In article , "Bob F"
wrote:

tref_30 wrote:
Hi guys,

I have recently moved into a house with quite a large garden
containing what can only be described as large weeds and nettles. As
well as this there was also a strange sort of grass that was almost
hay like which came out of the ground with relative ease. There was
also clumps of grass that when pulled came out with lots of roots and
soil.
As you can probably tell from my descriptions above I'm not a
gardener, and so the next step I took may have been the wrong one. I
pulled as any of the weeds out by hand or digging if they were stiff.
Most of them came out roots and all but some snapped, I also mowed
the rest.
Having read a few threads on here it seems the best thing to have done
wou7ld have been to spray some sort of killer whilst they were long.
Obviously this option is no longer so I was wondering if there was
anything else I could do. I was thinking of digging it all up and
pulling out as many weed as poss.
My long term plan is to have one half of the garden turfed and the
other half as an allotment.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated


I had good results in a weedy area when I bought this house by rototilling
the
entire area, then doing it again every few weeks for 2 or 3 months. Any weeds
that popped up would get tilled under and die. It actually ended up
relatively
weed free.

And probably worm free as well with the entire ecology disrupted. This
kind of "terracide" may be OK for trophy, grass lawns, but it will cost
you on inputs for vegetable gardens (allotments) as it will accelerate
the decomposition of the organic material in the soil. This will lock
you into a continuing pattern of rototilling, and destroying a healthy
soil environment, so that you can incorporate more organic material into
it.

Deep tilling doesn't apply to hoeing a row or using a pitchfork to turn
over the first few inches of soil. Nor does it apply to tilling in, say,
prairie sod to establish a new garden. Deep tilling means repeatedly
cutting up soil with a roto-tiller.

You see, soil is alive. In fact, it's like the New York City of the
plant world -- a complex mix of fine rock particles, organic matter,
water, air, microorganisms and other small critters. In fact, healthy
soil is chock-a-block FULL of living things such as plant roots,
animals, insects, bacteria, fungi and other organisms. It's a jungle
down there.

"Managing your soils to keep this living system thriving can make the
difference between gardening success and failure," says Rodale's
Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening.

Soil is more than dirt. In fact, it's 50 percent minerals and 50 percent
water and air. Half of soil is minerals, and the rest is water and air.
The spaces between the minerals (made of tiny rock fragments) are the
holding areas for soil water and air, the super highways by which
nutrients travel and connect everything in the soil.

Ideal soil is friable, which means the various particles form little
clusters with air pockets between them.

To get good soil you can choose from numerous gardening practices that
support healthy soil. For example:
+ Raised beds
+ Topping with mulch (easy)
+ Turning compost in the top 4 to 6 inches (hard work, ugh)

On the flip side, here are some things that actually harm soil structu
+ Walking on the soil
+ Using chemical fertilizers (they kill friendly organisms and acidify
the soil over time)
+ Deep tilling or roto-tilling

"Roto-tilling destroys the network of fungal hyphae that gives soil
structure," he explained." This includes the mychorrhizal network that
is so important to plants."

Mycorrhizal (MY-coh-RIZE-ul) fungi are multi-celled organisms that form
special "I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine" relationships
with plant roots. As recent electron microscope images have shown, these
organisms develop into long chains called hyphae (HIGH-fee) and get
energy from the plant and help supply nutrients to the plant. In other
words, they depend on each other for survival. They actually move
nutrients around the garden to where they are needed.

Roto-tilling dislocates and chops up small invertebrate animals (such as
insects, worms and spiders), and bacteria, and it kills worms and
destroys aeration and drainage. "The soil looks nice and smooth, but it
quickly looses structure.

Control weeds with mulches, in the case of annuals and vegetables, green
mulches and in the case of perennials, shrubs and trees, brown mulches."
"All plants--grass, trees, shrubs, agricultural crops--depend on the
food web for their nutrition."----Soil and Water Conservation Society

The idea is to avoid compacting and deep-tilling the soil, which harms
the structure. It would be trying to survive after tearing down the
walls of houses, damaging the streets and other transportation networks,
destroying water lines and other utilities, and limiting access to food.
Living would be tough. Some people would get sick and die. Plus, it
would take a long time to rebuild.

Supporting soil structure "is just good science. "Roto-tilling is
definitely, out. The only time it is acceptable is when you want to
plant vegetables and annuals in areas just claimed from forests. You
want to increase the bacterial dominance and rototilling does that. The
fungal structure will return if organic fertilizers are used."

--
E Pluribus Unum

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