Today 
RSSGardeners' musings
Suppressing weeds with carpet
Posted by: Jane Moore, 29 February 2008, 11.27AM
Along with the sap rising, the birds cavorting and my enthusiasm surging, the weeds are growing with a vengeance. This February has been a month of weeding on my allotment and - I'm delighted to say - the plot has never looked this good so early in the season.
There are still some clumps of hairy bittercress, fresh new dandelions already sporting flower buds and a few docks looking obscenely lush and healthy. But their days are numbered.
I've been systematically working my way around the plot, starting with 'the far end'; a muddy, ill-defined area that's rife with bindweed and pieces of disintegrating old carpet. I rarely cultivate it as it's so difficult and weedy. By comparison, my raised beds are a sheer delight to cultivate. It takes no time at all to weed nicely contained beds where the soil is lovely and light, and I barely even get muddy.
Laying carpet at the far end was a big mistake. I initially laid it over the soil to suppress weed growth, with the view to digging the area over later on. But now the weeds have grown through the carpet and it falls apart as soon as I try to pull it up. I won't do that again. I pull up a piece every time I go to the plot, but it's taking me ages and hurts my back. What's more, the carpet comes up in great long strips, leaving fibres and stringy nylon in the soil, which trip me up. I used good quality wool carpet but it still has nylon in the weave and I dread to think about the chemicals the dyes contain.
My advice to anyone considering using carpet to deal with a large area of weeds is to use it for a year to get yourself started. But don't leave it there for any longer or you'll end up with the same problem a few years down the line.
I've now almost got rid of the carpet at the far end, and I've been through the raspberry canes, forking out dandelions and couch grass as best I can. It all looks great. I've also forked over under the currant bushes in preparation for a lovely top dressing of blood, fish and bone and home-made compost - what a treat those bushes are going to get this weekend.
Comments
KD from Epsom Surrey
05 March 2008, 11.39PM
Gill Smith
05 March 2008, 11.59PM
St. George's School Gardening Club, Hertfordshire
31 March 2008, 07.02PM
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