Bigger job than I thought :-(

[mbj]

I've recently taken on a very disused plot, I've pulled a lot of the raspberry canes, docks, nettles, cough grass etc. out and covered the majority with begged and borrowed tarpaulins. I pulled a small section back, dug it over and planted some potatoes and left it two weeks. I went back this weekend and the soil is covered in mare's tail, couch grass, docks, dandelions, the pathways are knee high with docks and dandelions and absolutely no sign of potatoes at all. The rhubarb has gone to seed - didn't know they did that and I could have cried, it looked as though we'd done nothing. I can leave my borders at home a week or more and they don't look like that, why on earth does it come up so quickly and so densely in a plot? The soil was quite literally covered with weeds, you could hardly see any soil.

Feeling very discouraged . I'm beginning to wonder if I'm going to be able to manage it if I only go at the weekends.

Also, we have no water on site, I've got a few water containers and one was half full but when we went this weekend, the water butts were empty - would it evaporate that quickly with the hot weather we've been having? I can't see how I'll manage to get enough water to support veg. through the summer. Have any of you got experience of this? I really can't see how it's going to work. I could kick myself, I should have been trying to catch as much water as I can over winter so that I could cover it and use it over summer. As it is, I've got absolutely none now.

[Lesley Jay]

Unfortunately the weeds do keep growing back. You need to dig the roots out - no roots, no new regrowth. It will take time but eventually when the plot has been cultivated for a few years the weeds will be much less. Don't give up. Think of all those lovely fresh, healthy vegetables!

Where the water is concerned I would ask other plot holders what they do and follow their way.

[smallblueplanet]

Don't give up (well unless you want to!).

Trouble with disturbing soil as well is it brings lots of weed seeds to the surface and they start growing.

I don't know what its costing you but if its not a monetary drain just do as much as you can but keep as much covered that isn't growing stuff. I'm sure your fellow allotmenteers will have some good advice (and tales to tell). The chaps/esses on here are full of it too (advice that is ).

Good luck and keep (?) enjoying it!!!

[Alice]

Hello MBJ, you can't get rid of weeds in one sweep. The reason they don't come up like that in your borders at home is because you have been weeding there for years. The same will happen on your plot. You just have to do a bit at a time then go back and do it again as you discovered in the potatoe patch. I wouldn't be desperate to start planting (but understand why you are. ) I would weed as big an area as you can manage, leave it for a week then weed it again leave another week and weed again. By then it should be ready for planting. Good luck

[Nicos]

Oh dear mbj

The weeds you describe all have deep root sytems and will eventually need to be dug out.Your spuds will still grow so don't give up hope, but you will need to keep chopping the top off those weeds to stop them growing and producing flowers and seeds.
Can you fully prepare just enough area to plant in what you are growing at home, or have you enough room to put them in tubs in your garden? By 'prepare', I mean dig out all the roots-every little bit!.
Even if you sort out a small area , it will be a start.
This is the worse time for weeds, as all the dormant seeds and roots are making the most of the warmth and moisture.

We have no water on tap on the allotment, and we only have one and a half water butts of water.(the greenhouse needs watering from now on too) Each time we go down we take pop bottles of tap water and if not needed straight away, pour them into a butt for later use.That's easy to do and we have never run out. We go down at weekends and one evening in the week too.
At least give it a go, and take it a bit at a time!

[lyndap]

Don't give up hope. Our plot was like this 4 years ago. We covered it completley, and just worked a bit at a time,removing the worst weeds properly,then planted tatos and bean which did well.Don't be tempted to use a rotorvator to do the job quicker,cos you end up with weeds like couchgrass spreading from every little bit of root!Your spuds may still come up in amongst the weeds.Chin up. I'ts hard work, but well worth it in the end.

[Birdie Wife]

Hi MBJ,
You don't say whether you wanted to garden organically so if you're not ethically opposed to herbicide, this is what I would recommend. Spary off the weeds, put down membrane and build yourself some raised beds on top. Or wait for the weeds to die off and dig it over. For a big area, it can be soul-destroying to try and dig it all out by hand. You could look at this solution as a one-off! I know many people will disagree, but you'll get results quicker, and particularly as you only get the weekends to do the work it might be your best option.

[Nicos]

I agree there with you birdie wife! If the ground has not been handled organically in the past, one more year won't make much difference. I'd go down your route in retrospect!!

[andrewo]

It takes time, whatever I never use I cover in black plastic, keeps down the weeds and you don't have to worry about it - it also kills off the weeds.

[Clarea1]

My suggestion, like Andrew would be to cover with black plastic, you can grow in containers on top of it for now or cut through it. As for water, go to a camping shop and buy a caravan water container (or be creative and source from else where!) fill it up and take it down when you go. If you keep a big water butt down there you can top it up with what you don't use each time your there and eventually if you get a shed/ greenhouse you can set up some guttering to fill it.

When i started out I looked at my plot (30ft long by 15 wide) and throught OMG! But now I haven;t got enough space! Due to going overboard with spuds me thinks!

Why not keep a diary so you can reflect later on. Don't try and do too much at once, as long as it's covered the weeds will die off underneath and not grow new ones and and you manage what you feel able to.

Keep us updated.

[andrewo]

I had a couple of old baths on the my site, worked wonders for collecting water.

[Simon Kendrick]

Hang in there, trust me. I took a plot similar to the one you describe last August. I spent the whole of Autumn and Winter cleaning the plot section by section. With the help of family and friends, got it cleaned up. We partied down on the site throughout this time (great harvest festival from crops of adjoining plots, fantastic bonfire night to burn all the rubbish / weeds and even went down on x-mas eve to bring in x-mas day). Now the site is split into 15 beds and in each, I have crops doing rather well. My first try into veg growing....don't take it too seriously initailly, enjoy and pacey, pacey. Trust me, its great fun...even my 4 year old daughter loves it.

Let us all know how you go please, be interested to see how you go on...hang in there mate.

[Alice]

You've got it Simon. How do you eat an Elephant. One bight at a time. I have an acre of garden which was long grass and anything you want to mention including the old paint pots and burned out grills when I took it on 20 years ago. Started with a box of matches and burned the dead old grass then cleared and planted square yard by square yard as time and money allowed. Today it is gorgeous, even if I say it myself. Gardening is a long term project and you have to do it as if you were going to live forever. So if you're starting out on an over run allotment clear a squre yard and its a square yard you didn't have before - and just keep going. You'll get there.

[mbj]

Thank you everybody, you're really encouraging. The weather isn't helping, I can only really get up there at weekends and the weather is just appalling at the moment. It's constantly bucketing it down. I think I'm going to seriously consider going down the chemicals route, not something I'm happy about but I suppose I could use them, cover it and still not use it for 12 months to allow some of the chemicals to dissipate. I'll let you know how I go on when I go back this weekend, I'm fully expecting it to be knee high in weeds!

[nick the grief]

Hi MJB, you won't have to wait 12 months. You can plant virtually straight away if you use something like Round up (Glyphosphate based) as this breaks up in contact with the soil.

Once you get some sun, you'll soon catch up. Last year I never planted my spuds till now (I manages to trap a nerve in my back!) but things were OK just a bit late thats all.