I was at a Trafalgar Night Dinner last night and an intriguing statement was
made which brought up a question.

One of the members had recently moved house and his new garden was 'a hell
of a mess' and he intended to take the easy way out. He was going to cut
down to ground level everything that was there, (there was nothing worth
saving the previous people were not gardeners) and smother the lot in three
or four inches of compost purchased from the council in big one tonne bags
as soon as possible.

'And in the spring I will just Hoe the lot on a regular basis until I have
time to sort it out properly. The compost will smother the weeds and any new
ones I can clobber'

As an avid compost maker myself, I can see that this would work and could be
used by people who are taking over neglected allotments.

Any comments? Would it work? I can't see why it wouldn't. That would be the
easy way, the hard work comes later with the normal gardening.

Mike
--

....................................

I'm an Angel, honest ! The horns are there just to keep the halo straight.

....................................

smother the lot in three
or four inches of compost purchased from the council in big one tonne bags
as soon as possible.

'And in the spring I will just Hoe the lot on a regular basis until I have
time to sort it out properly. The compost will smother the weeds and any
new ones I can clobber'


This will depend on what weeds are there. Any perennial weed will find 3 - 4
inches of compost nothing more than a nice warming blanket over the winter
months, and a nice feed in spring. And when he hoes it, the roots will still
be there, shooting up again before the hoe is even back in the shed.

And he's going to be far too busy sorting out his new house even to hoe it
regularly, nor probably will the weather allow this, good intentions
notwithstanding.

He's being somewhat naive IMHO

Steve

"'Mike'" wrote in message
...
I was at a Trafalgar Night Dinner last night and an intriguing statement
was made which brought up a question.

One of the members had recently moved house and his new garden was 'a hell
of a mess' and he intended to take the easy way out. He was going to cut
down to ground level everything that was there, (there was nothing worth
saving the previous people were not gardeners) and smother the lot in
three or four inches of compost purchased from the council in big one
tonne bags as soon as possible.

'And in the spring I will just Hoe the lot on a regular basis until I have
time to sort it out properly. The compost will smother the weeds and any
new ones I can clobber'

As an avid compost maker myself, I can see that this would work and could
be used by people who are taking over neglected allotments.

Any comments? Would it work? I can't see why it wouldn't. That would be
the easy way, the hard work comes later with the normal gardening.

Mike
--

He would be better off cutting it all back, waiting till spring, then
spraying the regrowth with round up, then covering with what ever.

I should point out that in my view (as someone who likes gardens) I would
rather get the garden sorted first and it will then be growing while the
house is being done rather than live with an uninspiring mess for several
seasons.
--
Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall
Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella
and Lapageria rosea cvs
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk

On Sunday, October 21, 2012 5:20:09 PM UTC+1, 'Mike' wrote:
I was at a Trafalgar Night Dinner last night and an intriguing statement was

made which brought up a question.



One of the members had recently moved house and his new garden was 'a hell

of a mess' and he intended to take the easy way out. He was going to cut

down to ground level everything that was there, (there was nothing worth

saving the previous people were not gardeners) and smother the lot in three

or four inches of compost purchased from the council in big one tonne bags

as soon as possible.



'And in the spring I will just Hoe the lot on a regular basis until I have

time to sort it out properly. The compost will smother the weeds and any new

ones I can clobber'



As an avid compost maker myself, I can see that this would work and could be

used by people who are taking over neglected allotments.



Any comments? Would it work? I can't see why it wouldn't. That would be the

easy way, the hard work comes later with the normal gardening.



Mike

--



...................................



I'm an Angel, honest ! The horns are there just to keep the halo straight.



...................................

Mike you certainly post an awful lot of compost on here, maybe you could provide your friend with some of it?

On Sunday, 21 October 2012 17:20:09 UTC+1, 'Mike' wrote:
I was at a Trafalgar Night Dinner last night and an intriguing statement was

made which brought up a question.



One of the members had recently moved house and his new garden was 'a hell

of a mess' and he intended to take the easy way out. He was going to cut

down to ground level everything that was there, (there was nothing worth

saving the previous people were not gardeners) and smother the lot in three

or four inches of compost purchased from the council in big one tonne bags

as soon as possible.



'And in the spring I will just Hoe the lot on a regular basis until I have

time to sort it out properly. The compost will smother the weeds and any new

ones I can clobber'



As an avid compost maker myself, I can see that this would work and could be

used by people who are taking over neglected allotments.



Any comments? Would it work? I can't see why it wouldn't. That would be the

easy way, the hard work comes later with the normal gardening.



Mike

--



...................................



I'm an Angel, honest ! The horns are there just to keep the halo straight.



...................................

Nice to see you are still going, Reg.

Thanks Steve and Charlie and nice to hear from you Reg, hope all is well
with you.

Thanks for the warnings. Thanks also to Peter for the Skype chat ;-)

What has been suggested is that Council Compost contains 'unknowns' and one
of the unknowns which I was able to explain to Peter, is the thin strips of
clear plastic. Been there, done that, got the frustration. Don't put window
envelopes through the shredder then the contains onto the compost heap now.

Not a good idea was the overall verdict.

Mike

--

....................................

I'm an Angel, honest ! The horns are there just to keep the halo straight.

....................................





"diamonds" wrote in message
...
On Sunday, 21 October 2012 17:20:09 UTC+1, 'Mike' wrote:
I was at a Trafalgar Night Dinner last night and an intriguing statement
was

made which brought up a question.



One of the members had recently moved house and his new garden was 'a
hell

of a mess' and he intended to take the easy way out. He was going to cut

down to ground level everything that was there, (there was nothing worth

saving the previous people were not gardeners) and smother the lot in
three

or four inches of compost purchased from the council in big one tonne
bags

as soon as possible.



'And in the spring I will just Hoe the lot on a regular basis until I
have

time to sort it out properly. The compost will smother the weeds and any
new

ones I can clobber'



As an avid compost maker myself, I can see that this would work and could
be

used by people who are taking over neglected allotments.



Any comments? Would it work? I can't see why it wouldn't. That would be
the

easy way, the hard work comes later with the normal gardening.



Mike

--



...................................



I'm an Angel, honest ! The horns are there just to keep the halo
straight.



...................................

Nice to see you are still going, Reg.