What car would you recommend for gardening?

[shovetheholly]

I am a keen gardener and I have an allotment too. I find I need to do lots and lots of trips to get compost and rotted manure), and then there's always the lovely trips to buy plants! As a consequence, no matter how many times I seem to hoover it, my car gets really filthy. This doesn't matter too much at the moment, since it is an ancient VW Polo with no value to anyone except me. However, at some point I am going to need a new motor, and I'd like to get something that can be more easily cleaned up!!

The problem is: I also want something very ecofriendly (and would be willing to pay for this) and we only have one car in the household so this vehicle needs to do everything. I don't want to drive one of those large pickup trucks or a Landrover because they seem to be very fuel inefficient.

Halp!

How about a trailer? We keep borrowing one and it's been fantastic each time we've needed it.

I have considered a trailer, but DH thinks we don't have room to store one. (House is a v small semi). It would have to go in the front garden, which would look a bit meh. Unless you can get collapsible ones? (I am clueless about this stuff).

I use my senic ! Honestly though any car will get muddy, I will eventually buy a van or open backed Landy for my business, because of the mud. Can't you store the trailer at the allotment ? Other than that there's not much I can suggest, all cars get muddy.

Buy the most economic car for your budget and just use good quality boot liners or plastic tubs to save your car from soil etc.

I do use boot liners, but they just don't do quite enough!

I think part of the issue is the number of trips. At least 15 boots of manure, the same of compost, the same of green waste to take to the tip per year.

I wish they didn't put that weird matted carpet-like stuff on boots. I want something that I can vacuum and then wipe with dettol!

Maybe getting a secondhand trailer and storing it at the allotment is the best bet. I worry about it getting nicked (it is a very isolated site, and I live in a poor city), but I guess it it was old and I could fit it in the tiny shed I have up there, it might be OK?

You need a rigid fitted plastic boot liner designed for the car make and model. I have one and it is easily cleaned - nothing gets underneath it so the carpet underneath is like new. When I got mine I thought it was a rip off but it's been worth every penny.

Green waste - compost it.
Manure - sow green manures instead
Compost - make it from the green waste you would have taken to the tip.

Ooooh, Rhubarb - that sounds absolutely perfect for now! I will look out for one. Thank you.

Delicious - I do compost green waste, but not privet cuttings because of the acidity (I have three long privet hedges, so we are talking bootloads of the stuff ). I thought about getting a shredder and using them as a mulch, but apparently they take up too much nitrogen from the soil in the growing season. I hate privet! Will eventually replace the hedges with something better but until then, I'm a bit stuck (suggestions welcome).

Despite the fact that I compost everything else and doing leafmould too, I simply can't produce enough to mulch my garden once a year. It is surprising how much you need for a 100 x 25 ft garden to an inch depth .

Green manure might be an option for the allotment - I will look into it. The problem is my crop rotation involves planting over winter and summer, so there is the question of when I'd put it in. But maybe I could alter this to include it! Will have a look at my plans.

Privet can be used as mulch - it takes up nitrogen but from the air, it's only if it is dug in that it takes nitrogen from the soil. Used on top of the soil it will be fine, and as it rots down the worms will take it and it will eventually turn to compost. You could also shred and add it to the compost heap, as shredded it will help to heat the heap up.

To put green manures down, you just sow it when a patch isn't going to be used for a few months - so unless all your allotment is full to the brim over winter, put it where your bare patches would be. Sow as soon as you clear a patch.

You don't HAVE to mulch a garden...it is just a good use of compost that is home made, if you are buying in compost just to mulch then that's a huge expense.

I gave these options to save you the cost of buying a different vehicle; I run a community garden, an allotment, and a garden and at one point had 12 different gardens I was running in different schools etc, and I had to find solutions otherwise I'd have been humping all day every day...Those three things have served me well over the years.

Wow, Delicious - I had no idea you could use privet on top of the soil. Am slightly concerned about it releasing acidity as it breaks down - do you think this will be OK?

Unfortunately there is far too much to add it all to the compost - it would overwhelm the heap and upset the balance. There are only 2 of us in our household, and even though we compost everything possible it means there is a finite amount of kitchen and green waste versus hedge material.

I am definitely going to give green manure a go! I do have about 3/4 of my beds used at the moment with spring cabbage, winter cauliflower, broccoli, early peas and early broad beans, but there are two that are free that I could have used it there. Are the rules for planting the same as for manure, i.e. don't use it if you're going to plant root crops in the bed?

Mulching... my garden is really, really heavy clay (bog like in places), and I am trying to improve the soil gradually by mulching every year. I have chosen plants that thrive in those conditions, but even some of those struggle. I would like it to be slightly freer draining so am gradually adding compost and horticultural grit.

Oh, and I'm really impressed that you run so many gardens! Wow! I find a back garden and allotment to be almost more than I can manage. You must be a real expert (and very fit!)