Concrete slabs as weed control?

Hello everyone

This is my first post and I hope it's in the correct area

Apologies if I'm being naive or breaking a forum rule by posting here

I'm young, enthusiastic and inexperienced with forums so please be respectful and help a young one out.

My latest idea is as follows... can anyone give reason as to why this will not work?

I plan to create a very low raised bed of only 4inches

This raised bed would be concrete and look very much like a potato waffle

In other words a lattice similar to the tic tac toe game

Once this waffle bed has been constructed I wish to place removable concrete slabs withing the square holes

The slabs will have holes of approximately 4" dotted in various patterns

I will then attempt to plant vegetables within the 4 inch holes

When it comes to harvesting i will remove the foliage and the slab to gain access to the soil and harvest my potatoes

Drip irrigation lines can be inserted for easy watering and occasional liquid feed

During off season i will cover the 4inch holes with a plastic cap

My reason for this radical project is to maintain a neat garden, discourage my chickens from digging up my spuds and keep weeds at a minimum.

Any advice or constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated

Please be respectful in your reply

New ideas have to start somewhere

 

You could use a thick layer of woodchips as weed control.

 

Sounds like a lot of work, but I cant see why you cant do it.
Not sure where the weed control comes in, but then I'm still trying to get my head around the actual layout.
How big are the slabs, what veg will you be growing and what will be the spacing's.

 

I've grown spuds through X shaped cuts in Mypex membrane and they've been fine. I'll try and find a pic.

 

Here it is planting through weed membrane

 

Thank you logan
My hens will destroy a wood chip coating though

Hello pete, if you take a look at scrungee's recommend post you will get an idea of what i want to achive

Back to pete... the slabs can be sized around my growing area and spacing holes can be anything i want... i could have a spud slab or a carrot slab.. you name it

I could even engrave the name of the plant into the slab so that i remember which one to use

Also I can rotate the slabs position in the lattice to benefit the soil in up coming years

At the moment everything seems like it could work.. thank you everyone for your advice... more is welcome so please feel free to chip in

Scrungee... excellent work! I attempted something similar to your method last year with large cardboard sheets... unfortunately woodlice thrived between the cardboard and soil.



Yes it's going to be alot of work but i will only have to do it once.. i imagine scrungee's method needs to be re done after a certain amount of time.. but I've never used mypex before so please correct me if I'm wrong... in saying that the concrete solution would be more visually appealing when not in use during winter

Jwk.. thank you for the heads up.. i can always increase the hole size in the slabs if i restrict the main shoot.. my 4" holes are the equivalent of scrungee's x cuts

I will upload a drawing so you can better visualise my plan

 

Here's a quick sketch of what I want to achive

I've abandoned the lattice and opted for rails due to inspiration from scrungee's method

Dark red = compost layer
Light red = ground level
Light grey = slabs
Dark grey = 4inch tall raised bed rails

 

And here's an off season view with the plastic caps in place

 

This is the current messy layout

 

Its a lot of work for spuds but a can't see why it wouldn't work .
Or you could make a mesh grid and a wood frame or even a triangle structure and place over the top of the potatoe / veg plants , it may help smaller veg get going without being trampled . The chickens can still scrat in the ground while its not in use .

I am not a fan of concrete in a garden unless needed its not permanent but a plain the ass to remove if you change your mind , I'd start with wood as a test subject .

 

Anybody who's had a pile of concrete slabs, timber boards, roofing sheets, etc. laying on over their topsoil for any length of time should know what that does to the soil underneath, it goes shrunken, stale, and lifeless.

The maximum ground cover for plants is Mypex membrane (which lets water and air through), or heavy duty polythene dpm which will require lifting and refreshing of soil underneath each year.

 

Hi @Ianto , a refreshing, new idea and some good drawings, thanks for the topic!

Overall, the plan sounds a bit labour intensive for the gain. The paving would definitely look good and give some structure to your garden, perhaps the veg growing could happen in a different way?

Potatoes grow very well in buckets and any leafy veg could be covered with a neat, chicken proof cage that is easy to lift when harvesting. The thought of caging the veg rather than the hens is somehow very attractive

Welcome to the forum!

 

A big roll of stiff wire mesh is invaluable when gardening with hens! Cut into 1m lengths to form a mini-tunnel, can be quickly positioned or removed. Also reclaimed bird and hamster cage tops! Another big fan of weed-suppressing membrane here, although I must admit I don't use it on the veg plot. If you're young and strong, perhaps concrete would work, but I'd be wary of slugs, snails and ants moving in.