[Growwine] Plastic mulch, Wavelength selective mulches

[Dave Godfrey]

Burgandy was shocked some decades ago when a soil expert said "there was
more life in the soils of the Sahara than in Burgundian vineyards." Grapes
aren't strawberries; their natural home is up in trees and their roots will
go down 50 feet if they can. But they get lots of nutrients from the top
foot or so.

Therefore, one can treat a rich crop of "weeds" in the vineyard as sign of
good soil life--at least on the surface. What I try to do is get that "rich
zone" to entend down as deeply as possible. Therefore, no herbicides--all of
which kill and damage indiscriminately.

The useful alternative I have found is to go back to the older methods of
Burgundy and Bordeaux and plough (or rototill or harrow) with enough
regularity to enrich your soils. Cold climate Europe traditionally mounded
up rows in the fall and unmounded them in the spring. I have green manured
for a more rapid specific enrichment in trouble spots, but in general any
mixed crop of "unwanted greens" does just as well in terms of production of
a mass of potential nutrients. There are dozens of good books on how to
build up the intrinsic richness of your soil.

This strategy means no heavy cedar bark mulches and definitely no
plastic--both of which build poverty rather than richness in the soil. If
you don't like your current mix of "weeds" then winter rye is a good choice
(in certain climates) to reduce diversity and seeding with clovers is a good
way to produce a mowable cover that helps keep your balance of natural
nutrients where it should be. For fields with lots of clay, a year or two of
mangles before planting produced an enormous mass of matter and the root
penetration is far better preparation than the "bulldozer plough" which is
recommended here in BC. One traditional measure of soil richness is number
of earthworms per cubic foot; definitely an incomplete measure, but a good
quick indicator.

Among my preferred weeds for enrichment are:
stinging nettle---great producer of early mass of green in spring and easily
mowe
dock--good green mass and a root that's good for increasing aeration down
deep
broom--used selectively in very heavy clays; prune a plant  back to the
ground with lopers every year or so to keep new growth out of the canopy
and you'll force a deep root down to open up a path to lower soil levels
St. John's Wort--in moderation; definitely increases the micro fauna
mustard--at least with our warm winters provides pleasant colour in the
winter
horsetail--works well against Canada thistle in sandy soils

Every climate and soil mixture needs its own formula for beneficial weeds.

Dave Godfrey
GB Vineyards
Vancouver Island
On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 3:54 AM, Glenda Baker <glenda at dccw.ca> wrote:

> It doesn't matter what is used here, the weeds grow through it, any
> openings
> in the fabric for the vines sprout weeds, stones and rocks on top of black
> fabric don't stop the weeds. Even 4-6 inches of wood chips/mulch don't
> work.
>
>
> I can't use herbicides so I've been thinking of using a very short
> aggressive cover bamboo, it gets mowed once each spring, anyone ever tried
> something like that?
>
> Glenda in Newfoundland
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: growwine-bounces at littlefatwino.com
> [mailto:growwine-bounces at littlefatwino.com] On Behalf Of Steve Melchiskey
> Sent: June 5, 2008 9:12 PM
> To: growwine at littlefatwino.com
> Subject: Re: [Growwine] Plastic mulch, Wavelength selective mulches
>
> I've used the woven black mulch for a full 3 years now.....no
> problems except those identified by Alain. The other issue is that
> the behind the tractor mower doesn't get near enough to the mulch
> line, so there is a 4 inch row of weeds I have to weed whack, and
> deal with or they get very, very high. I don't use round up, but am
> tempted (too bad I grow organic). It actually has been the best thing
> I did for my vineyard and my back. I highly recommend it......
>
> I have also been thinking of pulling up the mulch and planting a low,
> dwarf grass where the mulch was.....some way of using the bare ground
> as a transition point. Haven't figured this out yet. Need an
> aggressive growing, dwarf grass......
>
> best,
> steve
> maine coast vineyards
>
>
>
>
>  _______________________________________________
> Growwine mailing list
> Growwine at littlefatwino.com
> http://lists.littlefatwino.com/mailman/listinfo/growwine
>



-- 
Dave Godfrey
Godfrey Brownell Vineyards
Glenora, BC, Canada
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.littlefatwino.com/pipermail/growwine/attachments/20080606/9d49c972/attachment.html