+- Garden And Gossip Forums (https://gardenandgossip.org)
+-- Forum: Plots, pots and gardens (https://gardenandgossip.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=36)
+--- Forum: Working the plot (https://gardenandgossip.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=37)
+--- Thread: Starting a patch from scratch (/showthread.php?tid=1432)
RE: Starting a patch from scratch - Scarlet - 09-09-2023
I use grass cuttings for lots of mulch- t used it for veg/in between the bean poles etc.
What I did was, mow and dumped the grass over the beds. Covered with anything I could find and left it, weighted down with bricks.
This spring i lifted it and laid weed membrane paths...one bed I planted straight in, the other two I covered with weed membrane, burnt holes in it and planted through it.
I would love to be able to source enough compost/manure to cover the lot - unfortunately its just too big. Compost was £90 a tonne, it doesn't go very far.
Last year I managed to get some manure that I knew was a safe bet, but the petrol, man power was a huge expense for the area it covered and the weeds from it have been a pain. Its also dried out very easily.
The weed membrane beds / I burnt holes for planting pockets. Filled each hole with a handful of compost. planted out quite small seedlings.
It has worked really well - i have found that the weed membrane has also kept the moisture in, so helped hugely. I would hope that eventually i can reuse the weed membrane elsewhere- but
I will keep it in place for next year too.
It hasnt shredded. Any bit of loose bits I blasted with a blow torch to melt it. I pegged it all down.
RE: Starting a patch from scratch - JJB - 10-09-2023
Where I mulched the veg patch last year with grass cuttings resulted in masses of grass seedlings the next spring.
RE: Starting a patch from scratch - toomanytommytoes - 11-09-2023
(10-09-2023, 09:22 AM)JJB Wrote: Where I mulched the veg patch last year with grass cuttings resulted in masses of grass seedlings the next spring.Best to cut the grass before the seeds form. Though I don't find grass seedlings too hard to pull out as their roots are shallow, just a bit of an annoyance. Our Linkabord raised beds absolutely cook in the sun so a few weeds doesn't bother me as much as having to water so frequently and rewet bone dry soil.