Having 'A PLAN'.

[Corris]

I don't.

Every book I read says you have to have 'A Plan'.

We have now cleared some of the overgrown with an Alan Oxford thing. We have ground to a halt because the booby traps in the nettles and thistles are too concentrated in the area left to find a way in.

But, I have a triangular piece by the path to the chicken run which is about 10ft and four feet one end to a point at the other. Next to a hedge.

I have a square bed (currently under hedgecuttings) which is 20ft x 15ft probably and an area oh, 50ft square in front of the apple tree.

Now, I would like to do something, anything, with part of it.

We are digging up roots in the chicken run (stinging nettles, all of them) which is taking forever.

I am happy to spread poisons (we thought roundup) over the entire plot - but the roots are so entangled it's not even diggable, you have to fork them loose and pull, then fork more and pull more and sort of work outwards to get to a point where you can dig.

So we are doing that - and then I'll spray what's left I guess.

But I'm desperate to plant things (grass in chicken run).

So as I look at this triangular bed (manageable size, seperate from garden) my FIL says 'put grass in it, mow it, too small for anything sensible'. And he's a gardener.

I want to turn it over and throw in gooseberries or something (west side of a big hedge, would they grow?).

So, do I have to have 'A PLAN' or should I start throwing things in - because I still don't know how big the garden is, I can't get to the bottom or the right hand side at all.

And what worries me is if I don't do something with it, it'll just all grow back.

[zazen999]

Very little will take over a plot that is thick with bramble and nettle roots.

Surely your plan would be to clear it and then decide

[rustylady]

Clear the bed properly and give it a good digging. You'll have to do that even if you eventually decide to grass it. It will look much better when properly prepared and you can then decide what to put in it.

[taff]

^ wot they aid, then put something in it for winter, garlic or something, then you can decide next year if you want permanent fruit bushes or something.
Nettle roots are a right pain when they're entrenched, I know, I still have patches of them round the garden.
You could leave one little bit and use the nettles next year for pongy tea to feed your other plants....Push some slate or stone around them into the ground in a box type thing, it'll stop them sending roots out just under the surface.

[zazen999]

A good tip is to dig after a good rainstorm - it loosens the roots. That's what I tell the kids anyway.

[Incy]

As Zazen says, it's definitely easier when the ground is soft from rain. I don't think you can really make a proper plan until you've cleared the space though so personally I would concentrate on that first. Good luck, it sounds as though you have you're work cut out.

[Two_Sheds]

If you can wait, take off the topgrowth and cover the area with cardboard or similar (I used fencing panels once, they were really good at blocking the light) for 6-12 months.

The roots will be considerably weakened and much easier to dig out.

You could organise a digging party? There're a few Grapes over your neck of the woods who'd help out

[RedThorn]

As TS said, and use pots or buckets for growing in and as weights to hold the cover down

[Corris]

My fear is that if I clear ALL of it then I'll have lost track of the bit where I started - it has to be cleared (of top growth/rubbish/wood/asbestos etc) THEN dug over - and it's very big indeed. so the bit I started on will be grown back up, albeit clear of rubbish I suppose before I get back to it.

Still, digging the roots out must help with that.

So, dig over what I've got so far and keep eating into the big stuff? Then I'll end up with a practically ploughed field.

Plan comes after that does it?

[Two_Sheds]

I wouldn't leave any cleared ground uncovered, because as you say it will just get weedy again. This was my lotty 3 years ago.

I cleared a bit, and immediately planted it up or covered with cardboard/newspaper. I didn't have a plan of what goes where, I just planted whatever I had to hand. The plan came a year later once I'd worked out which bits were sunny, shady, windy etc.

My neighbour put spuds in more than half of his patch. Trouble is, he rotavated it first (couch grass) so now he has 100s of couch grasses coming up in his potatoes ~ it's almost worse than when he started. DON'T ROTAVATE !

[snohare]

Yeah, what they said. Mulch will kill just about any weeds/roots, given enough time and if it covers a large enough area. Must say though, my first thought was plant up that triangle with fruit bushes. Some of them will do fine enough in shade next to a hedge, as long as their roots are in lots of manure/moisture.

[Aberdeenplotter]

If there is room to get a mini digger in and you can afford it, sounds to me like it would save you an enormous amount of work. Some of the machine operatives are so delicate with the controls, they could practically lift an egg without breaking. The machines can rip out and shake out leaving you with a much easier job.. Just priced one for a job here today. Minimum four hour hire £100 + vat which should be more than enough time for your piece of ground. Operative can dig a hole and bury the majority of the rubbish as well. Worth thinking about.

[VirginVegGrower]

I was just going to suggest a mini digger. The lady next to our plot has had her top growth scraped ith one - she hired digger plus man. It looked awful on Friday - been neglected for two years. Now it is beautiful brown soil - in three days. WOW!

[Corris]

blimey.

Thanks everyone - I'm not sure about the minidigger/burying stuff. I'm told that there are foundations to a house in there somewhere, and I've already found a septic tank. They thought they'd negotiated access by buying a piece of land, that piece changed hands and they never got access to the plot.

It's slow, but I think we are getting somewhere with it.

[Florence Fennel]

I would be very careful if there's asbestos on site. My friend had to have the council to clear away some asbestos she found buried on her allotment and was advised not to grow there. There was quite a lot of it I hasten to add. Good luck with clearing your plot. Like everyone else says, I'd clear it first before you start making plans.