Let have a vote.

[ACE]

For or against covering your allotment with junk to suppress weeds. Are there any real gardeners out there or  are you just playing at it.

[ACE]

[Spurdie]

Ooooooohhh!!! Meiow!  :P

[Roy Bham UK]

Ouch :o I like people with Spunk! ;D Don't tell me now that I wasted 4 hours laying that stuff >:( :-*

[busy_lizzie]

Heritage, Quite often when an allotment plot is taken over it is usually because the previous tenant has neglected it and it can be hugely over run with all sorts of weeds  So it is a big task to take on initially and can be very daunting for a new plottie.  I think the general advice is to dig as much over as you can and cultivate it as fast as you can, but quite often with a huge area to cope with, it is very easy to get down hearted  and discouraged.  You can either go the chemical way to kill the weeds or by covering it discourage new growth and help weaken what is there.  That seems a fair enough thing to do to me.  

The demographic of allotmenteers has changed now and the little old man who is on his bike and at his allotment every day to dig over every scrap of earth is not in the majority now - there are a few characters still out there, but he is a dying breed.  At our Site we have a lot of young middle income people who lead busy lives in work and play and are keen to grow their own food, either for the peace and tranquility aspect, or the healthy eating aspect.  A lot of woman, and young mothers  are also taking over a plot, people who haven't bags of spare time.  So any short cuts that can aid them is swiftly adopted. I am unsure what you mean by a Proper Gardener, how would you define one?  ??? busy_lizzie    

[Columbus]

I have no carpet on my allotment, I have no means of transporting carpet. I did have tarpaulin down for about 6 months and now its over my compost. I`d like a nice neat lottie eventually but I have to find a balance in life....

As for busy diggers...I will work 15 days and 3 long nights out of 21 and sleep for the 3 days after. I really wish I had planted mustard or some other cover as my soil is bare, but in a couple of weeks I can go check on whats growing and dig if I need to. Sometimes I`m a "proper gardener" and sometimes I`m not but old Peter says I`m, "Showing promise" and he should know.  :)

[Doris_Pinks]

I agree BL, I guess in Heritage's eyes I am just "playing" at it cos I do cover my plot in the winter! being that I am constantly fighting couch grass, nettles and docks to name but a few, I find covering in the winter helps me face it in the spring. If I arrived in March and had to re-dig all my beds by myself I would have given up years ago!
I do go up during the winter months, but it usually too soggy to do anything. I cover mine with  green tarps, and yes, the dreaded carpet, cheap. (well free actually!) You are lucky Heritage that you have the time and energy not to have to employ supressants!  ;D

[ACE]

I am unsure what you mean by a Proper Gardener, how would you define one?  ??? busy_lizzie    

At the allotment site where I have my plot 2 or 3 people tried the blanket covering method, much to the discust of the old guard, you cannot beat giving the ground its rough autumn dig and letting the weather do the rest. I have only just got my lastest allotment in the usual neglected state but 2 days strimming and a rough double dig and it is now usable and part planted. the unused part will be used as and when  and will be fully planted by march. Non of this namby pamby raised beds just good old fashioned rows of plants with the minimum of paths so I can get in amongst them with the hoe. (HOE =an old fashioned weeding implement) I don't have the time, I make the time to indulge in my hobby, as I work full time as a gardener. I use the time on my plot as relaxation and if I could not keep it clean and tidy I would let somebody else on the waiting list have it. Saturday and sunday for one and a half hours before breakfast does the heavy work, then a nice gentle potter when the time allows. I have other energetic hobbies  like folk dancing, motorcycling, deap sea fishing, diy,and walking the dog,also a very full social life. I was also declared disabled and unfit for work 3 years ago. But decided not to be beaten and have regained 85% of my mobility though the sheer determination to see any job through and keeping active.

As sugar was still being rationed for 7 years after I was born, you can deduce that I aint no spring chicken. So what other excuses have you got for not doing the job properly.

[Roy Bham UK]

If you really mean real gardeners, then we are, :( we’re not imaginary we are important and we certainly aren’t false, >:( maybe you really meant “experienced”  ??? there are many on this site, too many to mention but they are valued and the back bone to this forum and offer valued experience without any recompense. :)
Heritage, please share with us your experience so that we all will gain more knowledge, but please be gentle as some of us may be a little weaker than you. 8)

[Mrs Ava]

Oooo Heritage, you do like to cause sharp intakes of breath don't you!

