Yesterday I managed to finish planting my willow cuttings that I'm
growing for fuel.
I planted most of them through weed matting but run out on the last row. So instead I mulched them with some of my woodchip I've got stored up. It will be interesting to see which ones do best as they're growing next to each other. I should imagine the wood chip is better in the long run as it will add something to the soil as well as preventing the grass from growing. Also its going to leave nothing behind when I'm finished with it - something I'm very aware of when using plastic based weed suppressant.
This week I'm planning on ploughing another nursery/garden in the field nearest to the house (I know I'm mental) and I keep thinking about how I'm going to keep the weeds away without using sprays. Even getting rid of the grass is going to be difficult.
Any advice for starting a plot from scratch? I've done it once and hopefully it'll be easier this time with what I've learnt already.
willow planting is my priority job this week starting with the hedgerows, all our growing area is on open pasture the best way to clear it a couple of pigs :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah but I don;t think I could keep the pigs in yet! I still need to add more gates - bigger metal ones!
DeleteI always start new beds a year in advance with no weeding, digging or anything. Here's a link to some of my blog posts about lasagna bed making. They work a charm and easy to do.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I keep adding clippings & leaves to the new bed. The next year the paper/mulch has all composted and the bed is ready to be planted. I've never had to remove sod since using this method. Hope it helps.
DeleteI've only just decide on this and where it's going otherwise I would have started it earlier. I like the look of what you did in the link and I'm planning to cover much of what I plough up as I'm not going to make the same mistakes again!
DeleteGet yourself a Azada digging hoe Kev. Chillington tools make them. Mine is called the 'Crocodile'. Just used to clear an area in my orchard. It's very good for the back and I love it. You will find them on You Tube.
ReplyDeleteAlternatively plough it with a small 3 furrow plough and tractor. Rotovators make a fine tilth but they also make lots of weed plants.
It's funny you should say that Dave as I've asked my mother to get me one for my birthday! I'm planning on getting my ploughing mad neighbour to do it for me. He does lots of ploughing matches and has some great competition ploughs so jumped at the chance to plough a little patch for me.
DeleteKris has the right idea if you are importing top soil. I worked with a lot of community gardeners in my past job and they had an easy technique for starting new plots (I have used this for most of my gardens and it works amazingly). Put down either newspaper or cardboard then cover it with landscape soil.
ReplyDeleteAlternatively I have one bed that I have been trying to convert into a veg plot without bringing in soil and this will be the third year of back breaking weeding (buttercup) I ll let you know how it's doing.
p.s. before planting the willows consider pulling back the wood chip and putting newspaper down
DeleteThe newspaper is a good idea with the willow - I'm just annoyed I didn't think of that! No soil imported on my plot though just plenty of muck.
DeleteButtercup is the bain of my garden as well. I wish I could have a pound for every plant I pulled out. I do seem to be getting on top of it in the veg garden now (fourth year though!) but it's a constant battle.
We always start the late autumn of the year before. Cover in cardboard and then a thick, 6 inches or deeper, layer of manure. The worms will take care of the rest. The only time we ever plough is in areas that have seen heavy tractor traffic.
ReplyDeleteWe've also found that after a full rotation covering in deep manure and leaving fallow or with green manure planted for 3 years reinvigorates the soil and cuts out disease dramatically.
One of those years, usually the second, the ground will house our chickens, pigs or turkeys. Of course it helps we have lots of space!
The area I'm planning has got ruts from when we put the fence up last winter so I think ploughing would be best in this area (there's also a big hump that I want to take out). the new plot will be rotated and split into four with trees being two of those rotations I think but I'll see how I get on! Thanks for your advice - I need to stock up on cardboard for the coming season it worked so well last year when I used it.
DeleteIf there is an aldi near you they will normally give you as much cardboard as you want. Our local one actually separates all the unprinted plain brown boxes for us. Help though that we live in a very rural area and a lot of folk grow their own.
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