Veg garden question.?

Question

I have taken the advice of someone on questions and put a plastic sheet over a weed infested plot of land that I want to turn into a veg growing area. All the weeds have began to die now after a month....how long should I leave it there before I take it up and turn over the ground ? I'm in Scotland.

Answer 1

Leave it until after New Year to make sure the little dying nuisances haven't left any seeds. January is best for turning over soil provided it's not rock hard icy.

Answer 2

If the ground is very wet you can't dig anyway, so you'd need to leave it. If it's dry at the moment you could always dig it over roughly and then cover it over again. The weeds might not grow actively over the winter but they won't die either if you leave them exposed! So, keep covered. Like other posters, I'd leave it as long as possible, until early spring would be best. Then when the weather is warming up a bit, uncover it and dig over. You'll be surprised at some weeds and how long they live under plastic - docks especially!

It's a great method though, I use it all the time - even if I'm just going to leave a bit of the veg plot fallow for a while. Otherwise weed seeds germinate like crazy and in a really quick time you have a bed of weeds without really noticing it happen! Dock seeds, for instance, can lie dormant in the soil for years - covered or not.

Good luck, and have fun!

Answer 3

It won't hurt to turn it over roughly now, add a good 2" of organic matter - be it compost or especially good, farm yard manure; remove any stones that you can and mark your edges to define the shape of the new veg plot. Then cover it back over and leave it until March (this may not reduce the weeds but will keep the soil warmer for when you are ready to get going with your patch). The frost will break down any large lumps of earth. Use the time over winter to plan what you are going to grow, don't forget to look carefully at crop rotation (best not plant carrots until your soil is better worked). You can sow many veg indoors in February ready to plant out when the frost has passed. Then it's a regular weeding job for the future - but you'll get there it a year or so!! Good luck :-)

Answer 4

One July, I put a layer of leaves, some cut up tree trimmings and another layer of hay on a plot (that had ghastly weeds, and little soil. The earth had been scraped for nearby construction.)

On top of that, I laid black plastic (15 by 15feet) and then found an old piece of carpeting (that fell off the back of a lorry) and covered the plot with that, holding it in place with planks and rocks.

I waited 8 months!! (Busy too!) but the place did not look too bad from the road since the carpet was green!! In March or so, I lifted the carpet and the plastic and much of the organic material had decomposed. What had not I put in to my compost.

I dug up and turned the rest of the stuff remaining and I tell you. . .I had a great flower showing of Dahlias and glads there. I still have a bit of weeding to do, but I continue to add leaves and hay to things - glads through a carpet of hay look lovely. I am an organic gardener, and a foot of hay/leaves as mulch makes weeding very easy to do.

Answer 5

Whatever you do the annual weeds will have seeded.

You do not say if you have perennial weeds such as dandelion and dock. If the plot is as bad as it sounds then you probably will.

I would clear the ground, dig it over removing as many weed roots as possible. Covering it again will not make any difference to the weeds as they will not be actively growing in the winter.

It is a little late to get a green manure crop in which is a shame.
http://www.kitchengardens.dial.pipex.com/greenmanure.htm

The moment the weeds start into growth in the spring spray with a glysophate based systemic weed killer such as Round Up, this is not residual and will not contaminate the soil.
Spot treat persistent tap rooted weed and keep on top of the annuals by weekly hoeing.

It is possible to produce good crops with weed in the beds providing they are not completely choked so don't drive yourself too crazy trying to remove every last trace of a weed.

Answer 6

If you have covered with plastic you have to wait for weeds to die from lack of food. Plants make food from light. So, small weeds will die very quickly, after about a month. Bigger weeds will take longer. Plants store food in their roots, so plants with big, thick tap roots like dandelions and docks will take, sorry to say, 12 months to kill this way. And weeds like bindweed, which have hundreds and thousands of wide spreading roots, will take even longer and will shoot up around the edge of your plastic. Horsetail, which has roots going down several feet, takes as many years to kill by starvation as it has feet of roots. So it very much depends on what kind of weeds you have.

Seeds expect to be in the dark, so will not be killed by covering. When you take the plastic off, the first shower of rain will start them off. So you need to hoe them as soon as they show. Also I would take up the plastic, add 6 inches of manure on the top, and put the plastic back. After 12 months you WILL NOT NEED TO DIG IT the worms will have done that for you. Also this will bury most seeds so deep they will not sprout. Every time you dig, you bring more weed seeds to the surface where they will grow

Digging will NOT get rid of persistent weeds, as any bit of root left will regrow.

Answer 7

I have just moved into a house and now have a (rough) veg plot for the first time. My neighbour (with immaculate garden) has told me to dig it over roughly now and the frost will break down the soil over winter. Happy gardening.

Answer 8

Once you have had a hard frost you should be OK. to remove the covering.
When you dig, keep a close look out for deep rooted weeds - docks, couch grass, thistles etc. These roots must be removed.

http://www.save-money-guide.com/gardening.html

Answer 9

I'm npot sure, go and see a local garden centre or something like that with people in your local area who would know more about your specific climate etc.

Answer 10

I'd be tempted to leave the plastic on until you need to plant and sew in the spring.