[goodtogrow]

I tried some 'alternative' green manures on my clay- y (sp?!) plot last season you might like to try, especially if ground becomes bare by July/August:

1.  Borage, direct -sown into pre-watered drills.  It made a metre in height and a lot of bulk.  It looks like comfrey - and it's related to comfrey - it's an annual so as long as you don't let it seed you don't get a persistent problem.

2.  French bean/haricot vert.  This was from saved seed - too dear to buy in diddy packets.  Pre-germinated and sown into pre-watered drills.  Nitrogen-fixing.  Frost-tender.  No need to cut it down if you leave it long enough.

Both types I just shaved off with a stirrup hoe at the end of the season and left to lie on the surface.  No digging-in, just add more waste on top to protect soil over winter.  The root systems are assumed to be fibrous, so they won't break through clay like alfalfa, but the organic bulk will improve clay - without digging......

Might be worth a try?  Would love to hear of any other 'alternative' green manures, especially cheap ones!

Tom

Ps: Forgot to mention sunflowers - from petfood suppliers, not diddy packets - pre-germinated as for french beans.  Stupid amounts of bio-mass produced!  What's not to like?!!!!

[Christine]

My first year on the plot I used buckwheat on part of my plot which had been worked. Although it is not supposed to like heavy soils it did very well and cured the most awful weed infestation (not dandelions and docks but squillions of common weeds). Yes I lost that area for the season but I was dealing with soil that was so hammered it was not going to grow anything anyway. Bit of hard work digging in but worth it as the next year the patch was productive.

[allotmentann]

Wow! Nettle tea mixed with manure! Sounds like one not to apply when any neighbours are around!
Tom - thanks for the info. I have some borage seed that I could try. The French bean idea may definitely be worth a go too (and I love French beans - so added bonus!). What do you do with the sunflowers? Do you dig the roots in or leave them to rot down. I assume you do chop them down?
Christine, I am so glad you posted about buckwheat, the other plot that I work on has suddenly developed a real couch grass problem and I had read that buckwheat was very good for killing that off, so I think that I will try that there. I feel the same about the freshly uncovered parts of my plot, I can't grow in it, so i may as well try and improve the soil as much as possible for next year.

[goodtogrow]

Yes, just chop down sunflowers and leave the roots in.  As they're annuals,  they'll die all by themselves...

And please report back on the success of buckwheat killing couch grass, because that would be a major breakthrough for me too, and major breakthroughs I like a lot 

Tom

[IainC]

Buckwheat kills crouch grass?? Please tell me this is true???

[Yorkie]

Recent research suggests that beans etc are not as good at fixing nitrogen into the soils as previously believed. 

[Growster...]

Recent research suggests that beans etc are not as good at fixing nitrogen into the soils as previously believed. 

Just had an email from a chum in Australia Yorkie!

He said that to keep his ground in shape while he went walkabouit for three months, he'd planted beans just to keep his 7 acres alive!

Blimey - what a lot of seed...

[Yorkie]

 

[allotmentann]

Hi Tom I had read about buckwheat in several places but here is one link
http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/07/03/2012/131787/Buckwheat-has-potential-to-suppress-blackgrass.htm
I think it probably has to be worth a try, the main problem for me is to be able to keep the free space to try it, as everything seems to be taken up! However, if the couch is not obliterated nothing will grow eventually anyway

[goodtogrow]

allotmentann, nice of you to post a link....

From what I can gather, buckwheat grows like stink (shurley only given the right conditions?), it out-competes even couch grass and exudes some repellant which inhibits growth of other species, including couch grass?

I'm still understanding this as a means of containing couch grass, suppressing its spread, rather than killing it, but as a control measure it seems to add up.

Thanks

Tom

[goodtogrow]

And another thing, a propos French beans/haricot verts, picked up a 500grm bag = gazillions compared with diddy seed packets, for £1.20 at local health food shop.  Dried.  Soaked overnight.  Drained and put in warm place for 24 hours.  Germinating no problem. 

Sowed them today in wide seed drill, broadcast, big handfuls, no need to space them at 6.736 mm between seeds, no bending down or dirty knees, just chucked from an upright posture.

Might work for you.

Tom

Same was true for sunflower seeds (petshop).   Approx 79.37 billion for 72p

[Growster...]

"no need to space them at 6.736 mm between seeds"

Ha ha ha - love it...;0)

Just think what you could have achieved from a 'downright posture'...!

Some time ago Tom, I ran a few posts about 'Coarse Gardening', and this would have been way up there IMHO!