I don't keep on top of weeds nearly as much as I should. They have a habit of getting away from me and engulfing what would otherwise be a lovely veg patch.
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| In the running for the most boringly pointless picture ever - here is a picture of a bit of carpet on some weeds |
So these bits of carpet they were chucking out at work have become my new weed matting. I've got loads (and from when I did the living room renovation in the summer) and it's cost nothing. Laid out over the weeds it should stop some of them growing whilst still letting water through to the ground below.
What does everyone else use for weed matting and can you think of any negatives to using leftover carpet in this way?
Lots of people use black plastic to cover their vegetable patches, but we don't, mostly because we don't think it looks very nice. Other people say that the weeds would be kept down, though, and that the worms would be able to do their work better. But I like to see as much green as possible, which means nutrients being able to go down into the soil, and that it can breathe, and do things that soil is supposed to do during the cold and wet of the winter. However, I must admit to often thinking about plastic weed matting for the winter when confronted by the tangle of weeds in the spring!
ReplyDeleteI think a compromise is best. Some covered over, and some not. And I don't know why I do not like the untidiness of black plastic when there are plenty of abandoned tarps all over the place!
I often use flat cardboard boxes for a cardboard mulch. You are best removing any Cellotape first, because it becomes a nuisance. . Old wool carpets are said to be the best for weed suppressants. They don't have nasty nylon fibres that wrap around your garden fork and a lot of modern carpets contain fire retardant chemicals in them. So you end up with a chemical soup in your vegetable plot.
ReplyDeleteI think we should start a competition for boring and pointless pictures! I did one once of a hosepipe going through the chicken run - seemed a good idea at the time!
ReplyDeleteAs to the carpet thing- horrible to move when they are wet through and falling to bits and as Dave above says - the stringy bits can be a pain
We use cardboard.The biggest disadvantage of using carpet in the garden is having to vacuum!
ReplyDeleteWell, you asked!!
Jane x
just watch out for weeds engulfing the carpet a read a story where a chap pulled some up and put his back out, we use old hav as a mulch the odd weed still grows through but the aren't well rooted
ReplyDeleteWe also use old silage bale plastic
We tried this last year when a friend re-carpeted his house. While the weeds didn't grow through or under the carpet, it was a pain overall. I also question the possible chemicals mites, and other stuff in the carpet. The carpet will start to decompose somewhat no matter what it's made of so it probably only has a one or two year lifespan. Then it becomes a royal mess to pick up. I'm going back to old hay or straw for mulch. It's easier to chop up with the mower & till into the soil after the growing season. The carpet has to be rolled up (best done when dry, it weighs a ton when wet) and leaves nothing organic to feed the soil. And yeah, as Jane & Chris said, it was a pain to vacuum. :-)
ReplyDeleteKev, just cover the whole thing with Astroturf and be done, no mowing, no weeding no troubles.... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI tried carpet one year and it was messy to pull up and left fibers and junk in the soil. Now I use cardboard and newspaper and cover it with composted horse muck and leaves in the spring simply roto it all in.
ReplyDeleteIn the section that is really weedy I cover the patch with manure and then cover that with landscape material - works like a charm.
I am a little leery of the chemicals in carpet.,
I noticed I got more mildew on nearby plants and I blame the moisture/mildew in the carpet. Removed them the next year and plants had much less mildew/fungus probs.
ReplyDeleteWell after reading everyones comments on here I think I can safely say that this was a bad idea! I will be uncarpetting the garden fairly soon and resorting to black plastic in bits I want covered and hopefully I'll have more time next year to keep on top of the weeds!
ReplyDelete