Cheapest method to clear ground at my allotment

Leard91

I have an allotment. It's quite large and there's a lot of weeds. I want to kill off as much of the unwanted plant life as I can by covering it and leaving it for a year. I need to use tarp or black plastic or something. What's the cheapest way of doing this without having to worry about plants breaking through the material?

RAS

Check that your allotment society permit this first, mine won't allow old carpet. And if you are not growing stuff, you'd be off long before the year was up.

Layer cardboard with the plant material on top to hold it down. 

twopenny

Darn, I was going to say go to the carpet shop and get some old stuff from their skip. That's as cheap as you can get.

I used my old living room carpet, it was green and worked brilliantly. Used it year after year on some fallow beds.

Poundland used to do black fleece. It was a huge size. A couple layered of those might work if you can still get it.

The weed supressent I bought to go under my gravel was cheap by the roll. Easy to fold up afterwards and use on areas not producing each year.

But you do need to ask the allotment group what is recommended and they'll know where to get it locally. Veg growers tend not to buy expensive stuff so it should be ok.