Topic: Covering Allotment beds with carpet etc.

[busy_lizzie]

Hello everyone,   I am busy digging over the allotment beds after harvesing a lot of my vegetables now. As I don't want to leave lovely dug beds to just gather weeds can I cover them(would it be safe) with old carpets or underlay or would this be bad for my soil eg nasty chemicals leaching into them?  Lizzie  

[Ozzy_aka_Pothead]

Yo bl

I think as long as the carpet is hessian backed it is okay, not sure about the undelay though,  you could also cover with cardboard... black plastic I am not sure about as it doesnt let the rain in, but have seen peepson site using it... hope this helps.....

cHeErS

oZzY %)

[busy_lizzie]

 :D  Thanks Ozzy for your reply.  Perhaps I will have to be more selective about what sort of carpet, just in case. Lizzie

[Alan_Y]

I would suggest not putting carpet on at all, and let the frost and rain get in to it. I would dig it over and let the elements get in as this will kill any bugs and weed seed that is brought to the surface.
Also carpets are often treated with scotch gard which may get in to the soil also it is usually made of mixed fibers.
Carpets are Ideal overwintering places for slugs snails mice etc. They are dificult to move around when wet, they become smelly and deteriate and an Ideal place for fungi to grow. Also it starves the groung of moisture .
If you want to cover the ground I would invest in a horticultural menbrain which would act as a mulch but allow water to enter the ground. It is light weight and can be folded up and stored .

Hope this helps.

Alan :)  

[Mrs Ava]

We used carpet on our old family allotment and to be honest all it did was get very wet, rot, get smelly and provide the local cats somewhere to scratch, the local foxes something to wrip up and the local mice/rats bedding material!  When we decided to get shot of it, we couldn't lift it!  It fell to bits, the weeds grew through it in places and it was horrible!  

I would agree on the horticultural membrane or just let mother nature look after things and hoe out weeds as they come along.

Hope this helps.

[good_life_girl]

I'm really pleased to read this as I was wondering what to do this winter. I'd read about covering beds with carpet, and a lot of the other plot holders on my allotments do cover things up. But, when I took my plot on, the biggest clearing job was unearthing the previously carpet covered beds from the several inches of soil and thick couch grass that covered them. I've got very heavy clay soil (managed to make a small pot out of it on a very hot (lazy!) summer afternoon!!) so from what I remember, some frosts will help break it up?

[allotment_chick]

You could sow some green manure which amongst other things a) protects and improves soil structure and b) prevents leeching of nutrients.

More info can be found here:
http://www.btinternet.com/~bury_rd/green.htm

I cover my beds with strawy manure over winter which is then consigned to the compost bin as I want to cultivate the plot.

[busy_lizzie]

;) Thank you very much everybody for the advice and information.  It has all been very useful.  I will certainly investigate all the suggestions.  I have seen the error of my ways, and I take on board all that you have said. No more filthy carpets on my allotment!  :-* Lizzie

[john_miller]

For good life girl:- If you use winter rye as a green manure the fibrous root systems will break up clay very effectively as they grow through the soil. The sheer volume of green stuff produced by the time it is turned in will also aid in breaking up clay during the spring and summer, especially when supplemented with compost/manure.

[Hugh_Jones]

But if she`s going to use winter rye, John, she`ll have to be fairly quick about sowing - really needs sowing in the late summer or early autumn if it`s to make enough bulk to turn in in February.

[john_miller]

Agreed about sowing now but why dig in in February? I have ploughed it down as late as early May ( where I intend planting winter squash - at that point it is as high as the cowling on my tractor. I realise at that stage it may be difficult to literally dig it in!). With snow meaning that the land here is unworkable until mid March at least then February is not an option for us.

[good_life_girl]

Thanks guys, I'd better get digging then! This weekend's task is to do some harvesting, then I'll be able to sow in the two beds I've got already.
Hopefully I'll have a bit of leeway as I'm in a fairly warm part of the country down south - it's only the cold nights in the last few days that have seen to the last of the summer plants.
If I don't manage to create the remaining 4 beds in time (ha ha ha!!) has anyone got recommendations of green manure that can be sown later in the year?

[john_miller]

To me one of the great benefits of rye is it's adaptability. I have sown it as late as late October and had a green manure the following spring. The important thing is that it is established well enough not to get washed out by winter precipitation. So long as the soil doesn't dry out rye will germinate without even being dug, or even raked, in.
Just remember that you don't want to use it where you intend growing root crops such as carrots or parsnips. (Radish, turnips, swedes, celeriac, kohl-rabi are not root crops).