New overgrown allotment

[Lazgaot]

This article by Charles Dowding sums it up perfectly.

One bit of advice I'd give you is that when you start digging remove as much of the weed root as possible. Depending on your soil type this can be hard work. When I cleared my site I dug with a fork down to about 1 1/4 fork depths, turned the soil and removed every last bit of root I could find. It was back breaking and each bed (1.2m x 9m) took about 8 hrs to do well. I then mulched with manure and the weeds weren't a problem this year.

Good luck with yours!

[haza1981]

Thanks guys,
I have made some progress. Weed killer proved too expensive so have covered most of the plot with boxes and carpet. I'm now in the process of building a fence(erected four posts last night) Once my fence is up i'm then gonna move in my shed. Is there anything I can plant this time of year ???

[Two_Sheds]

Is there anything I can plant this time of year ???

This question pops up every couple of days in a new thread.

Yes is the answer: Japanese onions, Chinese veg, Winter Lisbon spring onions, winter lettuce etc. Next month: broad beans

[haza1981]

Cheers two sheds. I might take some time out this weekend and get some of those planted.

[binley100]

We also found a rake useful. We raked an area to rip out a lot of the grass, covered it for a while then dug it, removing as many roots as possible then recovered it then dug it again going the opposite way. Then we kept it covered till ready to plant , and then kept on hoeing and hand weeding, It seems to be keeping weeds down ok.

[glallotments]

You may like to read about how we tamed our overgrown plot in my website here

Hard work but you'll get there in the end if you persist - and now is a good time to start the weeds don't regrow as fast.

[Storming Norman]

I had a bad weed problem on my new plot this year.

The rake, cardboard, glyphosphate, potatoes ideas were all very usefully & successfully employed. Plastic was not great.

Where are you? Weeds are still growing strongly around here and weed killer may do some damage limitation still.

[haza1981]

I'ts been quite a journey so far with the allotment. We cleared it, got a fence up and then the shed. (We also bought a crowbar online which ended up being 30cm long)Unfortunatley today the wind got the better of us and pulled the fence down. It was quite downheartening after all the hard work. Well here is the photo's for all to see. Gonna have to put the fence back up with proper stays.

[Jeanied]

Sorry Haza the links aren't working - at least not for me!

[haza1981]

Some more

[haza1981]

And more

[haza1981]

And even more

[haza1981]

Last 1

[Jeanied]

WOW - the links are working now - some serious work going on there Haza - what are you planting first? Daft question I know - but important because the start of it all is really when the crops start going in!

[haza1981]

All depends on when it's all ready. Probably wont be planting until spring. Just concentrating on fixing the fence and then digging a few beds before the frost hits.
So far we have had some nice wine from the elderberry tree at teh bottom so our first harvest was good. Think I may have to create some gaps in the fence to let the wind through and add supports to both sides.