Kitchen Garden Forum

had a letter of the council today with a contract for an allotment.

it hasnt been used for over a year due to a problem with the soil that has been tested and confirmed there are no health issues.

so has you can imagine its full off weeds

advice on what i should do please

It's a pity the Boy Scouts no longer have "Bob A Job" week. The weeding and digging would have been an ideal project for the whole Scout Troop.
I'll let the allotmenteers come up with some more sensible suggestions, unless you've got a huge willing family and can hold an allotment picnic with lots of spades being handed out.

We had this problem when we took over our allotment. It had been ploughed, leaving it very bumpy in the corners especially, and it was full of mainly annual weeds and of course couch.

We sprayed it with glyphosate because it would have taken forever to dig out the couch by hand, it was just not going to happen. We levelled the worst lumps by hand and then we rotovated it (we are fortunate enough to have a rotovator and would struggle without it) and have had much fun and success with it since.

We still have the odd bit of couch needs digging out, but doesn't everyone?

So basically, spray or dig out the perennial weeds and dig or rotovate in the annual ones, and you should be OK.

I wouldn't argue with the last post, but if you are reluctant to use glyphosate then it is do-able, it will just take longer to get weed free.

To supplement whatever digging and weeding you can do use a lot of black plastic or woven fabric, and smother weeds in any area not being used. You can also plant larger crops through the permeable woven fabric or cardboard.

Transplanted plantlets will cope better with competition than seedlings grown direct on site.

If you are using glycophosphate do cover any perennial crops such as asparagus or artichokes you may have inherited, as the stuff will kill things from windblown spray.


Whichever option do remember you're meant to be enjoying it... I sometimes forget and feel pressure to get it all productive and perfect

So often you see people breaking in neglected ground with the rotovator going at full speed or as my machine's throttle likes to call it - 'hare' setting.
If you are going to rotovate, use the very slowest speed possible on your machine - 'tortoise' on my Merrytiller i.e. just above stalling speed. It'll take a lot longer but it is much nearer a digging type of action and won't tear up perennials nearly so much. It should then be relatively easy to fork out most of the weeds.

John

I would advise you to spray the area with glyphosate it will give you a fighting chance to get some control of the site this year. Spray, using the correct dilutions if appropriate, on a dry calm day when the weeds are growing and then sit back and wait for them to all die back. All this carpet covering caper looks awful and takes too long, but this is just my opinion as it seems that lots of other recent allotment holders like filthy, dirty, stinking old carpet and years of back aching weeding. I prefer to use modern aids to help progress and leave the weeding drudgery to the organic purists – it seems to make them feel good.

Best of luck whichever method you choose, it will all be worthwhile in the end once you control the weeds.

Barney

When we took our current allotment over about 20 years ago, it had not been used since the 1960s and was overgrown with mainly nettles, but also elderberry bushes of all ages. We took the top vegetation off and then treble dug it which took a year, making sure to get rid of nettle and couch grass roots. It was certainly worth the effort because since then it's just been a case of the usual maintenance. Try to work at it patiently, gcg, and you will reap the rewards!

I know some people like to be totally organic in their gardening and I respect that, as it is how I would like to garden, ideally.
However, if a weedkiller must be used, I will use glyphosate without toooo much agonising. As far as I am aware, it is fairly non-toxic to mammals and becomes inactivated on contact with the soil.
I'm not trying to convert anyone to its use, but if time or labour are in short supply, maybe a conscience or two may be eased.

The answer is in the soil!

When I first took over my plot,it was towards the end of one February and it had not been cultivated for some years.

It had 2 foot high dead thistle and dock plants,and some others as well as dead grasses, couch grass and bindweed.

I collected lots off cardboard from the supermarket, and one windy day (it had been dry for some time)set fire to the boxes etc. It was like those praire fires you see on the films, the flames literally raced across in minutes,all I then did was move the burning cardboard, using a fork to any unburnt bits.

It really cleared most of the detritis and rubbish away in one burning.

Then when the regrowth started I sprayed with weedkiller, I also spot weeded for a number of years. Apart from the bindweed,the thistles were the most resilient and persistant, but they soon went.

Now the worst pest is Chickweed and some Fathen (comes in on the manure) but I use the hoe for a few minutes frequently,which keeps it under control!

Cheers

My lottie hadn't been touched for a few years when I got it. My advice is to spray the bugger with glypsophate. I don't like using weedkiller but I will if i have to. It's not like you're going to be using it all the time, just a few times till the weeds are manageable.

Before you do, and if the weeds aren't too high, have a good scout about and see what you have in there. Maybe fruit bushes or anything you'd like to keep. Sometimes, the council will let a mini digger in to scim the top. My local council does this occasionally. Or, you could find a building site and slip one of the lads a bit of cash to do it for you.

After you've sprayed it and the weeds have died down, start digging small bits at a time and double dig them. You could still get some stuff grown this year.

I would also think very very carefully about the layout you want for the plot. I made the mistake of just diving in, all shovels flying, without any plan of action. This lack of foresight and planning on my part meant that I wasn't efficient with what I was doing. Study where the sun rises and sets, which part of the plot gets the most light. Also think about what you like to eat and what you would like to grow. Do you want a permanent herb bed, or aspbaragus bed? Are you going to grow fruit, or minature fruit trees. Trace out a few designs and see what you'd like out of the plot. Are children going to be going to the plot with you and w ould they like their own bit to do? Are you going to have compost bins? What about water butts? Shed and Greenhouse?

Sorry for long post, but I made some ill-informed choices when I started out and this set me back quite a long time. Even if you don't grow anything this year, you could get all the ground work done and you'll be ready to go next year.

Hope this helps and I haven't rambled too much

thanks for all the replies.
has it happens i have just fitted a new kitchen ,and have loads of cardboard that was on it way to the tip(well most of it anyway).
theres a shed at the beginning of the plot ,so i think i will put the compost bin and water butt there as well.

and dig a third of it for spuds this year and cover the rest of it with cardboard and black membrane which i have in the garage,this will then surely kill a lot of weed growth till next year wont it?

Yes, is the simple answer to your most recent post.
I agree with the answers about glyphosphaste, and I suggest you do this before covering the ground which awaits your attention. I have done this, covering a large area, then digging from one end. I sprayed last autumn, but a suprising ammount of stuff survived. I did a lot of digging in late January, when the wether was fine and pulled out masses of root material. I have put in potatoes, which should outgrow a lot of the weeds.

Just to add to your ideas above - If you're going to cover part of the allotment this year, you could still plant stuff over the top of the covers in pots or growbags - courgettes, salad, tomatoes, squash etc. Then when you dig in the autumn incorporate the worked soil/compost/manure from the pots.

This http://www.allotment.org.uk/articles/Clearing_a_New_Allotment.php page may be worth a read.

Glyphosate gets to work best if you bash the beggars first and spray into damaged stems, especially things like brambles - take a hammer in one hand and the sprayer in the other. Be prepared to go over it twice. You'll win in the end.