On 18 Sep 2005 08:32:04 -0700, "sarab" wrote:

We excavated for a new patio in the spring and have a large berm of
relocated topsoil that's just right for a pumpkin patch next year.

The berm is totally covered in a very common weed here in NC - looks
like bamboo/grass, easy to pull, grows 2ft tall or so. Just mowed it
down, but was wondering if I could kill the weed seeds by covering it
now w/ black plastic until next May.

Have ordered Dills Atlantic Giant pumpkin seeds - anyone have any
experience in nc growing these? Should I ammend soil now in
preparation for next year? thx!

Where I live in Ohio I've done this with plastic several times, but in
the summer. I doubt if it's hot enough here for it to work well in
winter. I've never grown pumpkins, but I grow watermelons every year.
With those there's only a small area that the vine roots in, the rest
is the sprawl of the main plant. I've used plastic for this area, but
now I use newspaper covered with grass clippings and leaves. It's
important to set up drip irrigation on the root area before planting,
as you can't get to it once things are really growing. So maybe you
could do something like that, dig up the grass in your rooting area,
and put down a mulch that will stay through next season where the
vines will sprawl.