I agree KT53 that the press are over the top in their coverage. If this was about scattered singular treatments I could use week killer. I would worry about the amount of the chemical that has to go on such a large area and right under our feet, windows and doors. Also I would be in contact with the ground a lot when renovating in September.
Kent near the white cliffs. Always learning and often the hard way.
Another vote for strim for now to keep it under control, at least as already mentioned no seeds will set.
Many weeds can be dug up if you have time, but if it is going to be rotavated later I would use a weedkiller on problem perennial weeds like bindweed. It will need a killer if you are going to be cutting and turning the soil later in the year. Identify and let it grow enough to be able to effectively kill it before September.
I would not use carpet, having got it, you will have to dispose of it later. Fine if you have a skip. But it is a big area/lot of carpet. It is only going to be for a few months?
Do not let anyone tell you it can be left or covered as in dug in or buried. Even a natural fibre carpet may not be 100% and you could end up with problem threads or fibres than will not break down. Just a thought.
When we wanted old carpet, we contacted a carpet shop - they are always removing old carpet when they lay down a new one in a home, and they would be glad to give it to you instead of having to dump it themselves.
As for weed killer, I am not a fan of chemicals and where do you draw the line - used once fine but this can lead to further use.
Weeding a large plot every week would be a quick procedure - the weeds will hardly have time to grow let alone form seeds.
Flame guns in my opinion would not work for you now. We have about 100m sq of gravel that we fry with a gas gun regularly and that works just great for us. BUT we did thoroughly hand weed first, and still have to do some hand weeding every now and then as it doesn’t work well on perennial weeds like bindweed, thistles and mare’s tail. A regular fry of tiny seedling weeds when they reach 0.5cm works great, and gravel looks good. Huge mound of builder’s rubble could be another story.
One of my concerns would be the difficulty of removing/folding/rolling large pieces of very muddy carpet at a later date. How are you going to transport it to the tip unless you hire a pickup or get a skip?
I’m also aware that a lot of allotments no longer allow plot holders to use carpets in the land ... I’m sure I’ve read that this is due to potential contamination, as a lot of carpets contain materials which are products of the petro-chemical industry ... up to you but I wouldn’t fancy that in my garden 😞
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Having read through all the posts, I am still of the opinion that your quickest and easiest option is to use a strimmer. That size plot is nearly a field's worth. Carpet wouldn't work quick enough and would look absolutely horrible in the meantime. If you do use a strimmer, then I reckon a good cordless one, although more expensive, would be your best bet. Make sure you keep it charged up so it's ready for use and wear safety glasses at all times. Or, if you're time poor, see if you can hire somebody else to do it once a week. Good luck.
Whilst waiting for the sun to provide useable pictures for weed ID as requested, I thought I'd ask some more about the flamegun approach. I read the way to use them is to brush the flame over the plants very quickly to melt the surface, rather than incinerate them. This way the sun can't be utilised by the weeds through their leaves and they die.
Kent near the white cliffs. Always learning and often the hard way.
I will definately have to get a motor brush cutter / hedge cutter combi Lizzie. I can't afford it really but there is half an acre of many weeds surrounded by hawthawn and beech hedges to keep down. A lot of work by eventually a blank canvas.
Kent near the white cliffs. Always learning and often the hard way.
The carpet man didn't come back and I will abandon the carpets way Dovefromabove. I do hope you folks can ID my weeds for me when I get the pics in a bit. Applying weed killer on the difficult weeds only and strimming the others is looking the best approach and thank you all!
Kent near the white cliffs. Always learning and often the hard way.
Posts
Many weeds can be dug up if you have time, but if it is going to be rotavated later I would use a weedkiller on problem perennial weeds like bindweed. It will need a killer if you are going to be cutting and turning the soil later in the year. Identify and let it grow enough to be able to effectively kill it before September.
I would not use carpet, having got it, you will have to dispose of it later.
Fine if you have a skip. But it is a big area/lot of carpet.
It is only going to be for a few months?
Do not let anyone tell you it can be left or covered as in dug in or buried. Even a natural fibre carpet may not be 100% and you could end up with problem threads or fibres than will not break down.
Just a thought.
A regular fry of tiny seedling weeds when they reach 0.5cm works great, and gravel looks good. Huge mound of builder’s rubble could be another story.
I’m also aware that a lot of allotments no longer allow plot holders to use carpets in the land ... I’m sure I’ve read that this is due to potential contamination, as a lot of carpets contain materials which are products of the petro-chemical industry ... up to you but I wouldn’t fancy that in my garden 😞
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I do hope you folks can ID my weeds for me when I get the pics in a bit. Applying weed killer on the difficult weeds only and strimming the others is looking the best approach and thank you all!