I am not a coverer, tried that with our family plot many moons ago and it was a total failure.  On my own 2 plots now I am a digger and planter, even tho time is at a premium, altho I am not a hoe-er, I do try but can't seem to do it properly! I blame my lack of height!!

I have to say tho, time can be a premium, and if it suits some folk to cover their plot and just work what they can, then why not.  Each to their own.

Proper gardeners...do we need titles like proper gardeners?  Unless you are a farmer, surely you are only 'playing' at it?

_{Emma now ducking as she is bound to get shouted at}

[Hugh_Jones]

As sugar was still being rationed for 7 years after I was born, you can deduce that I aint no spring chicken. So what other excuses have you got for not doing the job properly.

Well now heritage, you may think you`re no spring chicken, but there are some of us who were gardening before you were even a twinkle in your father`s eye. That doesn`t mean that we all insist on gardening in the 19th century. Some of us even know that if we use our brains instead of our backs it isn`t necessary to keep on digging the soil over year after year - indeed, there were even books (for those who care to read them) written on the subject while you were still in short trousers.

I haven`t dug my vegetable patch for 15 years, but I`ll bet it looks just as tidy as yours, and my crops are just as good as they ever were when I did dig.

An autumn green manure crop, or a top dressing of manure or compost, covered over for the winter. will do your soil every bit as much good as all your efforts with a spade, and all it will need in the spring is a light surface cultivation to provide a perfect seed bed.

My definition of a `proper gardener` is one who has learned, and properly understands, all the options and knows how to use them, rather than one who insists on doing it the hard way just for the sheer sake of it.

[Sarah-b]

On my very light stony soil, on the side of a hill, if I gave it a rough dig in the autumn and waited for the weather to do its stuff, I can tell you what the weather would do. All my top soil would be washed away and I would be left with a heap of stones.

I think I do detect a bit of tongue-in-cheek in your ranting Heritage. But you have to realise everyone does things differently.

For example, I have a job and 2 pre-school age children, which means that whenever I am on the plot I am hugely hindered - but I think it is a lovely place for them to be and they learn a lot and they eat well too.

I would feel a bit more guilty about some of my more neglected patches if we had the luxury on our site of a Waiting List. But unfortunately, there is the constant threat of development. I for one will fight it with all the energy I have. But I also know for a fact that the more plots that are taken, the more unlikely it is that the developers will get their way. So it is better on our site to have a load of improper gardeners than 200 empty plots getting dug up by the bulldozers and turned into another souless housing development.

And yes, I do cover up the weeds sometimes and leave that bit for later, and have found it to be just one of the methods that enables me to keep on top of the jobs on the plot.

Sarah

[Granny_Smith]

Gardeners are like artists - all have a different view on how things should look. Not everyone likes Picasso style paintings nor do we all want perfection on our lotties. Some prefer an easier life 'dabbing it here and dabbing it there' while others only thrive doing endless hardwork.

Me ? - - - -

I'll be down my lottie in the new year with the Roundup, and then enjoy the fresh air and exercise once all the weeds have been zapped.

[aquilegia]

What about people with bad backs - if you cannot dig, does that mean you cannot garden?

[ACE]

Great answers and keen gardeners, keep up the good work. My work entails a lot of 'garden makeovers', guess what 99% of my customers want? A low maintenance garden! so I get very fed up with people playing at gardening It is a thing I really enjoy, but not as much as I enjoy winding people up.  ;D GOTCHA

[Val]

 ;D ;D...a man after my own heart.... ;D

[Hugh_Jones]

My work entails a lot of 'garden makeovers'

So gues who`s really the one `playing` at gardening

[ACE]

My work entails a lot of 'garden makeovers'

So gues who`s really the one `playing` at gardening

Dropped myself right in it there didn't I. So I had better put my hands up. But honest, I have never painted a fence blue!

[Roy Bham UK]

Arh but yea but are but you may still be winding us up Heritage, how will we ever now know what to believe hmm ???

[Sarah-b]

I knew it! Heritage!

[busy_lizzie]

Somehow knew there was something up too.  You just didn't seem like a stuffy person Heritage.  ;D busy_lizzie