Just taken over an allotment thats is completely choked with the weed...
My idea is to plant in raised beds which I will dig out to about a
foot deep then put some weed suppressant down then backfill with the riddled
soil that I have dug out...Anyone tell me if this weed suppressant fabric
will keep the mares tail at bay or does it have the power to grow through
--
Regards
Ted Wager g3tpi
High Peak UK
Using Jaunty Ubuntu Linux

In article ,
says...

Just taken over an allotment thats is completely choked with the weed...
My idea is to plant in raised beds which I will dig out to about a
foot deep then put some weed suppressant down then backfill with the riddled
soil that I have dug out...Anyone tell me if this weed suppressant fabric
will keep the mares tail at bay or does it have the power to grow through

I fear it will laugh in the face of the matting and has little more
trouble with concrete and tarmac, but there are folk on here who have got
rid of it so hopefully you will get some useful advice
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

The message
from Ted contains these words:

Just taken over an allotment thats is completely choked with the weed...

Horsetail - mare's tail is a water plant.

My idea is to plant in raised beds which I will dig out to about a
foot deep then put some weed suppressant down then backfill with the riddled
soil that I have dug out...Anyone tell me if this weed suppressant fabric
will keep the mares tail at bay or does it have the power to grow through

Never tried it. I just bruised the things between my palms with a
rubbing action as they appeared and gave them a strong dose of
glyphosate mixed with lots of Fairy Liquid. (That's the horsetail, not
the palms...)

OK, it took a couple of years, but they died eventually.

Remember, the roots can go down eight feet or so, so it won't be easy to
eradicate. I have a feeling that your raised beds would work for a few
years, but they'd infiltrate it sooner or later, if not by growing
through, then by growing round.

--
Rusty
Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk

On Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:59:53 +0000, Ted
wrote:


Just taken over an allotment thats is completely choked with the weed...
My idea is to plant in raised beds which I will dig out to about a
foot deep then put some weed suppressant down then backfill with the riddled
soil that I have dug out...Anyone tell me if this weed suppressant fabric
will keep the mares tail at bay or does it have the power to grow through

One of my neighbours had lots of mares tails growing in a damp patch.
He heaped a load of wood ash on them and they disappeared over the
following few months. The patch has been clear ever since.

Steve

--
Neural Planner Software Ltd http://www.NPSL1.com

"Ted" wrote ...

Just taken over an allotment thats is completely choked with the weed...
My idea is to plant in raised beds which I will dig out to about a foot
deep then put some weed suppressant down then backfill with the riddled
soil that I have dug out...Anyone tell me if this weed suppressant fabric
will keep the mares tail at bay or does it have the power to grow through

Couple of things Ted.

Your allotments must be so big and cheap if you can waste so much land with
paths. :-)
Weed suppressant will not keep Marestail at bay, it will grow through. It
does through tarmac.

We had Marestail on our last allotment and whilst we never eradicated it
constant hoeing did weakened it drastically so it became less of a problem
year on year. It's only unsightly anyway, so unless you intend to go in for
the local "in bloom" competition I would learn to live with it.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden

Bob Hobden wrote:
"Ted" wrote ...
Just taken over an allotment thats is completely choked with the weed...
My idea is to plant in raised beds which I will dig out to about a foot
deep then put some weed suppressant down then backfill with the riddled
soil that I have dug out...Anyone tell me if this weed suppressant fabric
will keep the mares tail at bay or does it have the power to grow through

Couple of things Ted.

Your allotments must be so big and cheap if you can waste so much land with
paths. :-)
Weed suppressant will not keep Marestail at bay, it will grow through. It
does through tarmac.

We had Marestail on our last allotment and whilst we never eradicated it
constant hoeing did weakened it drastically so it became less of a problem
year on year. It's only unsightly anyway, so unless you intend to go in for
the local "in bloom" competition I would learn to live with it.

Thanks to all who replied...
The allotment is free of rent as it is in such poor condition...It is
covered with Twitch and Horse Tail..Also is quite damp and has Willows
and Reeds in places..

--
Regards
Ted Wager g3tpi
High Peak UK
Using Ubuntu Linux

"Ted" wrote in message
et...
Bob Hobden wrote:
"Ted" wrote ...
Just taken over an allotment thats is completely choked with the weed...
My idea is to plant in raised beds which I will dig out to about a foot
deep then put some weed suppressant down then backfill with the riddled
soil that I have dug out...Anyone tell me if this weed suppressant
fabric
will keep the mares tail at bay or does it have the power to grow
through

Couple of things Ted.

Your allotments must be so big and cheap if you can waste so much land
with paths. :-)
Weed suppressant will not keep Marestail at bay, it will grow through. It
does through tarmac.

We had Marestail on our last allotment and whilst we never eradicated it
constant hoeing did weakened it drastically so it became less of a
problem year on year. It's only unsightly anyway, so unless you intend to
go in for the local "in bloom" competition I would learn to live with it.

Thanks to all who replied...
The allotment is free of rent as it is in such poor condition...It is
covered with Twitch and Horse Tail..Also is quite damp and has Willows
and Reeds in places..


