Help with new neglected plot!

[giley69]

Hi there, I have been reading this forum with some interest for some while, so decided to join myself. I am hoping to get some advice about clearing my very overgrown and neglected allotment plot which has been left for approx 3 years to run wild by the previous tenant.

I acquired a plot back in the summer and the allotment maintenance man gave it a spray with weed killer back in August but it hasn't been re-sprayed since. The man in now poorly and unable to help me anymore so I want to carry on where he left off but not use anymore weed killers.

This a my proposed plan of action:
- petrol strimmer to cut back most of the weeds, dig up any thistles, lop down the brambles that are coming over to our plot etc
- dispose of the garden waste as I don't want to add this to a compost heap & assume that it wont burn on a bonfire (please correct me if I am wrong). I plan to cut/chop it put it in heavy duty bags and then it will be collected.
- Then I plan to either dig up the rest or cover with a weed suppressant fabric - but I am not sure & if so, how long it needs covering for. Would it also be good if it was dug over, cover it with manure, re-cover with the sheeting and then leave it for the winter?
- Next year once the weeds have gone was I then going to use a rotivator!?

I am very new to this and was hoping that someone could advise on whether my plan seems ok!

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Louise

[Snadger]

Bit lost off here. Are you saying it was sprayed in August and you haven't done anything to it since then?

[Hazel at the Hill]

Hi Giley, and welcome to the Vine!

Well done for getting yourself a plot - I'll bet that when your allotment chappy sprayed, he told you to leave the weeds to die down?

Well, hopefully they've done that now, and my plan would now be to strim off everything weed like, and compost/burn/remove, then cover the entire plot with cardboard and a whacking great layer of manure on top of THAT, then go home and dream of veg until the middle of February when the cardboard will have rotted, the worms will have dug in the manure for you.

In the Spring (before any weeds start to get going) you can fork the whole lot over, removing anything that looks like roots and you're up an running!

Also I would not go NEAR a rotivator - it's a short term fix which will only perpetual any perennial weeks!

[Nicos]

Hello there and welcome to the Vine!!!

I presume you are being sensible and slowly working your way through the plot , having used weedkiller to prevent it getting even more out of control???
Well done getting your first lottie too!

You can certainly bonfire any weeds/brambles if you can give them a chance to dry out a bit first, although I can understand you wanting to be rid of them! ( you need to shake off as much soil as poss off the roots though first)

The idea you have is sound- the muck will act as a weed supressor until the seeds in it germinate! Cardboard/black plastic should stop that and would be cheaper than the porous weed supressant membrane you are suggesting.

I'd be tempted to dig and weed thoroughly first though, slowly but thoroughly as this will make life easier in the future.
Have you worked out what other weeds you have- are there any other stubborn ones as well as the thistles?

There will be plenty of people on the plots more than happy to give advice to the main problems on yor particular site- do ask them!

Any chance of a picture??? ( don't worry if not, cos I've not got the hang of posting pictures yet!)

[giley69]

Bit lost off here. Are you saying it was sprayed in August and you haven't done anything to it since then?

Sorry to confuse...we paid the association some money to clear the plot for us and then were going to put in the rest... The guy started the job, which he sprayed the plot once but then he feel ill. We also went on holiday in Sept and I have just had a family bereavement so haven't had the time to take over.

We now have some free time and want to do the clearing ourselves without the help for the maitenance man or the association as it really have taken soooo long.

Hi Giley, and welcome to the Vine!

Well done for getting yourself a plot - I'll bet that when your allotment chappy sprayed, he told you to leave the weeds to die down?

Well, hopefully they've done that now, and my plan would now be to strim off everything weed like, and compost/burn/remove, then cover the entire plot with cardboard and a whacking great layer of manure on top of THAT, then go home and dream of veg until the middle of February when the cardboard will have rotted, the worms will have dug in the manure for you.

In the Spring (before any weeds start to get going) you can fork the whole lot over, removing anything that looks like roots and you're up an running!

Also I would not go NEAR a rotivator - it's a short term fix which will only perpetual any perennial weeks!

Thanks Hazel... so just cut the weeds down, cover with cardboard, then lots of manure until Feb? If we can't get hold of that amount of cardboard, can you suggest anything else?

[giley69]

Hello there and welcome to the Vine!!!

I presume you are being sensible and slowly working your way through the plot , having used weedkiller to prevent it getting even more out of control???
Well done getting your first lottie too!

You can certainly bonfire any weeds/brambles if you can give them a chance to dry out a bit first, although I can understand you wanting to be rid of them! ( you need to shake off as much soil as poss off the roots though first)

The idea you have is sound- the muck will act as a weed supressor until the seeds in it germinate! Cardboard/black plastic should stop that and would be cheaper than the porous weed supressant membrane you are suggesting.

