[familyrichard]

I  have cleared my plot of trees!! and weeds now I need to keep it that way till spring. My neighbouring plot is a weed fest.
I have tried cardboard weighed down with wood but the wind and rain strips it apart. Now I am thinking weed control fabric but lots of it seems to requre bark or gravel on top to a) weigh it down and b) keep the light out.

Can anyone recommend something tht can be pegged down, keeps light out and lasts? or am I going about this wrong headed??

Thanks

[naturesparadise]

try this place they are very good for stuff like that
http://firsttunnels.co.uk/subsubcategory.asp?catid=30

[Bigbadfrankie]

Green manure, Mustard

[naturesparadise]

Green manure, Mustard

explain please

[yummy]

You can sow green manure, such as mustard, which will put nutrients back into the soil, whilst restricting weeds (if you have something else growing then in theory it is harder for the weeds to take over). You leave your green manure to grow and then dig it in to the ground.

There are lot of different types that can be planted at different times of year...

More info here LINK

[naturesparadise]

You can sow green manure, such as mustard, which will put nutrients back into the soil, whilst restricting weeds (if you have something else growing then in theory it is harder for the weeds to take over). You leave your green manure to grow and then dig it in to the ground.

There are lot of different types that can be planted at different times of year...

More info here LINK

great link thanks

however my weeds are well established and really hard to get rid of
i was thinking of braking my rules and using roundup
just to get a handle on them

[yummy]

We have done the roundup thing too. We did it when we first got the plot and I think once earlier this year on some areas of the plot that we hadn't taken care of and had become really over grown (e.g. the edges beneath the hedges).

 We also covered up some large areas with black plastic sheeting which eventually killed off the weeds beneath, however people say there are disadvantages to that too... water can't get through and slugs hide under em.

[SnooziSuzi]

i was thinking of braking my rules and using roundup just to get a handle on them

me too and I said I'd never use the stuff but the weeds are just too prolific.

I'm going to spray everywhere that I can and get some weed fabric on top, and then I'm going to make the raised beds for next year, lay my flagstones to suppress the weeds and hopefully I'll be able to keep on top of it all next year without chemicals.

[Gwiz]

i was thinking of braking my rules and using roundup
just to get a handle on them

Think of it as a temporary suspension of your rules........... That way you can do it again later!