Thoughts on the statement 'a good covering of weeds is as good as a crop of green manure'?

I have just started working on a couple of acres which have not been worked for over a decade, historically agri land.

It had been left to grow wild which turned to mostly small trees and weeds. Before I got it the land was just scraped up, via machinery, of the small trees into a couple of large brash piles and in the year following to present day. Mostly long tufty grass, not sure what it is exactly as 'couch grass' does not seem to fit, having looked up pictures. It is really long and formed in big clumps which have been turning to hay in this drier few days we have been having. Any other ideas of what it might be or is it still couch but left to grow to bigger proportions than pictures usually show? Also brambles galore, which aforementioned grass seems to web over, as well as a good bit of common rushes in some patches.

I read the statement in the OP in John Seymour's classic book on self sufficiency. It is certainly a nice idea however, for practical reasons, I think some green manure crops will be better than just letting weeds grow right?

I mean it is useful to know this statement for now so I know I could just clear the weeds/pile them to the bed, perhaps removing the worst re-rooting ones like brambles, but after that, it would be more useful to grow other types which are more easy to maintain.

Also some green manures might be more aesthetically pleasing.

My plan is to knock the weeds down to soil on the parts I have a clear idea I want to use and sow productive crops on them and then in my own time work my way through the weeds on the rest of the field and sow green manure crops on them.

If it is indeed the case though that anything growing, including weeds, are as good as anything else on that uncultivated soil then perhaps it will shift my priorities in that I will not feel in such a hurry to clear the weeds if they too are doing the same job 'official' green manures would be doing anyway.

Planting 'nicer' green manures are advantageous though, as I see it, simply as they could suppress the nasty and bothersome ones like the rampant brambles that dominate most of the field currently.

Another benefit I just thought of is I read some are good for breaking up the soil, and this land being heavy clay, seems some crops for that would be a good idea.

So I suppose while weeds might also provide nutrients specific green manure crops can hold other specific advantages that you can use for your purposes.

 

I like the (initial) thought but my enthusiasm would be tempered by the knowledge of what the 'weeds' actually are.While a living root will help maintain soil organisms, the nature of nature is to revert.
There is no merit in harbouring noxious weeds. In this category I would include docks, ragwort, thistles of all kinds, buttercup, couchgrass, bindweed, brambles, tree seedlings, gorse ,bracken.
The best means of clearing such a large area, before they can flower/seed/spread is glysophate, or Sbk brushwood killer for the woody ones.
If the area is generally level, then mowing regularly will reduce the weeds and leave mainly grass, which may include couch which will require seperate measures.
Two acres is huge for domestic use.
Unless you intend small scale market gardening, you need to find a time effective means of controlling the greater area while you colonise the growing area. Do remember that any disturbance of the surface soil will bring up in to the germination zone seeds from the past use which will colonise( back to nature ).

 

Weeds do protect soil and do a certain job but it is very weed specific as to how beneficial they may be.
Green manure cover crops can be tailored to do the job you want and help balance the soil, so I do think they could be far superior but it does depend on what you wish to do with the land.

 

To follow on from @infradig 's sensible advice, what equipment do you have? If you have sit on mower, flail mower, UTV then you have a better chance of coping with that area. I know other gardeners here like @hailbopp and @shiney have large spaces, but I don't know if their gardens started in a good state.

 

Agree with infradig....tackle the pernicious perennial weeds first and thoroughly. No amount of green manure or competition will kill off a bramble and they colonise fast! I know the grass you refer to. Our former field was sown with it as fodder for cattle. Mowing does not kill it off.
+1 for Glyphosate and SBK then when you're sure that the roots are dead, would there be the possibility of getting a local, friendly farmer in to cultivate it for you? If not, are you physically able to handle a big, hired rotovator? After that is the time to think about covering the soil with green manures. ETA We started with a 2-acre plot of former farmland, albeit it was clean of all but aforementioned cow grass

 

The only 'useful ' weeds I would permit might be red deadnettle, grounsel,and chickweed because they die readily as required.
Mustard is an excellent covercrop to blank large areas because its cheap, dies after frost and has a fumagative effect upon soil pests such as wireworm, a feature of old grassland pasture, when dug in. (Do not assume I recommend digging/ploughing- but it does have some benefits in dire circumstances)
Conventional and Organic mixes and straights | Cotswold Grass Seeds

 

For farming: Legume family plants fix nitrogen at a rate vastly higher than most other plants due to a bacterial symbiosis they have, so sowing clovers or vetches or similar and harvesting them (tilling them into the surface or even just mowing them and letting it rot on the surface) will be better than just doing weeds. Especially since some weeds may survive tilling and be a pest when you grow crops again.
People also claim huge root forming annuals like mooli radishes can break soil up without tilling but a light till is normal before sowing new stuff anyway.

If you want to rewild or manage for wildlife thats a different story!
If you just do nothing eventually full succession will occur which will probably be small herbacious -> brambles and roses -> small trees -> large trees over like 40 years. Brambles will take 5-10 years to dominate, possibly theyll really take over and be like 4 meter tall impenetrable death wire and itll skip the small trees. Oak, Horsechestnut, stuff like that with huge seeds will eventually win. Maples and other far spreading trees can colonise an area before this happens though.

If you want to do low maintenance, you can try managing for field flowers. This still requires mowing at least once a year in winter, as far to the ground as you can. You can buy a big packet of native field flowers, mow really low and sow them in autumn or spring i guess could work too, then just mow once a year. This helps keep brambles down but theyll still colonise it eventually.

 

Well I didn't mean to use that method after having planted crops on them. I suppose it is a moot point as I would use the land sooner or later and want to keep something less unruly after initial removal of original weeds.

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Not level, on a south slope in a valley with a nice little trickle stream right at the top so giving some thought to using gravity fed irrigation, but that is down the line a bit once I have planted some stuff!

The past couple of days I had made a start on the wilder areas by cutting back with a sickle and gathering into a pile. Not done much yet but it looks much better on the patch I did yesterday. Still grass and lopped off brambles but looks much tamed.

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Well I can do this full-time and no hurry! Just work my way through it and leave whatever is wild to stay wild until I am ready to work on it.

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Well as above why not just leave the weeds do their thing until ready to work a given section and then after that run green manure crops after if there may be any gaps?
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I always wonder when people take over larger areas of neglected land if there was a scheme like rent a goat, or borrow a few pigs.
Perhaps not viable?

 

Takes the fun out of it! I like the hard labour! As I said I have 'all the time in the world'.

 

You should still mow occasionally to avoid brambles invading as they are a real pain to get rid of once established. Again even once per year will help. Alternatively walk around and dig every bramble you encounter.

 

I'll say it once more, adding 'in my experience', then I give up.....The only way to kill brambles, docks and field thistles is to remove or chemically destroy the roots. Mowing the tops weakens them but won't eradicate them. Every scrap of live root left in the ground will regrow, so chopping the roots up is counter- productive.

 

I should keep that in mind! I think with biweekly mowing the idea is youll kill any seedling that pops up but a yearly mow I guess wont as you suggest. Shovels still needed

 

I am well aware they grow back if you don't root them up. I would be rooting them up once I got to removing the rest of the top vegetation if sowing something else on a particular patch.

The bits I have cut down to the ground level and not lifted are only a temporary thing to make it easier to maneuver over those patches. Much quicker to do that for a bit of access than rooting up and of course accepting it is not a long term fix. I don't want to think of rooting up the whole 2 acres' worth! hence why I do it in bits as I work on each area.