Topic: Should I cover newly rotavated plot now?

[posie]

Hi all, not been able to get on here for ages!

Having not been able to get up to lottie for a few weeks (kids/rescue pup/illness/uni/life the universe and everything!) I turned up yesterday to discover the council had very helpfully decided to rotovate it for me (thankfully in right place).  Unfortunately some of my onion sets didn't make it and are lying crushed in a deep tractor wheel imprint!

What I want to know is, should I cover it all up now with old carpets/weed suppressor or should I let frost get at it first?  My inclination is to cover it as there's already some grass fighting back.

What does everyone else think?

Ps - Is it really too late to stick some dwarf broad beans in???

[cambourne7]

Hi

I would cover it with carpet or better cardboard which wil break down into the soil.

If your using carpet i would uncover it for a couple of weeks in jan to allow the frosts to get to the soil. If its cardboard you will find that its going to have started to disapear into the ground already and the frost should still be able to get to it.

You should think about beds and paths now while you do this and only walk on the plot in the areas you want to have paths and get these establised so that in the wet weather jan/feb you have somewhere stable to walk.

When you know where your beds are going to be you might still be able to get garlic into the ground and over wintering onions, its cold but i think you will get away with broad beans and even early peas but i would look at adding some mine/bird protection else these would be eaten.

Good Luck

Cambourne7

[star]

I agree with Cam........cover it, and everything else she said. Not sure about onions though might be a bit too late.

But hey! Im no expert..........good luck!

[manicscousers]

we're going to try planting shallots on the longest day, 21st..our mate Eric says that's the time to do it so we're going to have a go  ;D

[Larkspur]

Hey manics planting shallots in June is going to be novel whatever your mate says ;D ;D

[manicscousers]

duh, shortest day  ;D ;D
been one of those days today  ;D

[Tee Gee]

I would never cover newly dug ground in winter.

If it has been well dug the previous autumn and all the perennial weeds removed I let the weather do its work.

True in spring there will be a few weeds  but these are easily dealt with.

I like to let the frost kill off some of the pests & diseases e.g. 'slug eggs'

By covering the soil I always think I am creating winter quarters for such pests, and thats not on in my book.

This is my winter treatment; http://tinyurl.com/2hec2a

[cornykev]

Ditto, you beat me to it TG.    ;D ;D ;D

[Amazin]

After weeding, hoeing and generally shutting everything down, I covered all my empty beds some time ago to deal with any growback. The weather here hasn't been cold enough yet to kill any pests so I'll be waiting until the temperature drops then I'll whip the covers off, probably with a flourish and a loud ta-DAAAH!!    ;D

[powerspade]

Don1t use carpet as the grass will grow through it and it becomes a nightmare to lift, If i was you I`d use cardboard or black plastic

[posie]

Thanks for all your replies, I may risk a couple of rows of broad beans if it ever stops raining in soggy Wales!  I don't actually like them, they're for my grandmother because she's the only one in my family who does like them!

My onions are already in and doing well, apart from those sad souls who unfortunately are no longer with us due to a large tractor wheel!

All in all, I could kiss the council man!  Saved me a huge job!  Now I need to get some stuff down to make my paths and I'm good to go - hallelujah!

[tim]

I have yet to find a sure way of holding down black plastic when it's gusty??

[Tee Gee]

Regarding this cover or not to cover situation, I thought I would give my point of view to see what others think of it.

It seems to me that people do this(cover) to keep weeds down which during the growing season is a good idea, but during the winter months growth is minimal in any case  because of temperature and light, so I don't see the point.

Then there those that advocate it warms the ground so you can make earlier plantings / sowings, perhaps so but again what is the point of sowing so early if once they have germinated they are killed off with a late frost?

As I mentioned it helps to keep the ground warm so this makes it the ideal habitat for slugs & snails to hibernate for the winter.

Personally I like to leave my ground open to the weather for a number of reasons, e.g.

Wildlife can get at their food chain i.e insects including pests and annual weed seeds.

It allows the the humus content of the soil to get a good soaking.

It also helps to break up the soil to a fine tilth.

If deemed necessary to warm the ground prior to sowing /planting then do this about a month prior to sowing/planting time.

I don't even bother with this I let the annual weeds tell me when it is warm enough i.e. when they start growing it is generally warm enough to plant out the most hardy of plants or seeds. The latter will only germinate when the time and conditions permit.

I'll get off my soapbox now 8)

Over to you;..................

[Robert_Brenchley]

I wouldn't use black plastic routinely, but it's good for getting rid of weeds without too much hard labour.

[calendula]

I'm totally with TG on this - there is no point and it actually upsets the micro climates (as well as looking horrible, and plastic fantastic it isn't) - let the elements do their job and it saves time, storage space and money as well  ;D

it won't be long before you are planting out

[inski]

Interesting debate this. I have covered ground with carpet to stop weeds growing, but only the area I have not got round to digging yet. (Unfortunately no nice council man to rotavate for me). Some of my beds I have covered with manure to let the worms dig in over the winter, but now I am wondering if this is a good idea or not. I certainly dont want to provide a nice warm haven for the dreaded slugs. Is this a good idea or should I dig it in?

[posie]

Hmm I'm still undecided on this one.  On the one hand our Council are very quick to pounce on you if they think you're not doing enough and covering it over would suggest to them that I actually do go up there!  On the other hand I hate slugs with a passion (my bathroom of all places is infested with the d**n things) so don't want to encourage them.

Black plastic unfortunately is a big no no as the allotments is very exposed and prone to gusting winds and I don't think I'd be too popular with the other lottie holders if it went flying around.

I hadn't actually decided to rotavate or not, was leaning towards good old fashioned hard digging but now I guess I have no choice! Not that I'm not grateful   ;D

[bupster]

I'm actually quite a fan of black plastic, the permeable stuff you get from garden centres. I work full time and commute so don't get a lot of time on the plot, and planting things like tomatoes through the stuff saves me weeding in the summer, and allowed me to get a lot more of the plot in use than if I'd had to clear each bed of perennial weeds before planting.

Having said that, now in my third year I am trying to clear the whole lot ready for this spring (though I doubt I'll manage it) and so I've taken up the plastic for the winter; weed growth at the moment is actually useful to me so I can see the bits of root I've missed. I doubt that I'll use as much in the future as I'd like to use more green manures to suppress weed growth, but I'll keep it on hand if there are areas I just haven't the time to clear - especially if I want to grow something there - and for tomatoes and courgettes etc in the summer. My strawbs also seem to like it, though so do the slugs...

Incidentally, when I first got my plot it had all been rotavated and I knew I had no chance of clearing it properly before the weeds grew back, so I planted half of it to rye grass as a green manure, which kept down all the other weeds and was good for the soil as well. Maybe think of that rather than covering it up at this time of year? ???

[sean]

well i am new here but saw this cover or not .
well for what it is worth  ,when we got our allotment it was so full of bindweed we dug we did everything and still the s*d appeared so we got told use round up and black plastic so that's what i did i sprayed it covered it for a year and wham fingers crossed have never seen it since , touch wood , i know i use chemical's in the round up but in the end i think it was the only way .
this year i have just covered the areas i am not using for root crops with a nice 4-6 inch layer of good old muck .
well hope that helps and good luck
sean

[tim]

Agree with all that great advice but , IF you use it, how the hell do you anchor it??