Pig Sty Avenue

Rumex obtusifolius, the common dock, is well named, being an obtuse weed. Likely, it took hold at the plot during the years before the drainage works were undertaken. The plan is to banish it from everywhere but the pond area. Membrane induced light deprivation, (which I learn from Rapp et al, 2015, is better called dark induced senescence).   And senescence of plant cells is a form of dedifferentation, which is what happens when a cell changes its function, and becomes something like a stem cell. I'm getting out of my depth here of course, but I can theorise that light deprivation will affect dock roots, but that they will survive in their senescent state in well drained ground for longer than a couple of years. Pull back the membrane, therefore, and the docks (and the comfrey) will reappear.   Cai, S. A., Fu, X., & Sheng, Z. (2007). Dedifferentiation: a new approach in stem cell research. Bioscience , 57 (8), 655-662.   Rapp, Y., Ransbotyn, V., ...

Glasgow Fair weekend, so four days to get to grips with the plot at this most disheartening time of year, when the weeds seem to grab me by the throat and slap me around the face, gangster style. This is the most troublesome bed, where the midden and the ruined greenhouse once stood, so infested by ancient weeds and broken glass. The strategy is to have maybe 2/3s of the whole plot under membrane, so that it's under control whilst I get the other 1/3 cleared of weeds and planted out with perennials. The membrane is a tool, not a state of affairs, to be used actively, rolling it back and hoeing the ground when time permits, and rolling it on again when the next flush of weeds comes. A 2-3 year process.