We’re going herbicide-free in the lower Kernling vines. Everywhere else has had its dose of Roundup and is tidy and weed-free (see last pic below). The weedy eco-bit has now had its first strim. Mainly willowherb, forget-me-not and buttercup with bursts of nettle, dandelion, thistle and couch grass. Later there will be (aaargh) thistles, sow-thistles and ragwort. But in amongst there are some desirable, low-growing, non-invasive herbs and grasses. We hope if we keep strimming these will come to predominate and it’ll all be easier. After the strim, we mulched every other row with old hay to suppress re-growth. As you’ll know if you’ve handled bales, they come apart in slabs, which we’ve laid down on top of the  disintegrating old black plastic mulch like carpet tiles. Being old bales, the slabs weren’t  neatly square though

The un-mulched, rows will just be strimmed when they need it, and will be our experimental control. We’ll be looking at how effective the hay is at controlling weeds (plenty more in the barn if  it works) and what it does to vine growth.

Already there are small joys. We have newly-liberated barn space which makes a good place to put the tractor, mower and horse trailer under cover near the house. Half of the unsightly 23-year-old, black plastic  is cosily covered up. The hay will compost down on its own - better for the planet than burning and easier than composting it in heaps. And best of all there’s a bit of the vineyard that hasn’t been sprayed.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

            Before strimming                                                          After strimming

                  Loading up                                                       Laying the mulch by hand

                                                             

Making progress

Conventional herbicide strips in the top Kernling - no weeds - took half a day compared with a week of strimming and mulching over the same area at the bottom.

Will it be worth it?