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Ground cover

 
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gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8577
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Wed Mar 04, 20 12:05 pm    Post subject: Ground cover Reply with quote
    

I am wondering when I should remove the white fleece ground cover that has been over the onions and garlic since they were planted in the autumn?
I also have sown the broad beans through the lightweight black ground cover and am thinking of leaving that as a weed suppressant.
Any ideas?

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45376
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Mar 04, 20 1:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

once my broad beans are up to about a foot tall, if i have any space for them, get hoed, earthed up by a few inches and then i plant salads, radish and often poppy(bees make beans)along the freshly turned soil at the base of the beans.

tis a good use of space, deals with weeds and the beans fix more nitrogen than they need

ps when the beans are over snip em at soil level, the node things on the roots will continue fixing nitrogen until winter

gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8577
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Wed Mar 04, 20 7:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

That sounds a good idea, space is at a premium, so edible ground cover is brilliant

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45376
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Mar 04, 20 8:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

earthing up often avoids sticks n string which all but the dwarf varieties seem to need if it is a windy place.

re the bee thing they usually play nicely and go in from the end of the flower but some bite a hole in the side to get the nectar without pollinating
if you spot small holes at the base of the flowers tis worth brush pollinating those ones

gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8577
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Wed Mar 04, 20 8:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

forewarned is forearmed!

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45376
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Mar 04, 20 10:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    


Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 20 7:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I think removal of fleece depends on the weather. We should be through the coldest part of the winter now, although more frosts are almost certain, but then I am in the sunny south. Hasn't been so sunny this winter though.

Like the idea of the salading under the beans. I might try that with some crops.

We sometimes get bees bite the backs of runner beans, especially early on. Perhaps the nectar is a bit denser then or they are just lazy.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 20 8:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Can you do that with anything you've planted, as long as they grow tall enough the let sunlight through to the inbetweeners?

gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8577
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 20 10:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Frost on the ground this morning 😕 well we are in Scotland

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45376
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 20 2:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

sgt.colon wrote:
Can you do that with anything you've planted, as long as they grow tall enough the let sunlight through to the inbetweeners?



quite often yep.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Fri Mar 06, 20 7:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We have frost here, and we are in the south of England. After wind and rain yesterday, it must have cleared over in the night. Can't say we don't have interest in our weather; nearly as variable as Tasmania!

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