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Compost ?
The top 2 inches of my new allotment is choked with Twitch (couch grass?)...I had the idea of skimming it off and putting it into a compost bit then, if it grew I would treat it with weed killer (Round Up) to kill it off...Is this a workable idea and will it turn into decent compost ? -- Regards Ted |
Compost ?
The message
from Ted contains these words: The top 2 inches of my new allotment is choked with Twitch (couch grass?)...I had the idea of skimming it off and putting it into a compost bit then, if it grew I would treat it with weed killer (Round Up) to kill it off...Is this a workable idea and will it turn into decent compost ? It will be more than the top two inches. It will have to be dug out and then any stray bits (any? Ed.) pulled/dug up over the next couple of years. Alternatively, spray the lot with glyphosate, and again, and again, and prepare the land for next year. The subterranean growth of unsprayed twitch is much appreciated by livestock, and used to be sold in French markets. -- Rusty Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk |
Compost ?
It will be deeper that two inches. Dig as much of it out as you can then
fork over the earth to loosen the remaining roots, you will be able to pull them out by hand. Inevitably you will miss some and you will get it sprouting, easy to pull out if you have dug deep enough and broken up the clods. I used a right angle fork or a hand cultivator for this. Last year as an experiment. I dug out what I could and piled it up in a row (there was tons of it - about half a meter high, five long and half a meter wide). I covered it with black plastic, cut holes in the plastic and planted kale plants into the couch grass and earth. The kale was fantastic, I took the black plastic off last week and guess what - hardly any couch grass left! I have just dug that bed over and the soil is in lovely condition. I have moved to the grotty end of the plot now where there is still tons of the stuff and I am going to do it again. Backbreaking. -- Mark Hamer www.another-way.co.uk I don't want to arrive at my grave in an attractive and well preserved body, hopefully I will be skidding in sideways, Gin and Tonic in one hand -- Cigar in the other screaming YAHAAAY! "Ted" wrote in message et... The top 2 inches of my new allotment is choked with Twitch (couch grass?)...I had the idea of skimming it off and putting it into a compost bit then, if it grew I would treat it with weed killer (Round Up) to kill it off...Is this a workable idea and will it turn into decent compost ? -- Regards Ted |
Compost ?
"Ted" wrote ... The top 2 inches of my new allotment is choked with Twitch (couch grass?)...I had the idea of skimming it off and putting it into a compost bit then, if it grew I would treat it with weed killer (Round Up) to kill it off...Is this a workable idea and will it turn into decent compost ? Digging it out will take years because you will always miss some bits and it will grow back. I wouldn't put it in a compost bin either. A friend tried digging it out of his allotment but never succeeded. The only permanent way is to use a weedkiller with Glyphosate (Round-up) and wait a couple of weeks for it to die then hit any green bits again. -- Regards Bob Hobden |
Quote:
In my experience digging it out will be hard work and not always successful. Be prepared to go back to the weeding on a weekly basis! The best way is probably Round Up, although this can be expensive on a large area. If you do skim some off (or have other nasty perennial weeds) a really good way of returning the nutrients is to stick them all in a barrel of water until they are no longer viable then compost them. The juice also makes good nutrient water for feeding. |
An ideal herb garden...
"willie266" wrote Hi First post so be kind! I am contemplating a new herb garden. I have a space about 30ft x 14ft to use but the site is sloping so I need to build a retaining wall and level off as its currently at around 45 degrees! Does anyone know or have any advice on some good designs for a herb garden? I am after that classic mix of permanent planting of lavender, rosemary etc as well as space for the annuals. This will be a culinary and visual garden and I hope to have a wide range of herbs. In terms of design I am prepared to go the whole hog and get the box hedging thing going. Limitations are really the soil type is solid clay, hence the need to build a wall and raise the site with some decent drainage and good soil. Any ideas? Our experience is that herb gardens very easily get infested with weeds which are difficult to remove. We now grow all herbs in large pots which seems to eliminate that problem and it also goes some way to provide these plants with the drier soils they like, being mostly from the Med region. -- Regards Bob Hobden |
Compost ?
"Ted" wrote in message et... The top 2 inches of my new allotment is choked with Twitch (couch grass?)...I had the idea of skimming it off and putting it into a compost bit then, if it grew I would treat it with weed killer (Round Up) to kill it off...Is this a workable idea and will it turn into decent compost ? I have finally rid my front garden of twitch by digging every last piece of it out, every tiny root left will explode into growth. It's only taken me 20 years ;-) I don't like to use chemicals as I have an organic garden. I would not risk it on my compost heap. I burn the b*gg*r in my incinerator. |
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