I am the proud new owner of 1/2 an allotment. The existing beds need clearing of grass then topping up - can I put compost on before planting shallots and garlic?
With thanks. jvi
compost, garlic, shallots
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retropants
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Hello jvi! Welcome to the forum. To answer your question, yes, go ahead and enrich the soil before planting.
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oldherbaceous
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A very warm welcome to the forum, jvi…..anything you can add to soil will help your next crop….I always say, you need to add something to the soil, everytime a crop has been cleared.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
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Colin2016
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Perhaps lay cardboard down with compost on top then start planting.
Got this in email newsletter from Charles Dowding....
"Onions and weeds
This month is good for planting sets of onions to overwinter. Best do that where weeds are not prevalent, because the thin leaves of onions (and garlic) offer no shade against weeds. Plus they stay as a tiny seedlings for a long time.
If the ground is very weedy, you could lay cardboard then 2 in / 5 cm compost. Or use less compost, as long as there is enough to hold down the cardboard. Then plant into that, either in the compost if deep enough, or through the cardboard if compost is shallow."
Got this in email newsletter from Charles Dowding....
"Onions and weeds
This month is good for planting sets of onions to overwinter. Best do that where weeds are not prevalent, because the thin leaves of onions (and garlic) offer no shade against weeds. Plus they stay as a tiny seedlings for a long time.
If the ground is very weedy, you could lay cardboard then 2 in / 5 cm compost. Or use less compost, as long as there is enough to hold down the cardboard. Then plant into that, either in the compost if deep enough, or through the cardboard if compost is shallow."
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Myrkk
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Hi, and welcome.
Charles Dowding seems to be very knowledgeable about soil improvement and after reading his website and newsletter my plan to improve the soil is to lay cardboard on the raised beds with compost on top to suppress weed growth (lots of buttercups in them) and fertilise the soil at the same time. He says a compost heap should be 3 green to 1 brown so you are sort of doing that directly on your growing bed. I was going to put winter green manure on but missed the window.
Charles Dowding seems to be very knowledgeable about soil improvement and after reading his website and newsletter my plan to improve the soil is to lay cardboard on the raised beds with compost on top to suppress weed growth (lots of buttercups in them) and fertilise the soil at the same time. He says a compost heap should be 3 green to 1 brown so you are sort of doing that directly on your growing bed. I was going to put winter green manure on but missed the window.
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AdrienneRobinson
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I’m a huge fan of Charles Dowding, I’ve been following his approach for quite a few years now with, I’m happy to say, much success. He is very free with sharing information and tips, and has a lot of informative and interesting videos on YouTube.