advice needed please

[sunflower]

hi i have looked everywhere for some black plastic to kill of the grass but to no avail but i have come across some see through clear plastic does anyone think this will work???

[Annpan]

Not really, it will stop the rain but not the daylight. Better using cardboard if you are planning on working on the ground within about a year (I left some down for 2 years, it broke down and the grass grew through it) Better still... use the cardboard with the clear plastic on top

[sunflower]

thanks for your reply annpan i had thought of that when someone else i know suggested using cardboard,

[Muscroj]

google black plastic sheeting on ebay, there's loads of choice, not necessarily very cheap though!

Why not look on freecycle & see if you could get some old carpet for nothing, that would do the job. Anything that cuts out the light for a long enough period would work, but of course cardboard & carpet would be messier to get rid of when the job is done

[sunflower]

if i used cardboard couldnt i put it in my compost heap after????

[Muscroj]

no reason why you couldn't, it'll just be a bit nasty to pull up after a few months of weather

[Cheezy]

if i used cardboard couldnt i put it in my compost heap after????

No need, put the cardboard down, put a mulch on top (compost, wood bark , soil etc) to weight it down. If you want to plant through it no problem cut a hole through and put plants in it, after a year the cardboard will have broken down in to the soil any way.

If you want the "black plastic" you need the woven stuff so water can get through and allow the soil to breath. Solid black plastic will make it sweat, and go foul.

The term you need to search for is either weed suppressent, or landscape fabric.

[sunflower]

ive come across another problem now the two bits i have dug and plantrd when it rains they get filled with water someone i asked advice from said i should change plots but there isnt anymore so im a bit stuck on what to do cos i dont really want to give it up aftr waiting so long for it but on the other hand i dont want to waste my seeds if everytime i plant them their gonna get waterlogged

[Rosendula]

You could try raised beds. Here's how Charles Dowding tells you to do it in "Organic Gardening, The Natural No-Dig Way" (I've not tried it yet)

The simplest and cheapest way to make a raised bed is to mark out the plot into 1.5m beds and 450mm paths with some string and bamboo, and then use a spade to lift the top 150mm of soil from the path area onto the bed next to it. Level off the bed, knocking out the largest lumps but not worrying about making a fine tilth, because adding a thick mulch of compost at this point (on the bed only) will help the soil to settle down again by nourishing its vital fungi, expecially the mycorrhizae that are so vital to plants' well-being.

If the plot is initially all poor soil, instead of digging out a path you could create a bed by importing a serious amount of compost, up to 150mm depth, even spreading some on the pathways.

However, I have heard that if you don't have something to act as a low retaining wall, as soon as you get a heavy down-pour the beds just wash out onto the path, so if you can get hold of some planks of wood, it would be well worth it.

Like I said, I haven't tried it - yet.