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I've got a plot that got away from me last year and I'm making every effort to get myself back under control again - I've cleared 50% of my plot down to 2 spits and removed all the roots of couch, nettle and bramble. It's all very back breaking stuff, but by taking my time and doing a thorough job I hope to have excellent crops.

The soil at my site is a VERY sandy loam and as such needs a good dressing of compost or manure. The half that is weeded is sectioned into low-raised beds and compost has been dug through to allow me to plant out what I want this month.

The other 50% needs a good working over, and I probably won't get to it this year now, I should think. I'd like to spend the time in more economical ways. This 50% is rife with bramble and nettle (along with the ever present couch) Does anyone know whether a good 12"-24" of manure covered with black plastic will damage the bramble sufficiently over the coming 8 months or so that they won't be a problem, or do I need to dig out the majority before trying to condition my soil?

After 8 months or so I'll be able to move the front raised beds to the back and repeat the procedure if advice supports theory...

I dont think it will kill the bramble, but 24" sounds like a lot of manure.  ???      ;D ;D ;D

if you're going to do it, we put thick cardboard over our strimmed down weeds, covered  with manure, then the weed suppressant, by the time we took it off, the card  had rotted, most of the weaker weeds had died, the soil was suitable to plant straight in and it was easier to get the nasties out  ;D

 ;)


YEP I AGREE WITH ABOVE DO IT THAT WAY

For the weeds, definitely, mulch and cover. But my experince with bramble is that if you don't dig out the roots, you will never see the back of it!

So a mild digging to start with then to remove bramble and nettle roots and then on with the original plan... Agree Cornykev - 24" is a lot, but it may be the conditioning for the entire plot after it has rotted down so I think it'll be somewhere close... I'm more concerned about the distance I have to go with a barrow each time ;)

Quote from: antipodes on June 05, 2009, 16:17:08But my experince with bramble is that if you don't dig out the roots, you will never see the back of it!

I'll agree with that. I had a bramble at the op end of my plot that I mulched with a 10x8 shed... It's still tries to creep out from under it.

My experience of bramble is that nothing works except digging out - sorry!