Allotment path advice

[yogi_gardener]

Hi everyone

We have made quite a bit of progress on our allotment which is great. We have planted some potatoes and onions (not sure if anything will happen there but we will see!) and have a couple more beds ready to go. So thanks for all of the advice so far.

I am after some advice about our paths. It seems that some time ago a previous keeper laid what seems like a house worth of house bricks down as paths around the beds. Now the challenge is that over time these bricks have got covered in soil and are now fully growing weeds. I only uncovered one row when I tried to dig it the other day!!

Somehow I need to uncover all of the bricks from the weeds with the ultimate goal to be digging them up and making new paths. Any suggestions about how I can achieve this?

I was thinking to cover them in cardboard for now (where I know they exist) and wait for the weeds to die off and then dig up the soil. There is at least 2-3 inches of soil covering them at the moment.

Thank you as always

[veggiechicken]

Do you want to move the path?
If not, can you hoe/rake/shovel off the top soil and pile it to the side of the path? Save your time and energy for growing stuff.

[yogi_gardener]

Maybe... It's more just uncovering it because at the moment it just looks like part of a bed... So I know where they all start and finish and I can optimise growing space. If that makes sense?

A hoe is a good idea, I might try that.

[veggiechicken]

I use a fork to find hard edges of slabs etc. You can't push the prongs into stone and it makes a different noise to forking into soil.

[Squingy]

In the iterest of time management and making yr job easier I would go with covering until winter when they are weakened and the soil is damp and easier to work plus you're not planting/sowing as much so theoreticaly have more time.
Not sure about cardboard in summer as the weeds are gonna come at u full force. Black plastic works great 4 me, the weeds get fried under that heat (mostly).
Good luck.

[Muddy_Boots]

Had the same problem with plot 1, path down covered in soil and a house worth of old bricks used to make it.

My solution was use a fork or spade and prod the soil to find the bricks, use the spade to skin the soil off the top of the bricks and pile it up into a mound somewhere out the way. There WILL be perennial weeds in it, pile it out the way so you can see what dies in the mound over a couple of months and later fork it removing what's still alive.

Sweep the bricks when the surface is dried so you can see them properly and wait ....... wait ........ wait. Soon as the inevitable weeds appear in the gaps between bricks as there will be Dandelions and other horrid weeds growing back, hit them with a weed killer or just normal table salt to destroy them and their roots. Table salt is cheap and an easy alternative to using weed killer if you don't like using it, pile it in the middle of a dandelion or other tough weed and leave it. Soon as it rains the job is started as the dissolved salt runs down the root and kills it, further rain dilutes if more but by then its done its job and the weed is dead so it won't affect nearby plants.

Hope that advice helps.

[Plot70]

I sometimes put a dessert spoon full of white spirit on path weeds. It evaporates and does not build up a residue of salt in near by beds. It also works for ants nests at a rate of about an egg cup full per nest entrance followed by a plastic sheet for 24 hours to hold the vapor in.

[Mamzie]

Its an adventure

Our home was derelict with decades of leaf mould and bramble. We uncovered 3 tumbled down sheds, 2 kitchen sinks, 1 shed my teen salvaged and repaired, a set of steps which saved us a job, and a long path to rear garden... Good luck

[veggiechicken]

I found a bathroom suite - bath and washbasin - buried in mine. The bath was full of empty wine bottles.
I've heard of outside loos but this was ridiculous.