[Chef_uk]

Hi all, i've been tasked by the wife to try and tackle our veg patch. We moved in 12 months ago and have now settled down sorting everything else out so that our veg patch is the last thing left to do. Having a toddler and two babies has slowed things down

After some research I think i'm best off using inorganic mulch to kill off the weeds. We strimmed them down at the end of last Summer and whilst we knew this would probably spread the weeds, it was all we could do at the time.

As of today they sit 3ft-5ft in height and cover the whole area.

We're not in a hurry to start growing on it so are happy to have it covered for 12-18 months to really kill off the majority of the weeds. So i'm now just after a plan to work with.

Step 1: Strim weeds down to 5cm
Step 2: Cover the whole area with inorganic mulch

Have i got that right as a start?

If so, whats best for an 18 month covering? Being a chef I have access to 10 giant boxes 3 times per week from the delivery at work, I can also utilize old newspapers as we get 20 or so delivered every day for the Sgt's coffee lounge. being free this is appealing but will it be best as apposed to the thick black plastic on sale? If its only marginal then the £50 price for the plastic isn't justifiable is it?

I really appreciate any help and/or advice offered

Chef_uk

[Yorkie]

Welcome to the site 

Ouch, 3 - 5' high weeds 


http://www.allotment-garden.org/articles/Clearing_a_New_Allotment.php is a useful article which may give you some pointers.  You can certainly use cardboard though it looks very untidy as it degrades; I think newspapers might also degrade a little too quickly but you could try them.  I suspect that some of the more pernicious weeds might not be stopped by these two mulches but I couldn't say for sure.  Why not try the cardboard / newspapers and see how you get on?

Just avoid carpet and, if you're leaving it down for 12+ months, use a permeable rather than standard plastic membrane if you decide to go down that route instead.  Also, if you do go for membrane, get the widest version possible - saves you having to pin / weight it down along lots of lengths, and gives the weeds fewer chances of getting through the gaps.

[Chef_uk]

Thanks Yorkie, that site has even more info on a month by month basis, very handy to have, thanks.

If there's a doubt over the free route then thats ok, we don't mind paying for the good stuff as i'm sure it will be worth it when it comes to relying on the patch for food.

Is the rule of thumb that it will be cheaper online still true for what i need or could it be cheaper down at the garden center?

[Zippy]

My two penneth:

Trample the weeds and follow up with an overlapping layer of corrugated cardboard to shut out the light.

Follow with manure, compost, cut weeds (that are not in seed), lawn mowings. So long as its organic, sling it on. You need about 6 inches depth.

Now make holes in the deep layer and plant in squashes this time of year or potatoes if it is early spring. This will give you a crop or two instead of leaving the ground fallow this first year.  Top up the organic layer with lawn mowings as the year progresses.

By next spring all of this should have rotted down to a lovely earthy layer which you can plant into without ever having to weild a spade. Tho original weeds will have died under the organic blanket.

Just my two penneth - there'll be folks coming along to say why it won't work. All I can say is I have done it and it worked for me. I don't own a spade except a border spade which I use to open up larger holes for things like squashes. I never dig soil over.

[mumofstig]

fine if it works for you Zippy , but cant see that treatment stopping any of the nasties, like elder, marestail or bindweed.
But then again I don't think black plastic or membrane stops them either
I think you have to dig these out as much as you can...which is hard work.

[Zippy]

Hi Mumofstig. Agreed - I would dig those out as well (and certainly not rotovate!) as they will bide their time and come up through the mulch layer even stronger for the feeding.

My method has worked for nettles, docks and even the Dandy Lion. Haven't tried it over brambles; I think they would wait until the mulch layer broke down and then come up raging through the new organic layer!

Some weeds you do have to dig out, I'll grant you that.

[Chef_uk]

An update.

I went down the root of covering the patch with cardboard, compost, and grass cuttings as suggested and had been keeping it relatively neat and tidy as i was conscious that we have an over-zealous Housing Officer which listening to others down our street comes down and inspects every now and again, but its been to no avail as we received a letter from him two weeks ago stating we had to keep our garden in a neat and tidy state as mentioned in our tenants handbook and that it had to be done before September 20th when he would come back.

I replied back stating exactly what i was doing but he refused to budge . So i've now ordered some 100g/m2 Ground Cover - 1m x 100m for £57 but am unsure on how to proceed.

Should i remove the mulch first or just go over it with the black sheeting? I only ask as it looks like it will be hard to peg down (unless you can recommend decent pegs that will go in?)

Finally we moved our greenhouse and shed to the very rear of the garden and where the shed was was completely bare soil so we've taken the opportunity and put some veg in brought from homebase that was ultra cheap probably due to end of season. But with a south facing garden we may get something from it

[Yorkie]

I'd bung it over the mulch and use either bricks if you can get them, or otherwise plastic milk cartons (once you've drunk the milk!) filled with water as weights.