| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| culpepper |
clearing overgrown landnot sure if this is the place to post this but...We have a biggish garden and about a 35sq ft area at the bottom is massively overgrown with brambles etc. We hack it down every spring but it is always overgrown again before you know it. What is the best method of getting it under control and keeping it that way? We'd like to grow veg on it at some point. Beyond that brambley bit is a litlle woody bit which we'd leave for the birds etc about 20 by 20 on 2 sides but triangular and quite dark people often chuck their rubbish over into it and into the poor lady next doors garden too. Ant suggestions gratefully received 
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| tahir |
Depends how organic you are, if you don't mind using glyphosate then hack it all down and a couple of applications should do it, and it breaks down in the soil. | ||
| culpepper |
Thanks will give that a go!
Would like to be organic but would rather start with a patch of mud which is a lot less daunting. Did have it all vegetables when we first moved in as the last owner left his rotovator for us but it got stolen and we never managed to dig the whole lot with spades (hubby worked nights and I had two toddlers) so the mud got smaller and the weeds got bigger. |
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| tahir |
Once you've got it cleared make beds, 4 foot beds with 1 foot paths (of anything, slabs, bark, grass etc) will make it a lot easier to manage rotation and you won't compact the soil in normal management either. | ||
| Treacodactyl |
Sounds a bit like our garden when we moved in. I cut down most of the brambles, keeping a few good plants for blackberries. As the soil is light and chalky the rest were quite easy to dig out. If you don't have a shredder then a hacked pile of brambles will rot down if you have a spare corner. I wouldn't add them to a compost heap if there are woody.
On the other hand nettle tops make excellent compost, any roots will need to be left out or dried very well. I've done my best to encourage nettles into our garden, just goes to show how poor the soil is as it's taken three years to get any. 
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| culpepper |
We have plenty of Nettles 
Also deadly nightshade ,vetch,fingers and thumbs and lords and ladies. There are a few trees at the bottom in the wild bit ,mostly bird cherry and hawthorn and loads of Ivy under the trees. Would love to get back to the veggies though,it used to give such a feeling of satisfaction to go down the garden and get most of the dinner 
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| Treacodactyl |
Nettles make a good liquid feed I'm told. Have you got deadly nightshade (plump black fruits about the size of a small grape) or a nightshade which has smaller fruits? Deadly nightshade is one of the few plants I would be careful of with children as the fruits look very appetising. |
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| culpepper |
The nightshade berries are about as big as a cherry stone and black.Flowers are white.Luckily we had flower books including the flower fairies books when the children were young so they knew not to touch fairly early on.They're both teens now and we dont have any little realtives who might wander down there. Too many head high nettles and brambles to make it inviting anyway. | ||
| deerstalker |
If you intend to destroy the nightshade, please keep some seeds for me. I am involved in a number of local conservation projects where belladonna used to grow.
Due to persecution the plant is now very rare around here indeed, and we need a source for reintroduction. |
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| Treacodactyl |
I bet you are trying to use it as make-up. 
I certainly don't mean remove it, just for people to be careful with it if children who are not that aware of wild plants see it. It's a lovely plant but the berries can look nice but are very poisonous. I have seen a few plants about in the last couple of years. |
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| culpepper |
Any idea when seeds are gatherable? will send some on when they are |
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| tahir |
Look at that, signed up 4 days and a conservation volunteer already
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| deerstalker |
Atropa belladonna flowers from June to August, so it may well still have fruit. If this is the case collect up as many of the fruit as you can and store them in a dry warm place until they can be posted. PM me for my address, and I will of course, cover all your postage charges (wear gloves when picking ).
An interesting point is rabbits are immune to atropine and will eat the plant. It is said however, that the flesh from rabbits that have fed on belladonna has poisoned its consumer. |
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| culpepper |
well went down there yesterday and couldnt find any berries at all.We've had a few frosts So may all have been destroyed. 
Will have to wait for the next lot. If we dont find any in ours,Im sure my neighbour will let us look in hers as it is just as overgrown. Im not sure if thet were white now as looking at pictures on the net, they are purple with a yellow centre which looks very familiar. Thought it might be too late this year. |
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| culpepper |
We've been clearing away now for 3 weeks.Mostly me but OH and kids have been helping,now and again.
I chopped the brambles,nettles etc down with a grass hook and some shears and have been digging away to get the roots out . Im mostly using a pick axe for the digging as im much more an arms person than a leg person.We've now got an area 15 by 25 dug over and will carry on till its done. Cant find a single deadly nightshade plant though so doesnt look like I'll be able to save any berries after all.
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| cab |
Hmmm. Don't be surprised if seedlings appear now you've disturbed the soil. It'll lie dormant for years then the seeds germinate and it's everywhere. I've never seen a white flowered cultivar, all the ones I've seen have been purple. I've only ever seen the white ones in pictures. |
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| culpepper |
well I'll keep my eyes peeled incase any show up.Im using weed supressing sheet to cover the dug bits but theres plenty that isnt dug yet.
We did try weed killing the whole lot last year(did it twice) but although it did look a bit sorry for itself,it just recovered after a few weeks and was as overgrown as ever. |
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| culpepper |
heres how its looking so far...
The weeds and bramble were all over and up to the height of the white fence 6 weeks ago. Im quite proud of my mud. Ive got 2 rows of potatoes in which are just coming through too [/img]
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| Treacodactyl |
You need to plant a few blackberries now and something to hide the fence.
Well done! If you are not going to use all the land right away a green manure should keep the weeds down and keep in the nutrients. |
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| culpepper |
By a green manure,do you mean to spread over it mulch style or planted ,Comfrey for instance.We have weed supressing sheets over most of the dug area (the black stuff in the pic) ,not sure how weed supressing it actually will prove to be but anything is better than just leaving it to go back to weed.We are away for 2 weeks next month so wont be able to dig up any bindweed I see peeping through where a bit of root got missed.
Ive no idea where one gets Comfrey and wether one buys it at plants or seed. |
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| Treacodactyl |
I mean sowing something all over the ground that will grow and cover the soil with small plants. When you're ready to use the ground you dig the green manure in and it rots adding organic matter to the soil. While it grows it stops weeds, stops nutrients being washed out and can even fix nitrogen depending on the plant.
For example, look at www.kingsseeds.com and go to shop, veg and then green manures. |
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| culpepper |
Thats a very useful link
Didnt realise there was so much you could just dig in. At present Im still clearing the rest ,of couch grass, bramble roots and bindweed. My neighbour at the old house used to keep her veg plot going all year by always replacing the crop as she harvested |