Weedless garden, tell me if this will work!

[Von]

I got sick of having a better crop of weeds than I do of veggies! So I had this idea of using the 3' wide black plastic between the rows and wood chips as cover between the plants. Since we had the big ice storm here in April the town has piles of free wood chips, you just have to haul them. So I got a load of chips and thought that they were a tad too big for my liking. See the attached photo. the stuff on the left in the bottom photo is the stuff after running it thru my $60.00 chipper/shreader and the stuff on the right is how it came from the town's pile. The grinds are quite fine, they are on a 2"x8" for size comparision. The garden is only 30' x 30' and it took me about 4 hrs. to chip all the wood, but I hope it will be worth it in the end. My goal is not having to weed at all! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif In the fall I should be able to pick up the plastic, and till in the wood chips.

Now tell me if I wasted my time and if this will not work and why! I fiqure it works with the flowers, why not with the veggies!

 

[knucklehead]

Von - You'll have no weeds, and maybe no vegetables, either. Sorry to mention it, but I figured you'd want to know.

When we discovered the transfer station gave a way huge piles of chipped brush for free, I brought mountains of it home in a dump bodied truck I had at the time. Trouble is, evidently hardwood chips actually take nitrogen out of the ground (or something), and they turned all our potatoes scabby. What we finally did was use grass clippings around the plants, which is great if you mow before the seed heads form - we don't mulch with long grass. This year we are putting black plastic over the beds, and we're thinking about using straw on top of that for looks and to cushion vine vegetables. We use bark mulch in the paths.

 

[thcri]

Maybe you guys should talk to my wife. We have not had a garden for years. Basically because of all the work that goes with it. So this year and I don't know why but she had to have a garden. I tried to talk her out of it but as usual I lost. So I had to go out and rent a tiller for my tractor, till it up a couple of times and then she planted it. Gee I really have a hard time seeing the veggie plants. But I sure can see all of the weeds. I kind of chewed her out a bit but again, I didn't get anyplace.

murph

 

[knucklehead]

<font color="blue">I kind of chewed her out a bit but again, I didn't get anyplace</font>

Oh, don't do that! All you need to do is lay out your garden so you can cultivate, and then go buy more implements to accomplish the goal.

Some o' them fancy CEO types might call that long range planning.

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[r0GuE]

I believe that will raise the acid level in the soil... not sure what you planted or whether they do good or bad in acidic soil. Wondering about bugs too. Probably not and issue for the garden though.

 

[dummy]

It's worth trying. Nearby Hydromont Farms uses a very similar method for their beds and it works good for them. Keeps the dirt and stuff from "backwashing" onto the fruit also. Too much rain this year, but.... nothings perfect, is it? Is it too late to plant one with and one without to compare?

 

[Von]

Its not too late, Just too much work! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif Plus I know what the other one will produce, WEEDS! At the present time I can't see it adding too much acid, as I just ground the stuff up and not much has broken down yet. I guess time will tell if it will work. Maybe I'll have to add lime to the soil, does anyone know for sure?

 

[Bird]

Von, I put all the wood chips I could get into my garden and it worked just fine. Of course, I had some old cow manure and some rabbit manure added to it, so maybe that compensated for any nitrogen the wood chips drew out.

 

[wasabi]

I think this approach may actually work for you this year, but if you till the chips in at the end of the summer, you will likely see significant nitrogen depletion and/or ph drift as the chips break down. An alternative would be to take the chips off the plastic at the end of your growing season and plie them up to compost them through the winter.

You might also consider planting a nitrogen adding cover crop this fall, then tilling it in next spring, and, as Bird did, add composted manure and/or soil supplements before putting the plastic down again.

Sabi

 

[Von]

Bird,
About 4 years ago I put about 4" of old cow manure compost on the top and turned that in. I think thats where all the weeds are coming from! I have never had the soil tested, just too lazy and cheap to do it! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Will the compost I added 4 years ago still have an effect, or still adding the nitrogen that the wood chips will remove? Or will I have to add some soon?