When to use plastic cover on weeds

[newspud9]

Is it a waste of time to put plastic over weeds etc that are 6 - 24 inches high.
I've just taken on an allotment and mindful that I cant do it all in one go.  So whilst I'm concentrating on clearing one section, I am leaving the rest untouched - but if putting a plastic cover will do something, then I feel better that than nothing.... or do you have to the growth right down first before covering.
Thanks for advice from all those that have trod there before me! 

[newspud9]

[1066]

Hi a couple of things come to mind.
If you left the areas that you are not going to cultivate this year I guess you will need to strim / mow them down on a fairly regularly basis. So if you did cover them, at least you wouldn't have to do that job!
I covered bits of my plot last year with tarpaulins, plastic etc and yes it did kill off the majority of the weeds under them - not all, but it definitely weakened them enough for digging / weeding to be easier this year.
For the areas I didn't get to cover last year I've got loads of manure and covered them with weed suppressant fabric and I'm going to plant through them
So I guess my answer is YES! You might be better off giving the areas a strim before you cover them and weigh them down. And it would be better to dig some mini trenches around the plastic as you want to stop all light getting through to the area and therefore all weeds to not have any light to grow  (I didn't do this that well last year and am trying to make sure that this year I remember  :D )

Thanks for advice from all those that have trod there before me! 

;D

[Unwashed]

Putting black plastic over growing weeds will certainly hold them back but running a mower over it every couple of weeks would be my choice because I wouldn't want to buy the plastic and I prefer the look of a strimmed plot to mulch sheet.

[daileg]

othere will differ from me but would say for a new plot depending if you were going to be completly organic wich will take you at least 3 years to achieve i would put glysomate on it leave for a fortnight then strim it all down if its allready dead from the winter months then strim it back (scalp it ) to the soil level if posible start to dig where you want digging the weeds out one by one after establishing where your paths and beds will be only dig the beds as the weeds pop up glysomate them as they come up they will die back as long as you leave it a fortnight before planting in the area you weedkiller was used it will be fine then once you have dug it over and the weeds have all been dug out you can then concentrate going organic for the future if you want .

[newspud9]

Thanks very much to all of you for some very helpful replies. 

[1066]

So that's 3 different ways of looking at the same problem - any more? This growing your own malarky is great  :D

[chriscross1966]

I took mine on in March, strimmed everythign down and covered as much as I couldn't dig immediately, then a couple of weeks later peeled off the sheets, left it a day, Glyphosated it, left it a day and then recovered it.... now I'm peeling sheets off and digging, quite a lot of the couch is dead or dying, hopefully by the end of the year I'll have dug over the whole thing and can make a start on really sorting out the paths..... ATM they're mostly couch, they will be replaced with paving as a matter of urgency come the winter.....

chrisc