Next steps advice for clearing nettles and turning into veg bed

Hoe them off, and keep doing it all through winter!

My Grandad, a career gardener taught me to hoe every day with a "Y" in it! During winter, rains can compact the soil again and encourage weeds to germinate, keeping them down with a hoe is easy work. A plot your size will take five minutes once a week.

Steve...

 

As Cassie said earlier, covering the soil to stop weeds is a good move.

Farmers use plastic, but that's not very attractive. Weed control matting ditto. Wood chips work well, but tend to get in the way when you want to sow veg later. Cassie's suggestion of straw is perhaps a bit less effective, but works fairly well and can easily be cleared (or dug in) in spring.

 

Cheers. Might hoe it all off this weekend then cover with some weed matting until February.

 

Yes I agree

I use wood chips for paths and beds that I won't be disturbing often but prefer straw if I'm always digging about.

Straw is also good for veg as it breaks down quickly and adds organic matter back to the soil.

If your area is ready and waiting for planting in February you could also consider planting a green manure crop over winter.

I think some people also spread manure over their beds in winter then dig in in spring once it has broken down nicely, but I haven't actually done this.

 

Bonjour.

Back again as it's nearly game time.
Most of the patch has been covered with plastic sheets since November. It's just slightly moist soil now. The uncovered patches are covered in tiny green weeds which I hoed off the other day.

Now, next steps...

I'm considering getting a 900l bag of mulch delivered, looks like it's exactly the right amount for the space. Is this a good thing to do before planting? Looks like it stops weed growth, fertilises the soil and I can plant underneath it (?).

Anything else i should be doing before sticking some seeds in the ground in Feb?

Doing some research now into what to plant. Would like to have a bit of variety, so some green salad leaves, some spuds, some carrots, some courgettes, some herbs etc. I've got a load of old pallets which I'm plannign to break down and use to divide up areas of the patch on the ground.

 

Hi Charlie,

There are some mixed messages here, I'll explain and ask a few questions.

Firstly, what is the mulch? If it is ready to use compost then that is all good, if it is for example woodchip or shredded bark, then that is suitable for topping over weed membrane to make paths, or to mulch around established garden areas where the plants will reside year on year.

You plan to sow seeds which is okay if the mulch is compost, but not if it is woodchip. Seeds will germinate and grow on the top of a compost mulch, but not on woodchip, you could brush a mulch of woodchip to one side and put a plant in the soil underneath, then brush the woodchip back around the plant.

The types of things you want to grow are annuals, in and out of the ground in the same year so I would advise against a woodchip mulch, compost would be perfect all round here as it will both feed your plants and mulch out weeds from underneath. If you go the compost route, consider laying brown cardboard underneath first, this will help to stop any weeds in the first year. Collect packing boxes, remove any staples, labels and tape and lay on the ground. Here is a new bed I made last spring, carboard on the bottom, then a layer of half rotted cow maanure and a couple of inches of compost on top, I planted directly into the compost.



This is known as "No Dig" and is an incredibly good way to grow.

However, I would advise forgetting the mulch this year, turn your soil over and grow directly into that, plant or sow in straight lines so you know what is plant and what is weed, then regularly hoe off the weeds.See how things grow and get some experience under your belt.

I dont put potatoes into the ground until the end of March, start of April, onion sets go in start to mid April, I wont sow any seeds into the ground until the end of May start of June. I will start lots of seed either indoors or in the greenhouse before these dates, its just too cold outside otherwise. Look at your seed packets for more info, of seek particular variety help here.

Steve...

 

As I cannot dig, I find that pulling nettles works well. They come up root and all.