Clearing ground of weeds

mardatha

I've got a bit of ground that's covered in weeds, mint and barley blown in from the back field. About 18 X 12 ft. Would it work if I got the husband to strim all the weeds down to ground level, and then cover it with black plastic? Should I put the plastic down now or wait until springtime? I want to use that bit for veg next year.

wellused

I believe that it depends which weeds are present, if it includes bindweed then I have read of cases where the ground was covered for over a year and the weed roots lived happily underneath.

Mojisola

If you have no objection to using weedkillers, spray it all off with glyphosate.

If you want to do without them, strim the weeds down and cover with plastic now. To get the ground clear, you really need to leave it covered for a growing season. The perennial plants will be shutting down for the winter soon so being covered over won't upset them.

wellused

I have used glyphosate but I believe that as it only works when the weeds are growing it should be done imminently.

Leif

wellused wrote: »

I have used glyphosate but I believe that as it only works when the weeds are growing it should be done imminently.

Yes, do it ASAP. If you have bindweed, it has energy in the roots that will last years even if covered with black plastic. Mint will grow from a 1cm length of root. Don't strim, just glyphosate, you need above ground growth to absorb the poison. Apparently autumn is the idea time, as plants are now building up below ground reserves, whereas in spring they are using them up.

mardatha

Ok - good job I asked! thanks

wellused

I have recently used glyphosate on a new allotment plot which was overgrown with brambles, grass, docks, bindweed, nettles, and assorted other weeds. I went for the slightly cheaper option of using B&Q's own brand weedkiller which according to the label has a higher % glyphosate than the leading brand. I didn't cut the weeds down first as I wanted to cover as much leaf area as possible, I will leave the plot for a couple of weeks for the weedkiller to work before forking all of the roots out.

mardatha

So you spray this stuff onto the leaves and then leave it? And it travels down to the root and kills it?

Mojisola

mardatha wrote: »

So you spray this stuff onto the leaves and then leave it? And it travels down to the root and kills it?

Yes, that's right.

wellused

Yes I believe that the newer more tender leaves are the most effective to attack so that is why it is important to spray when the plants are growing vigorously, glyphosate becomes neutral when it reaches the soil so it only works when sprayed directly onto growing leaves, and as long as the leaves are both dry and rain does not wash the glyphosate off before it has time to take effect.

Sassia

I have done exactly that and it's working brilliantly so far. I bought one of the huge sprayer weedkillers as it's far too much hard work to use a tiny mister type on such a large area. Once the weeds were sprayed, I put down the heavy duty weed fabric from wilkos and used tent pegs to hold it all in place. That was a couple of months ago and the area is still weed free. I'm going to keep the fabric down and use the plastic grow bag/raised bed containers for my veg outside.