[bomere]

I'm in the second year at my plot which is part of a large disused garden.

The top end is where all the grass cuttings and compost material has been dumped for the last 25 years.

The soil here is in good condition, but infested with nettles and ground elder.

Would it be possible/successful  to cover the lot in black plastic or weed control material and plant through it.
I was thinking of squash rhubarb courgette and pumpkin. (Any other suggestions welcome)

 I have lots of seedlings of these, once I open a packet of seeds I find it difficult not o plant them all   

[Salmo]

Squash, pumkin and courgette will be fine. Rhubarb is a permanent planting and you might find that it always has weeds in it.

[bomere]

That is great news.

I might risk the rhubarb anyway, I now have so many plants that if I don't I will end up throwing them.

Thanks

[paintedlady]

I can vouch that most summer fruit crops (as already mentioned, plus outdoor tomatoes, chillies, peppers, sweetcorn, outdoor cucumber) will be fine through black plastic/weed suppressant stuff.  Legumes ...well, I did get a crop, but the sun on the black plastic heats up the soil a bit too much for them, so they probably were not that happy.  You could always cover with the weed suppressant stuff and then put a thin layer of compost (or some other mulch) over the top to avoid this, and after the crop has been removed, the compost is then dug into the soil as an improver.

[Kristen]

Bi-coloured plastic sheet used to be popular - white on the top, black underneath.

[poppies]

Try planting your rhubarb through thick cardboard, with manure or compost on top - this is how I grow mine as we have creeping thistles that keep coming back

[celjaci]

In my experience the best material to use to kill off weeds is the heavy duty ( 100g/m2 )
woven black sheeting sold as 'Mypex' or 'Phormisol' or just as 'horticultural ground cover'
It allows air and water through but prevents even the strongest weeds growing. I have used it to clear large areas of pernicious weeds like ground elder and creeping thistle with very good results.
It is avaiable in 100m rolls up to 5m wide from horticultural suppliers ( 5m x 100m around £150 - much cheaper than the blue visqueen! )
From a roll it is much easier to lay and being flexible is much easier to roll up again for re-use

[bomere]

Thanks celjaci

I have quite a lot of heavy black plastic sheeting, but non porous. I was going to use that.

I used to have a large pool in the garden, but when the grandchildren came along I thought it safer to remove it, so I have a lot of pond liner.