Smothering grass by planting on plastic...how much digging is needed??

Hi all

I've got a new allotment and some of the rows are covered by grass. I was thinking of taking a shortcut and covering the rows with black plastic and sowing courgettes/marrows/squash at intervals in holes made in the plastic.

The plan is that by the end of the season the plastic will have killed off the grass, and I can dig it all over at my leisure.

My question is: how much of the row do I need to dig? Is it a couple of square foot around each planting station, or the whole lot??

Thanks very much indeed.

 

If the soil is not compacted then do you need to do any digging? One technique is to put a layer of well rotted manure or compost on top, cover with a roll of plastic and plant through slits. What sort of grass is it? The worst is couch grass which if you dig it with a fork will come up with long white tangly roots that when they break start a new plant....its a real curse. If its meadow grass and you don't mind hard work then you can dig and turn the grass in upside down, so it rots down at the bottom of the trench.
With meadow grass I would mow it or cut it if long and pile up the cuttings - they can go down the bottom of the runner bean trench. Dig a trench and barrow the top soil from that trench to where you are going to finish digging. Now dig so that you invert the sod of soil in to the trench as you move back, so you end up with a reasonably clean surface and the grass will rot down under the surface.
With the marrow family that are gross feeders and need lots of water, I used and will this year dig out a hole about a foot deep and as much square, or more. In to that hole I will throw in some well rotted manure and pile soil back on so that there is a low mound. The marrow, courgette or squash is then slightly raised - good for drainage round the neck of the plant but the roots get down into the lovely rich moist compost. Come the summer the growth and productivity is incredible. Some of the old allotment holders used to fence in their trailing marrows to deflect the growing shoots, growth was so rapid.

 

Newspaper or cardboard is ideal for killing off grass, and it then rots down to act as a fertiliser. Lay a few layers of 'The Sun', cover in compost/leafmould/etc and plant through slits in the newspaper

 

good advice from you both....I'll lay newspaper down (cheers whis4ey) and will do the 1ft compost square (cheers geoff) which I've heard about

I'm not sure if I'll cut up the turf this year, as that's what I'm trying to avoid doing. I have another 8 x 10 metre rows to dig, and could do with leaving a few this year if I possibly can. It's not terrifically compacted, I think (or hope).

Cheers,
Alexei