Carpets

[delboy]

Have been clearing my new allotment, and there has been carpet and carpet and carpet.

If all it does is hide and then trip me up, is it really worth putting down?

This stuff is soggy and unpleasant and a right pain to lift. We don't have a Council skip available so I guess I'll have to make up a carload and take it the 4 miles to the public waste disposal area, as it is far too manky to burn.

What does everyone else do?

[delboy]

[joji]

If you can get a fire going and dry it a bit near the fire you should be able to burn it Delboy. If the fire is hot enough it should burn anyway. If I list what we found while clearing our lottie I would be making a 16 page thread. ;D
Everything was burned that could be burned, wether it was dry or not. ;D

[delboy]

Will give that a go. Reckon I'll need more than one bonfire just to dry the stuff out!

[Mrs Ava]

You need to chat with Heritage...oh no...he isn't called that now is he....and I can't remember what his new 'name' is!!!  Bad Emma!!  Anyhows, he loves carpet, passionate about it!  :P

I agree, don't like it!  On my second plot there was a whole area that had been wall to walled, and the grass had grown over it, the carpet had rotted, and I was left trying to dig and pull and yank and oik nylon cord and bits of manky carpet from the ground.  No fun!!  BUT, before everyone shouts at me......each to their own.  It suits some people and good for them!  ;D  But I do wish when peeps gave up plots, they cleared it up!

[Rose.mary]

Hear, hear

[BAGGY]

Me too. I admit to using one piece of carpet that gets shifted here and there on the plot but that nylon stringy stuff is a nightmare.  The canvas backed stuff is heavy enough to not rot overnight (our is 2 - 3 ys old) and doesn't string.

[martinxxxxxx]

As I understand it laying carpet is strickley for misguided hippies as it leaches loads of unpleasent chemicals into the soil.

I prefer to use cardboard which is just as good at supressing the weeds but will rot down very nicley and you can pop holes in to plant at the fraction of cost of black matting etc.

[beejay]

But it's lovely to kneel on when you're weeding, specially a nice bit of shag pile  ::)

[BAGGY]

Cardboard blew away when we put it down - including the mulch on top.   :oLanded on next doors plot.  Oops.  Full thickness news paper was a bit better but following the initial outlay for the membrane I am hoping this will last the forseeable future.  I don't mind being a hippy with my carpet.  It serves a purpose.

[Twospot Ladybird]

You need to chat with Heritage...oh no...he isn't called that now is he....and I can't remember what his new 'name' is!!! Bad Emma!! Anyhows, he loves carpet, passionate about it! :p

Heritage's new name is Ace isn't it ?

[EmmaLou]

I had the same problem with carpet on my new plot - there is still a bit that I haven't managed to get out because the nettles are growing through it! I have to admit that I am using carpet myself, but hopefully I will have the plot for a long time in the forseeable future. Maybe the people that give up plots should be made to clear any rubbish before they vacate. Would save us newbies a lot of time and hassle! Oh well - at least the old carpet has made a nice home for lots of creepy crawlies, bees and mice! :)

[moonbells]

Carpet is a mixed blessing.  I have some old stuff that's manky and soggy and hard to lift with bindweed growing in and out of it and... well, it'll be tricky to get it out.

This has been down for over 5 years and never moved, was on my (then) neighbouring plot when I first got a lottie. It's now become my second half plot and I'm hoping to shift the remains in the next few weeks during the winter tidying.

On the other hand,  the carpet I recycled from a friend's flat, move about depending on where I need a cover, and which is reasonably new, is fine, intact, makes a great surface to walk on and since I move it periodically,  bindweed etc doesn't get to move in.  I keep it pile-down so it doesn't get slimy.

I think the key is choose hessian-backed wool carpet (so it rots down to organic stuff) which looks clean, which you can cut into manageable pieces for suppressing the weeds and which isn't too big for you to move about!

moonbells

[Linda]

Please, Please, Please don't burn carpet. All but the very most expensive carpets have large amounts of nylon, ie plastic in them, and burning them releases loads of horrible, oily, toxic black smoke. I think you might even be prosecuted for this - it's almost as bad as burning tyres!

Love and compost
Linda :o

[Hot_Potato]

We're strictly forbidden to burn carpet at all on our site....in fact they're very strict about when we're allowed bonfires in general....if we need to get rid of carpet....I think we have to contact the person responsible for allotments at the District Council and make arrangements for it to be removed....at one time they had a huge 'collecting/dumping' site near the communal shared shed (to which our gate key allows us access) but the pile grew so big and was difficult to dispose of that they cleared it and 'banned it'

for myself....I've still got at least a quarter of my plot covered with disgusting, mouldy old carpet that's got grass growing thru it in places that I just can't possibly shift myself, it's so heavy....it's been there for the 2 years that I've had my plot - just not yet been able to get that bit cleared....it was covering a much bigger area when I took it on but as I've worked my way down the plot, I've had to cut or chop away sections with a stanley knife into manageable pieces and bag it up and take away....

[Derek]

I endorse the no burning suggestion....most carpets in the UK are tufted and the primary backing is polypropylene (plastic prewoven sheet) with a secondary backing of either jute or felt.

It doesn't rot too easily either...I have managed to clear most of the carpet left by the previous tenant..NEVER AGAIN

Derek

[BoardStupid]

Hi all, kind of related to the carpet situation. I have found that 250mu black membrane from our local building suppliers is ideal. Only cost me £20 for 100 square metres of the stuff. Let's see if the weeds can get through this sucker LOL Looking forward to trying spuds under it this coming year

[AikenDrum]

I guess all you rich b@$tard$ have plots in Camden or Kensington , I just could'n't justify the cost of carpeting my allotment ... still only got vinyl tiles in my bathroom !  *sniggers*

[djbrenton]

laminate flooring is best for weed suppression. You must make sure the wood is in keeping with your area though. Terazzo or marble is best for paths as slugs don't like it. You'll also find gucci bags best for storing onions.

[AikenDrum]

hahahahaha !

[markfield rover]

carpets  we have just removed four sqr miles of said nasty in fact you can see plot from aeriel view of city  no joke   what have they done to the soil ? keep us up to date on your plot  planted 200 daffs today  cant eat  but looks  good come may