This is my first post ever on a gardening forum and I wanted to introduce myself and say Hi and at the same time ask you all a question please.
I was unexpectedly disabled at the age of 53 three years ago and due to my enforced absence these days from work I have found gardening as rather a late comer.
It started through my love of birds and putting up several bird tables around the place and it has boinged on somewhat from there.
As you can imagine Im a little limited as to what I can do but my gorgeous Mrs does a lot of the digging and humping while I do the pottering and bossing (at least she allows me to believe that).
Last week we had some large Leylandi conifers taken down in the back garden. The "tree surgeons" doing the job dropped one right on top of our blackcurrant bushes and they are smashed to peices.
The heavy clay ground they were planted in is also covered in Montbretia with lots of other invasive plants that are a constant pain that we want to be rid of.
My plan as a complete novice now is to remove the 3 blackcurrant bushes and to transplant them into large containers and prune them back hard to get rid of all the smashed wood.
The ground then treat with sodium chlorate and cover with black membrane to have a fresh start next year.
Please bear in mind we arent capable of digging this soil over to remove all the unwanted stuff so does this plan sound like a goer to you far more knowledgable people out there please?
Im all ears, openminded and thankfull for any alternatives.
Thanks in advance and Hi again from me.

Buzzard wrote:

My plan as a complete novice now is to remove the 3 blackcurrant bushes
and to transplant them into large containers and prune them back hard to
get rid of all the smashed wood.
The ground then treat with sodium chlorate and cover with black
membrane to have a fresh start next year.

Sodium chlorate sounds a bit persistent. Why not glyphosate which will
be deactivated rapidly.

Paul

--
CTC Right to Ride Rep. for Richmond upon Thames

On Jul 6, 11:29*pm, Buzzard
wrote:
This is my first post ever on a gardening forum and I wanted to
introduce myself and say Hi and at the same time ask you all a question
please.
I was unexpectedly disabled at the age of 53 *three years ago and due
to my enforced absence these days from work I have found gardening as
rather a late comer.
It started through my love of birds and putting up several bird tables
around the place and it has boinged on somewhat from there.
As you can imagine Im a little limited as to what I can do but my
gorgeous Mrs does a lot of the digging and humping while I do the
pottering and bossing (at least she allows me to believe that).
Last week we had some large Leylandi conifers taken down in the back
garden. The "tree surgeons" doing the job dropped one right on top of
our blackcurrant bushes and they are smashed to peices.
The heavy clay ground they were planted in is also covered in
Montbretia with lots of other invasive plants that are a constant pain
that we want to be rid of.
My plan as a complete novice now is to remove the 3 blackcurrant bushes
and to transplant them into large containers and prune them back hard to
get rid of all the smashed wood.
The ground then treat with sodium chlorate and cover with black
membrane to have a fresh start next year.
Please bear in mind we arent capable of digging this soil over to
remove all the unwanted stuff so does this plan sound like a goer to
you far more knowledgable people out there please?
Im all ears, openminded and thankfull for any alternatives.
Thanks in advance and Hi again from me.

--
Buzzard

Hello and welcome. I am Judith, living in France, a gardener but with
little skill which is why I am a resident in this group, always
looking for more knowledge. I'm a bit unsure about using sodium
chlorate; there is other less nasty stuff you can use. We have
several experts here who will be able to give you solid advice. Good
luck with the gardening, you will find it very therapeutic and
fulfilling.

Judith

"Paul Luton" wrote
Buzzard wrote:

My plan as a complete novice now is to remove the 3 blackcurrant bushes
and to transplant them into large containers and prune them back hard to
get rid of all the smashed wood.
The ground then treat with sodium chlorate and cover with black
membrane to have a fresh start next year.

Sodium chlorate sounds a bit persistent. Why not glyphosate which will be
deactivated rapidly.

Totally agree, Glyphosate (Roundup or similar) will kill most things with
one application, some perennial weeds need another spray. It is deactivated
quickly once on the soil, works on green leaves only, so you should be able
to replant into clear earth in a few weeks with no need for unsightly
plastic.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London

"Buzzard" wrote in message
...

This is my first post ever on a gardening forum and I wanted to
introduce myself and say Hi and at the same time ask you all a question
please.
I was unexpectedly disabled at the age of 53 three years ago and due
to my enforced absence these days from work I have found gardening as
rather a late comer.
It started through my love of birds and putting up several bird tables
around the place and it has boinged on somewhat from there.
As you can imagine Im a little limited as to what I can do but my
gorgeous Mrs does a lot of the digging and humping while I do the
pottering and bossing (at least she allows me to believe that).
Last week we had some large Leylandi conifers taken down in the back
garden. The "tree surgeons" doing the job dropped one right on top of
our blackcurrant bushes and they are smashed to peices.
The heavy clay ground they were planted in is also covered in
Montbretia with lots of other invasive plants that are a constant pain
that we want to be rid of.
My plan as a complete novice now is to remove the 3 blackcurrant bushes
and to transplant them into large containers and prune them back hard to
get rid of all the smashed wood.
The ground then treat with sodium chlorate and cover with black
membrane to have a fresh start next year.
Please bear in mind we arent capable of digging this soil over to
remove all the unwanted stuff so does this plan sound like a goer to
you far more knowledgable people out there please?
Im all ears, openminded and thankfull for any alternatives.
Thanks in advance and Hi again from me.

Buzzard

Hi Buzzard,

Welcome to the news group (we're not a forum, by-the-way) and to gardening.

As a bird lover, you may be sorry you didn't leave just one Leylandii, as
the tiny goldcrests and firecrests love them for the cover and nesting sites
they offer. Never mind.

As the others have said, glyphosate is a much better option for your weeding
job. Persistent weeds/unwanted plants may need more than one application.
You could still use the black membrane to keep weed seeds off. Another
option would be to pay someone to lay turf, the mowing of which will help to
keep weeds down. It is also the nature-friendly option. Leave yourself
just enough bare earth as you feel is manageable.

Two years ago, my father (an obsessive, passionate gardener) lost the use of
his legs and is now watching his beloved garden fall into disrepair. He has
found that it is much easier to get someone to mow the lawn; getting someone
to care for the garden is much harder. You will gradually find your own
limits and respond by making a garden that suits your needs. Raised beds
are a good idea if you can afford someone to construct them. You don't say
if you need a wheelchair, but a decent patio and wide paths are essential
for that, and also for if you just need someone to walk at your side. If
well built, they don't need weeding either! :~)

Good luck in rescuing your blackcurrant bushes.

Spider

I've just lifted some black plastic up that was put down for a couple of years while some stuff was stored on the vegetable patch. Loadsaweeds have now grown up. Your soil is full of dormant seeds so don't think you will get rid of the weeds in one go. But black plastic will get rid of a lot of the hard-to-get rid of ones, provided you take out the bindweed roots.

Chlorate is for putting down before you pave something, not before you grow stuff on it. Use roundup as they say.

Your blackcurrants will recover.

Thanks for the replies and helpful advice.
I will forget the overkill with the sodium chlorate then and go for the suggested gentler option.
The plants Im trying to persuade to leave from this bit of ground are monbretia, brambles, rampant honeysuckle and ivy, 99 percent of which has invaded from the old bat next door (bless her cotton socks).
Reference the conifers. Im afraid it wasnt my idea to remove them and its the end result of a fearsome battle that has been raging between myself and my neighbour for the last 3 years.
The good news is that I did manage to save three of the conifers because one I put bat boxes in them three years ago and the bats obliged and two the collared doves have nested in the trees now for the last 8 years and are considerably more tame than my old budgie.
I fought long ,hard and dirty for those trees lol.