I'd be tempted to dig and weed thoroughly first though, slowly but thoroughly as this will make life easier in the future.
Have you worked out what other weeds you have- are there any other stubborn ones as well as the thistles?

There will be plenty of people on the plots more than happy to give advice to the main problems on yor particular site- do ask them!

Any chance of a picture??? ( don't worry if not, cos I've not got the hang of posting pictures yet!)

Thanks Nicos - I am was worried about using weed killer incase it goes onto to someone elses plot... I seem to be quite unlucky at the moment!

I am not sure about he bonfire - will the ashes be OK to put back into soil?

I like the idea of hazel's which is cardboard first, then muck but I am not sure if I could get enough of it though.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Thanks Hazel... so just cut the weeds down, cover with cardboard, then lots of manure until Feb? If we can't get hold of that amount of cardboard, can you suggest anything else?

Cardboard is pretty easy get hold of - any computer shop will have loads that they'll be happy to get rid of - or currys, apollo etc.

Cardboard is great stuff is it will exclude the light (thus thwarting the weeds underneath) and it will rot down. Doesn't add anything to the soil, of course, but that's where your manure comes into its own.

Just one point - root veg don't like rich manurey soil (carrots and parsnips just fork) so if you want carrotts next year you might want to think about growing those in containers.

[giley69]

Thanks Hazel for the advice! I will start collecting my cardboard... I do already have a few bits of carpet which I could use too - can I put the muck underneath these areas?

I did read up somewhere that carrots and parsnips don't really like manure rich soil, so instead could I have another area (which will be made into a bed) and grow a green manure instead?

Giley

[Nicos]

A thin sprinkling of ash all over should be fine giley

Doesn't your council collect cardboard? Maybe you could ask neighbours/workmates/supermarkets...you'll soon have plenty!

[seasprout]

Bit of reading material

Here is a few suggestions for reading matter for you when not on the plot, get down the library and look for these books..

How to Plant your allotment by Caroline Foley
Your Organic Allotment Pauling Pears
The Allotment Handbook by Andi Cleavely
Allotment Gardening : An Organic Guide for Beginners By Susan Berger

All the Above are also available from Amazon, just type allotment in the search section.

Grow Your Own Veg by Carole Klein, dirt cheap from thebookpeople.co.uk (not a club, just a shop)..
https://www.thebookpeople.co.uk

P.s Welcome to the Vine.

[Sue]

Hi
One place i've found the most ginormous cardboard boxes (you could live in these) is an upmarket florist with big plants coming in from Holland. Might be worth asking?
Otherwise just find out when business waste is collected and haunt the pavements early in the morning or the previous evening - you'll get loads of it that way.
best wishes
Sue

[Snadger]

I did mine the hard way initially but have adopted a 'no dig' regime since!

First of all I dug the whole plot removing the numerous weeds as I went. Then I divided the plot into 2 foot paths and four foot beds. After nmarking this out with strings I put a thick layer of strawy cow muck over all the beds. I have managed to erradicate all of the perennial weds in one season by constantly pulling a weed out if it managed to rear it's ugly head above the mulch. I have had good crops and the worms and surface fauna have done a sterling job of incorporating the mulch into the soil upper layer where it is most beneficial.
This year, because of the exorbitant expense of delivered manure, I am using straw (£1 a bale from a local farm!) as a mulch, bulked up with my own compost from my three compost heaps. No digging required now, the worms do it for me!
It has been mentioned before, and is very apt, that the very best thing for the lottie/garden, is the gardeners shadow!

Here's a piccie of mine, a couple of months after the manure was applied just out of interest! It doesn't look much but there's a 10 tonne load on there!

[giley69]

Wow... thank you all very much for taking the time to reply to my msg! It might sound odd but we can't wait to get started. It might be 4 months too late but unfortunately we have been let down with broken promises and poor Brian now being laid up for so long.

Anyway, we start the work this weekend - with the strimmer and loper with some help from a couple of friends.

Just to clarify - do you think we need to cut the weeds right down, dig over then cover with muck and cardboard?

Many thanks once again.

[giley69]

Hopefully here are some shots of the plot before it had been sprayed end of July! although it isn't really much different now... apart from not having a shed as the delightful previous tenant came & collected it 3 months after he should have done and currently all the contents of the shed are on our plot (long story!). This rubbush will be cleared in the next week or two...

[Nicos]

We have that weed with the red seeds which I can see in the last photo.
If it's still there, remove the top very gently straight into a bag cos the seeds drop off everywhere and it's a little b***er to get rid of the seedlings. It's probably the only seed I know which guarentees a 500% germinatin rate!!!

Plot looks good!

Yep ...one off thorough dig removing every bit of weed and root as you go.
Have fun!!