How to get going again?

[eieio]

How do I deal with the baron bit of my allotment? I put black plastic down towards the end of last year on my then wild bit which when I have removed it this year, has been a doddle to deal with a dig over/plant etc but whilst I have been doing that what was my good end has gone wild. I have managed to dig one section that is housing my onions/garlic but the rest is totally weed ridden - could do a good line in dandilions!!!!! Bits that I didn't dig last year is couch grass ridden so is going to take time but where do I start with the weedy bit???? Is it best to use something or just dig and get rid as I go or should I try and skim?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[Flummery]

Cover and dig a bit at a time. Plant up as you go. Don't stress about crop rotation. Bang in loads of spuds!

Best of luck!

[Lazgaot]

Rather than dig it all again (you've already dug it up and will only bring mroe weed seeds to the surface) you could spray the new weeds with roundup to kill them off, then rake them all up and cover with cardboard and plant through that. The couchgrass has sprouted from the broken bits of root you left last year. It's a pain to get rid of in one go. Use a fork to loosen the soil and gently pull the grass to remove the long lenghts of root and try not to break it!
Good luck.

[eieio]

Thanks guys. Went down today to start and tbh I was totally down hearted as the soil is rock hard and the grass has taken over with the weeds and I just stood there looking thinking where on earth do I begin! The what is now good end, the soil there is just in hard lumps where I had dug it over and got rid of the weeds and even earthing up around my spuds was a hard job!

Can I use roundup and still plant? I will roundup the couch grass and when died down start getting at the roots.

[zazen999]

Thanks guys. Went down today to start and tbh I was totally down hearted as the soil is rock hard and the grass has taken over with the weeds and I just stood there looking thinking where on earth do I begin! The what is now good end, the soil there is just in hard lumps where I had dug it over and got rid of the weeds and even earthing up around my spuds was a hard job!

Can I use roundup and still plant? I will roundup the couch grass and when died down start getting at the roots.

You can - but you could cover with cardboard and plant through. This rain will help to soften the soil. And it will be free and you will be less reliant on chemicals.

[eieio]

You can - but you could cover with cardboard and plant through. This rain will help to soften the soil. And it will be free and you will be less reliant on chemicals.

Been raining here since I did the school run so fingers crossed the soil will soften. If I use the cardboard do I just lay it on the ground and make holes through??

[zazen999]

Been raining here since I did the school run so fingers crossed the soil will soften. If I use the cardboard do I just lay it on the ground and make holes through??

Yes. I use a bulb planter, and use either bricks, lumps of clay or anything else going to weigh the cardboard down. It is a fabulous way to get clay soils planted up without using chemicals. And the cardboard gets eaten by worms and incorporated into the soil over the winter.

[Alison]

Yes. I use a bulb planter, and use either bricks, lumps of clay or anything else going to weigh the cardboard down. It is a fabulous way to get clay soils planted up without using chemicals. And the cardboard gets eaten by worms and incorporated into the soil over the winter.

This works really well - did it on a totally undug section of the plot last year and planted potatoes through the card. By the time I dug up the spuds (which I didn't even bother earthing up), the card and the shade of the spud plants had really helped and it was much easier to dig through. Didn't have time to do much with it in the autumn so just covered it over again but when I took control of the area this spring (it now has a polytunnel on top) it was really easy to fork through. I've attached a couple of photos from last year, have one somewhere of what the ground looked like when we dug the spuds up but can't find it.