[reddytogarden]

Hello,

I just bought a house with a once amazing veg patch (allotment size) but it was 9' high brambles and nettles with a small amount of bindweed. I have cut it all back and dug up as much of the roots as I can but the brambles are a nightmare.

My question is, if I cover with cardboard (I've lots of boxes as just moved) and then a 10cm layer of compost, will it be ok to plant in come Spring?

Sadly I found nothing but some very unproductive raspberry canes and blackcurrants (also no berries at all) so I have cut them back and will leave to see if they fruit but will also replant some to be sure.

It wasn't touched for about 15-20 years...

[Gardener and Rabbit]

From what you describe, I think there are likely to be plenty of roots left that will grow back vigorously, plus lots of dormant weed seeds waiting to sprout. If it were me, I'd let them grow again now to a few inches, then spray the new growth with glyphosate. I'd repeat again in Spring, before planting.   

[BeardedDez]

Personally I wouldn't touch it with weedkiller.
I would do as you suggest and pick the weeds off as they come through, in theory only the strongest will breach your barrier.
Your other alternative would be to thoroughly dig and weed meticulously and then cover but that would depend on time to do that .

[reddytogarden]

Thank you.

I won't use weedkiller as am going to plant vegetables and don't want that in the soil (glycosphate has just been proven as cause in a big cancer trial in the USA!).

Anyway, my question was actually can I plant through the cardboard come spring if I lay it down down? (Cardboard, grass clippings, compost) Will it have rotted down enough to plant through?

[Plot 1 Problems]

(glycosphate has just been proven as cause in a big cancer trial in the USA!).

I know the glysophate debate rages on, but I just want to clarify on this, that particular case was a civil case where the burden of proof does not have to be certain, merely probable. Particularly of note is that it was brought by a worker who was administering weedkiller as part of his job and was not wearing adequate protection at work on a regular basis. Essentially it still doesn't prove that glysophate used on weeds and then left as residue in the soil is carcinogenic.
Personally I don't use it in any beds that I grow food in because I prefer to avoid chemicals where I can, but citing that case as definitive is slightly misleading.

[snowdrops]

Thank you.

I won't use weedkiller as am going to plant vegetables and don't want that in the soil (glycosphate has just been proven as cause in a big cancer trial in the USA!).

Anyway, my question was actually can I plant through the cardboard come spring if I lay it down down? (Cardboard, grass clippings, compost) Will it have rotted down enough to plant through?

Yes you can, ( I feel like a record got stuck lol) look at Charles Dowding’s no dig website & his videos on you tube, also do a search on here for no dig, there’s quite a few mentions of it in the last few months. The more well rotted compost you put on on top of the cardboard tge better, plus you can increase the layers of cardboard  before the compost goes on to exclude the light, no light no germination of weeds seeds. If there was some residual cardboard after the winter you could just clear a bit away to allow you to plant but I think unles you do it a foot thick I think it will be gone.

[Ema]

I had a very similar patch in my new garden, 10x5 meters. It had been a raspberry bed as some point and then the brambles had grown over the top. Over last winter I dug out the raspberries and gave many of them away, I dug out the brambles and really hurt my back in doing so because you pull and pull and then they suddenly snap. I know much of the root is still there but I hope with regular mowing of the couch grass in that area that I can keep them down. Behind this is a bank full of rubbish about 1 meter high a 2 meters wide and 15m long that I will need to get a digger onto eventually so I am not being precious about this area just need to keep it under control.

I have seen brambles grown through weed membrane so I am not confident that the cardboard will work. The benefit of cardboard will be that you could lift the sheets and then dig any strong weeds out. I used cardboard on my old allotment and grew potatoes through holes in it. The cardboard worked wonders on the couch grass in just 1 year. The soil was still quite heavy to dig though, also there were a lot of slugs loving the cardboard. I used thick bike boxes mainly.

[solway cropper]

I have to agree with plot1problems about the carcinogenic properties of glyphosate and many other chemicals. All of these studies show possible causal links not definite ones. Back in the sixties I worked in forestry and we used some pretty horrid weedkillers like the now banned 2-4-5-T and 2-4-D. These were mixed with diesel oil and applied via a knapsack sprayer. My sprayer leaked and I was regularly soaked in this mixture. I got a nasty rash on my back and it rotted my clothes but I'm still here. Both chemicals were linked with cancer and infertility but with two healthy children and grandchildren I'd say the case was unproven. Having said that, I don't use weedkillers as a matter of course but only because I don't need to, not because I think they're going to kill me.

[Snowboar]

You sure can I did it this year planted on it straight away best crops I’ve ever had no weeding hardly only downside is buying the compost

[meriad]

I took on my allotment last year and it was overgrown with couch grass and bind weed - thankfully no brambles.  I managed to clear 1/2 of it by hand but then for various reasons couldn't get back to the plot until a good few months later by which time all my hard work had gone to waste.  So I pulled what weeds I could by hand, most lifted really easily, but ended up spraying the bindweed and couch grass with glyphosate; and I will admit that I'm glad I did otherwise I'd still be digging.  Brambles are incredibly hardy and they will easily push through / under /anyway they can the cardboard so personally I'd use glyphosate on just those otherwise you'll never really get rid of them - but that's just my opinion ;-)

But on a different note - when I did the first clearance of the plot the clods of couch grass I wasn't able to take off site to the local recycling centre I piled in the centre of the plot and covered with cardboard; when I got back to the plot it all had wasted down and was so easy to just clear up; the cardboard had more or less rotted away.  So yes - it does work - very well in fact.   My plot now is mainly raised beds and once I've cleared them for the season I'll be putting down cardboard into each and then topping with a good layer of compost and I'll hopefully be 100% ready for next year with no where near the amount of hard work that it was this year.  This year was rather hasty and haphazard; I plan to be a lot more organised next year

[Snowboar]

I’d agree either the bindweed or bramble would need sbk or glysophte to save Aggro if going full organic compost on card then grow through mambrane should weaken them and starve weeds