mention this as they do need topping up from time to time.
I have not used the larger (2-3inch) commercial wood chips sold in garden centres. I would find them prohibitively expensive for my two allotments!
I think that the key to using weed membrane (mypex for short) is to …
1. use it as a temporary cover and never cover it with soil, compost or wood chips for the reasons Charles gives:
2. avoid simply cutting with scissors which gives a frayed edge. I sealed the scissored edges of mine by running a lighted match along the edges but ‘cutting’ with a blow torch is easier.The only weed that my mypex did not kill was bindweed, but in another area the polythene sheet was also not effective on the bindweed. Fortunately I did not have horsetail so I cannot report on this.
One plan might be to …
1. cover the whole area with mypex until you are ready to build your raised beds and fill. This will start the weed eradication process:
2. remove the mypex, put down the frames and fill with compost; this is best done as soon as possible to allow the worms to get working:
3. relay the mypex over the whole area, paths and all, until you are ready to plant up in spring, preferably late spring or early summer using module raised plants.
4. after removing the mypex put chippings or whatever you prefer on the paths. I used wood chips as they are easy to hoe.I used a similar approach on my allotment, although I did not use raised beds. Photos here. In late spring I removed the mypex and planted module plants. I had to do a bindweed hunt every week at first but otherwise maintenance of the beds, through regular hoeing, was very easy.
The mypex is reusable but the method is so successful that I will need to get another weedy plot to reuse it!
A few years ago we had a wasp’s nest hanging down from a branch of a tree in our garden. A friend said he could get rid of the wasps but would need a large bucket of water, a step ladder, a pair of secateurs, and a pint of beer. Intrigued, we assembled his requirements and welcomed him to the garden as dusk approached.
The beer was for him to drink while waiting for the last wasp to enter the nest. He then climbed the step ladder with the bucket of cold water, positioned the bucket just below the nest and then cut the branch with the secateurs so the nest dropped into the bucket. I’m not sure whether it was drowning or heart attack due to the cold water that did for the wasps.
