[Sturmovik]

Hello,

We fought 2 years long exhausting but victorious battle with weeds at our allotment We dig them all but ours backs are the victims of this war...

Do you recommend covering soil for winter in order to prevent weeds growing?
Do you think that will do (made of plastic)

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/smart-home-appliances/tools-fittings/frakta-tarpaulin-blue-art-99304696/

or I need something more specialised if I do I would be grateful for some tips what to choose and where to buy it.

Regards.

[mumofstig]

I like to cover soil in the autumn after it has been forked over (or dug if that's what you do) and compost/manure laid on top, if you have it. Then in Spring you can just take of the covers, hoe/rake over and you are ready to go - all good as far as I'm concerned 

Covering with tarpaulin isn't a good idea as it will prevent winter rain from being absorbed by the soil.
I use Yuzet brand weed control fabric, which lets rain and air through - you can buy cheaper brands but they don't last as long IMO
It comes in several widths and you can usually order it by the m. I bought all of mine on ebay and now have pieces for each bed, labelled for size.

[Comfreypatch]

I do the same as mumofstig. Saves so much weeding in the spring, anything that has germinated under the membrane is pale and sickly and easily pulled up. However I am not as organised with my membrane sizes it’s more a question of pulling various bags from the shed and delving through them! Maybe this year I shall take a leaf out of her book.
I also always grow my courgettes and squashes through membrane , again it saves on the weeding in the summer. So I also have unlabelled membrane with holes in to contend with!!

[oldgrunge]

I save large cardboard boxes all year. Then, I lay them on my beds. By spring, they have mainly rotted down, and I just dig them in.

[greenjay]

I too collect cardboard through the year to cover the plot as it empties.
I try to cover with fym but never have enough.
my plot is roughly a 3 year rotation. I empty the compost heap where the beans etc will go, a lot of weeds and volunteers come up in this but I find the are easily dealt with.

[victoria park]

The last couple of years have given me the perfect answer for quite a few beds. Basically swathes of poached eggs flower and finish by mid June, all the  detritus and seeds are collected and then broadcast far and wide over the next lot of beds beds needing covering. Like forget-me-nots, they then grow their next generation to a fair old size before the Winter, with very little flowering, if at all. They're thugs and just about out compete anything, and give large carpets to protect from the winter rains in the Spring, say 6 or 7 square meters at a time.
 I then decide where I will have my next beds of poached eggs to flower, with all their well known attendant complementary properties. Those are left to flower, and the rest are sheared and dug in as a brilliant green manure, so much greenery and lots of roots. They're perfect, wish I had sussed it years ago. They rot down really quickly. I'm even thinking of not bothering with my Winter Tares and late Summer buckwheat. Their big advantage is how they seed so easily and when they flower. It's perfect.
For covers, I just keep a couple of beds dryish under plastic for potatoes, to give me options should we have a bad wet Spring like this year.

[Dantheman]

I just managed to pick up about 30+ cardboard boxes offered on my local free cycling site. I will be taking all the tape off and storing them ready for autumn.

[sunshineband]

I cover beds that do not have crops in them during the Winter months with black plastic, cut to the size of  the bed and held down with bricks and tubs of stones. I wait until the soil is damp, and any organic additions such as manure or compost are laid down and roughly forked in.

The plastic does stop weeds from taking a hold, but an added bonus is that the soil is not saturated by Winter rains, and nutrients are not washed down from the top soil. There is plenty of air underneath the plastic and if the worm population is anything to go by, they enjoy a little extra shelter too

Once the covers are off in Spring, the beds are good to go. Werks fer me 

[Aidy]

Looks like I am the odd one out (nothing new there(never follow the masses))
One reason is those who do cover over winter tend to be the most complaining of slugs and snails the following spring as it creates a lovely protected enviroment for the to hibanate. Secondly during winter not that many weeds actually grow due to low temps.
I tend to use green manure which will out compete any weeds then dug in come spring.

[sunshineband]

Looks like I am the odd one out (nothing new there(never follow the masses))
One reason is those who do cover over winter tend to be the most complaining of slugs and snails the following spring as it creates a lovely protected enviroment for the to hibanate. Secondly during winter not that many weeds actually grow due to low temps.
I tend to use green manure which will out compete any weeds then dug in come spring.

Interesting that a simple question can have so many different answers... just shows the diversity of approach growers take doesn't it?

[Kenilworth]

Like Comfrey I not only cover with membrane but grow through it as well, not just courgettes and squashes but sweetcorn, onoions and pumpkins too.

[Florablunder]

I've been wondering if it is the best approach. I have parts of my plot covered with a mixture of weed fabric and tarpaulins, but having removed a lot of it recently for planting, I found lots of bindweed growing underneath, and also lots of slugs/snails living there - so I think it is a good point about inadvertently offering a haven for them.
One of the reasons I cover it up is that the neighboring plot has mallow plants and they spread a lot of seed - and if you don't catch them in time they have really strong taproots and are tough to remove.
For those that use cardboard - do you put anything on top of the cardboard (like manure), or just weigh it down?

[Dantheman]

Like Comfrey I not only cover with membrane but grow through it as well, not just courgettes and squashes but sweetcorn, onoions and pumpkins too.

Hi
Do you move the weed control membrane from bed to bed as you rotate?  So the holes are the the same spacing? also do you just make the hole for planting though with scissors?

Thanks

[Kenilworth]

Like Comfrey I not only cover with membrane but grow through it as well, not just courgettes and squashes but sweetcorn, onoions and pumpkins too.

Hi
Do you move the weed control membrane from bed to bed as you rotate?  So the holes are the the same spacing? also do you just make the hole for planting though with scissors?

Thanks

i have different sheets for different crops and rotate as the crops rotate, with different sized holes and spacings, I also ensure that i wash the sheets before each move.... For making the holes I use a heat gun. mark out the circle and run the heat gun around the edge, it will form the hole and also seal/melt the edges and thus stop most of the fraying..... This would only work on woven membrane such as Yuzet  mentioned before.

[ilan]

With me I like to dig over the plot with a digging hoe this allowes the frosts into the ground killing of any slugs and pests and breaks up the clay soil most weed seeds fall in the Autum and remain dorment over the winter so I grow as much as I can in pots and hoe of the emerging weeds before planting