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weeds and grass in vegetable garden
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Author:  randy sage [ Fri Aug 29, 2003 9:40 am ]
Post subject:  weeds and grass in vegetable garden

I have beengardening for 10 years and this yr. was the worst yr for weeds/grass in my garden. the garden is about 10'by 30' and has a trim around the perimeter. I want to know once late fall comes if I can cover the surface area with something like black plastic for a couple of months to kill any grass/weeds from coming back next yr. I regularly till and turn the soil as well as add compost/leaves thru the winter. pls offer advice to rid my garden of unwanted growth before spring next yr. thx

Author:  lil [ Fri Aug 29, 2003 10:09 am ]
Post subject: 

Do you mulch during the growth season? I use leaves, etc. to mulch my vegetable garden and this does a great job at detering the weeds. You can till it in when the growing season is over. If you don't plant in the winter you can mulch the enitre garden or grow a cover crop. I've never done the cover crop before because I can grow year-round, but I've heard many success stories.

Author:  randy sage [ Fri Aug 29, 2003 10:31 am ]
Post subject: 

[quote="lil"]Do you mulch during the growth season? I use leaves, etc. to mulch my vegetable garden and this does a great job at detering the weeds. You can till it in when the growing season is over. If you don't plant in the winter you can mulch the enitre garden or grow a cover crop. I've never done the cover crop before because I can grow year-round, but I've heard many success stories.[/quote] I use mulch, goat/sheep manure(dirt) leaves,etc for prepping the garden and turn and till it regularly. I still had the worst year for weeds and grass ever this year. am thinking of pulling the garden out a little early this yr to get a start on killing the unwanted growth

Author:  drchelo [ Fri Aug 29, 2003 11:09 am ]
Post subject: 

I agree with you on grass invasion being more aggressive this season...and I have used shredded cedar bark mulch with success, but I have had to re-apply it frequently. Since I use "fresh" (that is, cut from the cedars a friend of mine in the Hill Country is clearing from his land) perhaps it decomposes more quickly, but this mulch seems to inhibit the grass better than shredded hardwood bark or leaf mulch, at least for me.
Using black plastic to 'solarize' an area will prevent weed and grass overgrowth, but it will also sterilize that area of any microbes and nematodes, beneficial or not. You would need to apply a lot of compost come planting season to "re-start" the soil. I have only used this in a garden area that was heavily infested with grubs and pathogenic nematodes, and it has taken about 2 seasons to bring that area back to life.
Another thing you could do is to plant a fall/winter "green manure" crop such as red clover or vetch. These grow quickly and choke out weeds and then you can plow them under for extra nitrogen in the spring.

Author:  dragonfly [ Fri Aug 29, 2003 8:34 pm ]
Post subject: 

I have become a fan of using alfalfa hay for mulch in the garden. I basically lay it out like tiles and plant in between. It's the best mulch I've ever used, then when it decomposes, it becomes part of the soil, and I top off with new hay again.

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