[mange tout]

Thinking of getting some windscreening for my allotment. Originally it was to stop weeds growing in from the outside, particularly nettles, which had the unfortunate habit of stinging my arse when I bent down to pick things, so I was only going to put it to half a meter high.

Then I figured it would also block out wind which would help the plants grow better so I thought I might put it the full height of the fence, i.e., about 1 meter.

My only concern is that it also provides shade. In Summer this won't really be a problem as the sun is high enough in the sky that it'll shine directly in anyway. But I'm wondering if late Autumn and Winter growing would be affected? Or if the plot might be slower to 'warm up' in spring due to reduced strength of sunlight coming in.

As I say south facing fence is 1 meter high, beds would start about 40 cm in from that. Anyone any experience good bad or indifferent with the stuff (I may be overthinking things here I suspect)? Saw a professional organic grower use it recently. My allotment on canal so there would be wind. 1m high will protect most things, albeit not the french beans which probably need it the most.

EDIT - it definitely helps as I've seen professional organic growers use it, albeit out West where it would be very wind exposed

[tagwex]

A few points.
1. Wear trousers when gardening so as arse doesn't get stung!
2. Use scaffolders debris netting, it is cheap, tough and will last for years. it is 1.2m wide.
3. Shading shouldn't affect your winter growth, heat will get through anyway, what little of it there is. Additionally, there wont be much weed growth that time of year anyway so drop the fence.
4. Overthinking, a bit yes.

[mange tout]

Its that difficult rising t-shirt when you haunch over thing. Very exposed. Maybe I should just wrap myself in the green netting.

[Blowin]

Can't see any reason why it should be a problem. For the last couple of years while the dog was young, I ringed my whole plot with very fine mesh woven 1m plastic netting, strongly staked all round, and it didn't affect cropping. Don't forget though that, if it's good enough to stop the wind, it will take quite a bit of strain, resulting in tearing. I had best results by holding it on the stakes with strong cable ties.

[mange tout]

Excellent - i'll lash it on so.

[Greengage]

you could also use lathes to hold it onto stakes stops it tearing at ties and run some wire through it to strengthen it and stop it sagging.

[mange tout]

Thanks. My friend has a staple gun so going to start with that.

[tagwex]

That will tear in the wind. Better with a loose fixing.

[Blowin]

Amen to that. Small fixings like nails and staples will produce tears in fairly quick time. Don't forget, something we haven't mentioned so far is that the wind changes direction, and each change creates its own area of wear. If you can find any of the half inch wide plastic strapping that often comes off bales and fertiliser sacks, that, wrapped round the netting and tacked on the reverse side, can be useful and durable. The skill of such scavenging is to pick such items up when you see them but don't need them, because they're never there when you want them.

[mange tout]

Jaysus - its never easy! thanks for advice

[Greengage]

[Blowin]

Indeed, Greengage, but Mange Tout doesn't tell us where he is. In my opinion, there aren't enough people prepared to scavenge, so sharing the habit isn't likely to cause me problems. One regular piece of salvage I find is ripped 'ton bags' of the type that sand and ballast comes in. The one part of them that always seems to survive is the lifting straps, so I get my Stanley knife and gently cut the stitching to release them. I then roll them up and tie a bit of string round them in case I ever need some form of strapping to hold something in place. Holding a young fruit tree to a stake is a good example. Any cast off lengths of knackered hosepipe I use to protect the ends of bolts from rust, or to slot on to a clothes line before wrapping it round a tree or post and thus prevent chafing.

[tagwex]

Jaaaaysus Blowin is there anything safe out there from a professional scavenger? Remember how Lady Fermanagh got locked up by the RUC for scavenging pallates!!!

[Blowin]

Answer, No Guv! Don't forget, one man's trash is another man's treasure. As for Her Ladyship, she's a big girl now and can deal with simple things like the RUC, I'm sure?

I've just had four nice barrow loads of prime topsoil out of my front ditch - kindly washed down from the kind farmer's field. Probably another two or three still there. Those dregs of coal dust left in the bottom of the coal bucket/scuttle? Hang on to your bread bags. Tip the dust into them and use to put on the fire late at night to keep it in 'til morning.

[tagwex]

Are you going go offer that man's topsoil back to him me wonders hmmmm?