Hmmm. Twitch is bad but horsetail is worse and willows and reeds! Ask your
council to give you a better one unless you want to grow watercress only.
Councils are now obliged to provide allotment sites if (is it?) 6 or more
ask for them, could be more.
I think they tried it but failed.
Serves them right for selling off the original allotments for building.
I have a piece of land that my council are pleading with me now to lease it
to them for allotments for a peppercorn rent.
Yeah, right.
It cost me half the cost of my house when I bought it so the answer is no.

Tina

Christina Websell wrote:
"Ted" wrote in message
et...
Bob Hobden wrote:
"Ted" wrote ...
Just taken over an allotment thats is completely choked with the weed...
My idea is to plant in raised beds which I will dig out to about a foot
deep then put some weed suppressant down then backfill with the riddled
soil that I have dug out...Anyone tell me if this weed suppressant
fabric
will keep the mares tail at bay or does it have the power to grow
through
Couple of things Ted.

Your allotments must be so big and cheap if you can waste so much land
with paths. :-)
Weed suppressant will not keep Marestail at bay, it will grow through. It
does through tarmac.

We had Marestail on our last allotment and whilst we never eradicated it
constant hoeing did weakened it drastically so it became less of a
problem year on year. It's only unsightly anyway, so unless you intend to
go in for the local "in bloom" competition I would learn to live with it.

Thanks to all who replied...
The allotment is free of rent as it is in such poor condition...It is
covered with Twitch and Horse Tail..Also is quite damp and has Willows
and Reeds in places..


Hmmm. Twitch is bad but horsetail is worse and willows and reeds! Ask your
council to give you a better one unless you want to grow watercress only.
Councils are now obliged to provide allotment sites if (is it?) 6 or more
ask for them, could be more.
I think they tried it but failed.
Serves them right for selling off the original allotments for building.
I have a piece of land that my council are pleading with me now to lease it
to them for allotments for a peppercorn rent.
Yeah, right.
It cost me half the cost of my house when I bought it so the answer is no.

Tina





This is correct about the obligation but the problem is there is no
timescale. The council will promise to look into finding suitable ground
but it could legally take many years. I have looked into this with our
local council amd collected 50 signatures but as yet promises,promises..

--
Regards
Ted Wager
Using Sidux Linux

In message
Ted wrote:


Just taken over an allotment thats is completely choked with the weed...
My idea is to plant in raised beds which I will dig out to about a
foot deep then put some weed suppressant down then backfill with the riddled
soil that I have dug out...Anyone tell me if this weed suppressant fabric
will keep the mares tail at bay or does it have the power to grow through


I had a garden with a lot of horsetail in it. I sprayed it with
"Tumbleweed" whenever it came up and after about a year, I had largely
got rid of it. As with all weed problems, persistence pays.

Michael Bell

--

"Michael Bell" wrote in message
. uk...
In message
Ted wrote:


Just taken over an allotment thats is completely choked with the weed...
My idea is to plant in raised beds which I will dig out to about a
foot deep then put some weed suppressant down then backfill with the
riddled
soil that I have dug out...Anyone tell me if this weed suppressant fabric
will keep the mares tail at bay or does it have the power to grow through


I had a garden with a lot of horsetail in it. I sprayed it with
"Tumbleweed" whenever it came up and after about a year, I had largely
got rid of it. As with all weed problems, persistence pays.


Is horsetail worse than ground elder?

Tina



--

The message
from "Christina Websell" contains
these words:

Is horsetail worse than ground elder?

Immesurably.

Besides, ground elder is a good vegetable, when the young leaves are cooked.

--
Rusty
Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk

In article ,
Rusty_Hinge wrote:
The message
from "Christina Websell" contains
these words:

Is horsetail worse than ground elder?

Immesurably.

Ground elder is shallow rooted, and can be dealt with in several ways,
including digging. Horsetail can go down 30' or more. Horsetail has
been around for hundreds of millions of years; ground elder for only
millions or tens of millions (I don't know which).

Besides, ground elder is a good vegetable, when the young leaves are cooked.

Jack's son has the gout![*]


[*] A traditional misrepresentation of 'chacun a son gout' (many people
don't like it - I don't), plus ground elder is also known as goutweed
and was used to treat gout.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

The message
from contains these words:

[*] A traditional misrepresentation of 'chacun a son gout' (many people
don't like it - I don't), plus ground elder is also known as goutweed
and was used to treat gout.

À chacun son petit sureau, s'il vous plaît...

--
Rusty
Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk

The message
from Martin contains these words:
On Sun, 1 Mar 2009 11:29:38 GMT, Rusty_Hinge

wrote:
The message
from contains these words:

[*] A traditional misrepresentation of 'chacun a son gout' (many people
don't like it - I don't), plus ground elder is also known as goutweed
and was used to treat gout.

À chacun son petit sureau, s'il vous plaît...

Let them eat brioche at the Fat Duck.

What Marie and twin ate?

--
Rusty
Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk

In article ,
Rusty_Hinge wrote:

[*] A traditional misrepresentation of 'chacun a son gout' (many people
don't like it - I don't), plus ground elder is also known as goutweed
and was used to treat gout.

À chacun son petit sureau, s'il vous plaît...

Er, are you sure?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.