planting through weed suppressant fabric

[Ant]

This is the top half of our plot which was covered in plastic, carpet and rubbish to keep the weeds down while we got the other half of the plot sorted out.



Originally we weren't planning on growing on this part this season (our first year) but even though we have made good progress elsewhere we would not have time to fully weed the area prior to planting.

This is the plot where 1 sq. metre of space yields 2 barrowloads of bindweed roots  :o

After a fair few hours work on Saturday, rained off on Sunday and four hours today we have progressed nicely. Gone is all the old stuff, mostly to cover a derelict plot elsewhere and in with the new, 40 foot of plot covered with woven weed suppressant fabric laid with a good overlap per strip.



This area will be planted with squashes, pumpkins, courgettes, sweetcorn, tomatos and brassicas. We will either use this method for a few seasons to kill everything underneath, or most likely just weed it one strip at a time this winter.

[Ant]

[jennym]

Looks good. See you made use of just a little round-up or somesuch, visible at the edges  ;D
If that covering stays on, the soil will be nice and clear this time next year - you may find the wind lifts it in the winter so may need to put pegs in or more bricks on to hold it down.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I see you dug it in properly at the edges so the roots won't run in underneath. So many people miss that.

[Ant]

yep we had used round up on the edge of the path as it was all couch grass. I will get some normal grass seed and get that down soon.

Well spotted on the dug in fabric. I dug a border spade width trench down each side about half a spade deep, the put the membrane over it and put soil on it, so its effectively a membrane "U" shape full of soil at each side. Should keep it fairly taut and stop it blowing away.

Next job will be to stick some ground pegs in and put some twine across to help keep it down  :) Oh, and plant it up of course  ;D

[bupster]

If you're planting through it, you won't kill off the bindweed - it'll flourish even if it gets barely any light. My covered beds saw the fabric lifted a foot off the ground by the bindweed underneath after I cut small slits to plant through. Great for everything else though.

[Ant]

the bindweed had been sprayed with glyphosphate so hopefully its all dead anyway  :)

The plan when we cut a slit is to then put a small collar of membrane around the stem of the plant to block any light through the gap.

I am not advocating it as a one stop miracle solution, merely saying that this is what we are trying and letting people know how it works out as the season progresses  :)

[artichoke]

Ant, very interesting. I have just moved on to my third plot which someone covered with thick mypex about three years ago, cut slits in it for planting, and disappeared for ever.

Strong thick grass has pushed up through the holes and crawled around on top of the mypex so that if you didn't know it was there you'd think it was rough grassland. I've only just started strimming it off, and I have wondered what kept the mypex so taut and firm over the years.

He must have dug ditches and wedged the mypex down with the earth in the U shape you describe, so now I know what to look for.

As well as the holes full of grass, grass has forced its way up through the mypex in many places, so I am patiently cutting that off with a knife, planning to patch those holes with more mypex. The big holes are being gradually strimmed off, cleared out, manured, and will become a squash garden, with the plants crawling all over the cover.

Thanks for the info about the U shapes - I will leave them alone and just strim beyond them.

I hope.

[Kea]

Hope you gave the glyphosate some time to work before you covered with plastic?

[Ant]

Hope you gave the glyphosate some time to work before you covered with plastic?

yup, it was left a week originally. This time it was left a day (but that was only on one little bit)  :)