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Post by oldmoleskins on Feb 7, 2008 19:27:53 GMT
dunno if you heard this: Bob Flowerdew on GQT yesterday 'tipped' that if you cover an area (raised bed?) with clear poly now, weeds will grow like billy-o, whereupon you whip of the clear stuff and replace it with black to kill them, leaving the area largely stripped of its current weed-seedbank. I think he said 6 weeks, start to finish.
I'm going to try it this weekend on some small raised beds that have been dug over...
OM.
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Post by Amo on Feb 7, 2008 19:50:28 GMT
Don't see why it wouldn't work. Warm your beds up and dry them out a bit too.
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Post by carolann on Feb 7, 2008 20:13:44 GMT
I have a raised bed which has been covered with black plastic all winter, today I removed it and there are nettles which have crept under from a higher bed and some couch grass as well, the bed is very dry down to the last 6" (its on a slope). I'm not convinced that excluding all light does get rid of all weeds but it does get rid of a most.
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Post by oldmoleskins on Feb 7, 2008 21:36:55 GMT
I have a raised bed which has been covered with black plastic all winter, today I removed it and there are nettles which have crept under from a higher bed and some couch grass as well, the bed is very dry down to the last 6" (its on a slope). I'm not convinced that excluding all light does get rid of all weeds but it does get rid of a most. Maybe clear stuff to encourage it, then a blast of Roundup, then... OM. |
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Post by 4pygmies on Feb 9, 2008 14:18:37 GMT
Hmmm...I'm deeply sceptical I'm afraid........I've tried most of these 'quick' and 'easy' methods and I've found most of them don't really work....nettles, couch grass and the other really iniquitous weeds you don't want just seem to travel underground a bit further until they find somewhere to pop up and most of the annuals are better just hoed anyway. And then there's the fact that all these nice dry areas are heaven for snails, bugs and the rodent hordes to sneak into and under......
Bob Flowerdew always makes these things sound so obvious and plausible but I don't think he's being attacked by the same nasties as the rest of us! ;D
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Post by oldmoleskins on Feb 10, 2008 18:02:04 GMT
I have to confess that faced with the reality of a day in the garden today, and confronted with the fact that my raised beds are already heaving with unwanted plantlife, I skipped stages 1 and 2 and went straight for the RoundUp.
Shame though, it sounded plausible...
OM.
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Post by 4pygmies on Feb 10, 2008 20:24:59 GMT
Humph, well, you remember I decided to weed kill some bits of my garden and got angst ridden about...this weekend I had a clear out of the border along the front of the barn where I weed killed the bu**ering Golden Hop TWICE.....guess what? ...new shoots EVERYWHERE............unbelievable! I may have to get more toxic, not less......  Easy weeding? No such thing..... |
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Post by Plocket on Feb 11, 2008 10:00:06 GMT
Well that's a brilliant idea if you haven't got a garden stuffed full of plants ;D
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