Joy! We got one!

[eandrdavis]

We only waited a week and now we've got an allotment, it has two greenhouses with small potting sheds attached and a fruit cage which needs new nets. Bad point - it also has tons of weeds but I'm not moaning! Any hints on the best way to harvest the jungle? Thanks

[jacob marley]

Get it strimmed and rake it up and see what you have to work with good luck....jacob

[Veggi_Kid]

Most tool hire places will hire you a rotavator (if thats not a dirty word to you)???. Cost is about £20 a day with V.A.T. Use this once you have strimmed but there is a downside. Using one may smash the roots of the weeds to peices under the surface.

[BumbleB]

Well done. Clear what you can and then peg down sheets of black plastic. Then uncover and remove weeds bit by bit.
It does sound very ideal :-)

[eandrdavis]

Rotavator isn't a dirty word in fact anything which may make the job easier sounds great! Thanks

[Alison]

Rotivators don't necessarily make the job easier. We have a lot of couch grass and bind weed, if we rotivated then the roots would be broken up and we'd have even more plants as each piece of root makes another plant.

[marathon]

I was against using a rotivar but on the last bit of ground that is so compact I gave in. This week I looked at all the weeds coing up and started to regret what I had done. HOwever, once I started to dig up the weeds I couldn't believe how easy it was to turn the soil.

Yes I have clearted about 4 wheelbarrows of couch grass but the soil left behind is really good so I pleased as I can plant straight into it.

IF it was my allotment i would spray with round up first and then strim after a week and then rotivate and then cover the plot with black plastic and clear small areas at a time. A guy on our site layed carboard on the soil before putting the plastic cover over the top and that worked really well for him.

[Two_Sheds]

Roundup takes longer than a week to work

[jacob marley]

Roundup or Gyslophate what you ever you call it takes 2-3 weeks to work properly but only if sprayed onto green foliage .
the way we use it on our site is to strim the plot rake it of then when the plot turns green with new growth it is then sprayed and when it has gone yellowy white it gets rotovated and planted .
A chap was spraying some a month ago and i said you will see the bits you have missed he did not believe me but do's now it has been rotovated now and he is starting to plant....jacob

[Veggi_Kid]

"HOwever, once I started to dig up the weeds I couldn't believe how easy it was to turn the soil"

ecactly i found the soil easy to work also

[eandrdavis]

Thanks for all the replies, we've been there all day and we've managed to clear lots of the weeds. Neighbours said the plot had been well tended until approx 18 months ago so hopefully it won't take too long to get it looking good.

[Two_Sheds]

18 months? Shouldn't be too bad then. Enjoy!

[NOG]

I know I say it every time but....BURN them off.

If you burn them and leave it a few days it will help to kill the weed roots.

Then rotovate and pull our the root as you go along.

[bobbin]

Taking on a lottie

My neighbouring allotment holder is giving up one of his 3 lotties. Having been told I could take part of it over,I offered to gradually hand weed it until he relinquished it. He didn't seem enthusiastic and instead put weedkiller on it(I don't use chemicals. Before giving it up he is going to rotivate it and chop up the worms for good measure. Wish he wouldn't.

[ashymark]

I'm still in the middle of getting rid of some of the massive weed roots from my patch. When I had the 1st go at it I obviously must have left some pieces of root behind and they had all developed into little weed seedlings but were very easy to get out.

Think I have got most of the harder stuff done after 2 solid days weeding. Found it much easier to let them grow a little bit and then I had more to grab hold of to make sure it came out whole.

Soil feels really good actually considering it has had nothing growing from it besides grass and weeds for 20 year.