help needed - weeds + grass - MULCHING??

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pookey

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help needed - weeds + grass - MULCHING??
« on: May 19, 2007, 15:45 »
my plot was made from a grassed lawn, I have only planted a small amount of it but allready grass + weeds are growing everywhere!  The weeds can be hoed when small, but the grass has deep roots and just keeps growing back.  I have planted potatoes, peas + mang tout so far in rows.  I am covering the areas that arent in use with sheeting (I am collecting whatever i can lay my hands on + weighing it down with stones, but I dont have nearly enough stuff to cover the whole area. I am going to scour my dump for the odd carpet next week.

I plan to plant sweetcorn plants next + am planning to use sheeting as a mulch to stop weeds and plant through it, but what is the best thing to do with the spuds + peas that are already in.  I have read posts on mulches - leaves, grass clippings, straw, cardboard, shredded paper etc, but I read non rotted stuff pinches nitrogen out the soil, like the grass?  I was thinking of shredding aload of paper but wont that just blow away?  I could use cheap black plastic bags cut open + tucked down (I know its not too environmentally friendly, but I could keep re-using them).  I am also saving cardboard and have a little stash.  I live rural so I could collect leaves and stuff from under the hedges + trees
Avoid fruit and nuts.  You are what you eat.

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Annie

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help needed - weeds + grass - MULCHING??
« Reply #1 on: May 19, 2007, 17:46 »
You could use cardboard with grass cuttings on top as a mulch,I`ve used this for potatoes but not corn.

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David.

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help needed - weeds + grass - MULCHING??
« Reply #2 on: May 19, 2007, 18:35 »
Cardboard is a bit awkward unless well wetted and put down before likely to dry out again and does not fit between closely planted crops.

Newspaper, junkmail, etc. is fine, but I leave it out to get wet, both to take on the profile of the land and gain weight so it does not blow away.

Shreddings need wetting, but if previously used for pet bedding and full foodstuff are better composted in a rat poof bin.

I alawys cover paper/card/etc. with grass cuttings, shreddings (donated by neighbours) and stable straw (from where my daughter rides - they like you more if you pay them for riding AND take away their horse poo and stable straw (they normally burn the straw (unless [but not always] if there is a planning restriction which in our area are imposed as a standard condition on stables. Remember stable owners may have to pay contractors to take away their waste!

Turning to what you intend to grow:

Sweetcorn - plant closely then stifle weeds with something small enough to fit between plants. If your mulch is very high in nutrients and you overfeed them the plants may grow very green and high and you might think they will never yield any cobs, but if you leave them long enough they will eventually produce cobs.

Potatoes - earth up in stages to maximum height then lay wet newspaper/strips of cardboard between the rows and cover with grass/straw/shreddings, etc. I do this with my very earliest potatoes, taking the straw right above the top of the plants if a frost is forecast.

Peas - use paper/whatever as a mulch in between rows as a path and sprinkle a little of whatever you can (not so fresh that it burn young plants) between the peas/sticks.


I have 2 areas of recently rotavated grass:

1) I managed to do it (rotavated over 3 days) before the hot spell finished and anything can go in (but after rain annual weeds might come back with a vengance).

2) Same method but finished a day later and was rained on before the last of the grass got burnt up in the sun. I'm getting tufts of grass growing back so it will be mulched with either heavy duty polythene
dpm or straw, etc. (laid on damp paper/cardboard).

I have another area that may or may not be able to be rotovated this year, and if not may have marrows or pumpkins planted in pits and the whole area mulched out with something permeable, such as paper/card covered with grass/straw. I don't grow them through polythene any more as it now gets too hot in the summer.

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pookey

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help needed - weeds + grass - MULCHING??
« Reply #3 on: May 20, 2007, 11:24 »
thanks for your replies.

David, that is really helpful, loads of ideas to try.  Thanks for taking the time.  I have just planted some cabbages through weed fabric and have put some cardboard on the paths of my spuds to wet down.  I have tons of grass clippings from when the ground was mowed before ploughed.  (I had a farmer bring his tractor in and plough up 80% of my lawn - he even put in into drills for me!  Te land was left unattended for 2 years though so theres all sorts of chunky roots and stuff to dig up - it's hard work isnt it?



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