To cover, or not to cover?
Pro's and Cons, please....
I go by the no-dig no-weed approach and apart from the odd "tuttt tutt" from the odd committee member, it works fine.
1. If you don't weed you won't get (more) weeds. Baring the soil only disturbs the soil and frees up more weed seeds from the natural seed bank in the soil.
2. Only clear ground if you are going to plant something else in it, then your new plants can get a head start without slugs or competition and will be large enough to cope when the ground cover closes back up.
3. Hand clear only those weeds which are growing taller than your crop and starving the crop of sunlight and stopping air circulation and providing slug shade. Ground cover is useful in keeping other weeds down and reducing moisture loss.
4. Only water when planting in and then never again. In this way the soil seeds rely upon constant rain to germinate.
5. Identify before you decide to weed - some weeds are plants you might have sown or planted in anyway. I often find sweetpea, peppers and certainly tomatoes as volunteers.
6. Cover your beds with well decomposed compost which will blanket out light to weeds and feed the crops. I don't use partially decomposed biomass as it provides ideal habitat for slugs. Well composted compost provides shelter for slug-eating beetles and attracts birds, hedgehogs and amphibians looking for pests to eat.
so - there you have it - my weedy plot, which I am still pulling harvests from when my plot neighbours have rotovated and gone home until the spring.