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What would you do?

DorsetMarkDorsetMark Posts: 39
in Problem solving
Hi all,

Apologies if this seems a bit of a daft question, but i'm just after some advice.
I have another post about Green Alkanet weed, in which I got some really helpful advice... 
I now have questions regarding other... weeds...things like clover, and some random grass looking stuff that spreads without having been planted by myself...

I am working on the alkanet by digging up what i can, and will spray what I can't... now with the clover (it's quite tall but hasn't flowered), I was planning to just fork it up. I haven't got anywhere i can make compost in yet, so would you dispose of this in a black bag and take it to a tip (i also don't have garden waste collection :( ), Or, should i just turn it over and fork it back into the ground?

would it work as, a sort of natural compost if i broke it up having turned it over?

If that's the best way to deal with it, how long would it need to be left for before... well it's dead and just part of the soil?

Sorry if this makes no real sense!

DM :)
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  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    I'm no expert @DorsetMark but I wouldn't 'waste' clover. I scour my wild patch in the autumn and transplant any clover to the raised beds as green manure. So I would just dig it back in, maybe use it as a bottom fill for a trench?
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • DorsetMarkDorsetMark Posts: 39
    herbaceous said:
    I'm no expert @DorsetMark but I wouldn't 'waste' clover. I scour my wild patch in the autumn and transplant any clover to the raised beds as green manure. So I would just dig it back in, maybe use it as a bottom fill for a trench?

    Hey,

    Thanks for the reply. What do you mean, use it as green manure? As in... dig it up, then dig down, say up to 10 inches, put it there, put soil back on top? That way the weed is 'gone', but the nutrients go back into the soil? 

    Sorry if this makes me sound clueless.. its just... i am! :) 
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,085
    Mark, don’t put yourself down, we were all new to gardening at some time, you’ll learn as you go on.  Ask any questions you like, they’re never silly, it’s a silly person that blunders on, gets it wrong because they haven’t  asked. 🙂
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    I suspect I am more clueless than you are @DorsetMark !  I either dig it in (bury it about 4-6") in spring before it really gets going or I use it as a base for my bean and potato trenches. They have nitrogen nodules much like peas so I reckon anything that has had some of my garden nutrients is duty bound to give it back  :)

    As for compost, I started with an old dustbin that the bottom fell out of (my late husband put hot ash in it) and then took advantage of the council's offer of a dalek. You can make compost anywhere you have a corner really.
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • DorsetMarkDorsetMark Posts: 39
    herbaceous said:
    I suspect I am more clueless than you are @DorsetMark !  I either dig it in (bury it about 4-6") in spring before it really gets going or I use it as a base for my bean and potato trenches. They have nitrogen nodules much like peas so I reckon anything that has had some of my garden nutrients is duty bound to give it back  :)

    As for compost, I started with an old dustbin that the bottom fell out of (my late husband put hot ash in it) and then took advantage of the council's offer of a dalek. You can make compost anywhere you have a corner really.
    You are brilliant, that has given me the solution. I have, after doing some Googling for more advice, sowed some beans yesterday. They'll take a few weeks to come up apparently and then I will plant into the ground (or a no dig site, maybe i'll use them as a base for the trenches, so the beans benefit from the nutrients!

    I'm presuming you just did the trench, put all the weeds there, and then more soil on top?! That's great, thank you!
    do you dig them from the ground, and immediately put them as a base?, you don't let them sit somewhere for a bit? (I don't know why you'd do that as it seems they'd die and lose some nutrients, but I thought I'd ask). 

    Now I just have to work out how to make a base/side support for some 'Hippo Grab bags' that someone told me to use for this season as I have no where suitable and available I can grow straight into, or on top of, the ground.
  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    edited May 2019
    Hey @DorsetMark, brilliant is lovely but undeserved  ;)  with clover I lob the whole plant in the trench then add some shredded paper mixed with a bit of compost to stop it clumping then some comfrey leaves (which I grow for comfrey tea) and then I fill the trench with water and then dirt.

    I grow my beans over an arch with a squash or three in the middle so it gives the squash a really good start. I have serious clay so anything to break that up is a bonus and it means the ground gets a good soaking pre-planting.

    Perennial weeds I only use the leaves - definitely no seed or flower heads or roots, or else I drown them for a couple of months. I never use chickweed or bittercress they just get drowned, I am ruthless!

    Good luck with your Hippo bags they are great for parsnips and potatoes so my daughter tells me.
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,085
    I don’t do Trench anymore for runner beans, found out over the years it makes no difference, then read the Myths of Gardening book where it was confirmed, another job I’ve got away with😀
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • DorsetMarkDorsetMark Posts: 39
    Lyn said:
    I don’t do Trench anymore for runner beans, found out over the years it makes no difference, then read the Myths of Gardening book where it was confirmed, another job I’ve got away with😀
    Do you mind if I ask, how do you do with yours now? :)
  • DorsetMarkDorsetMark Posts: 39
    herbaceous said:

    Good luck with your Hippo bags they are great for parsnips and potatoes so my daughter tells me.
    Thank you :) Someone recommended them to me, but they... aren't what I thought. They don't seem to hold shape the way I hoped. So, when I've put soil in, it the shape falls and it's uneven. I think it'll be better if I find some wood, make a some supports on the sides for it and it'll keep it in place better...

    does your daughter put holes in the bottom, or did she not need to, do you know?
  • herbaceousherbaceous Posts: 2,318
    When they moved into their house they ended up with a variety of builders bags, some of which were slightly porous. The non-porous ones she did put holes in, stuck a couple of inches of grit and pebbles in the bottom and made holes in the sides at each end.

    They don't keep their shape perfectly but she had them stacked against each other up against the back of their garage, you only need 6-12" of dirt (depending on what you're growing) and they deform anyway once you start watering.

    What are you hoping to grow? I see from your other posts that you have potatoes already and lots of weeds! How is that going?
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
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