New allotment advice!

[KatieElizabeth]

Hello,

I'm not an experienced gardener but I do love plants and took an allotment a month ago.

My plot has a falling to bits shed, the green house is full of rubbish, there are around 16 beds that range in size, the soil looks good in these but the wood borders could do with replacing.

The paths that run in between the beds are completely covered in weeds - and here lies my question - what's the best way to sort this out, could I use weed killer or would that affect the soil in the beds? Would filling the paths with wood chips be a good idea? Is that expensive?

Also, I have a lot of garden waste. Do allotment sites usually have a place for this or will I have to take it to a tip?

Thank you for your help!

Katie

[Cadalot]

Hi Kate

Welcome to the vine, you will get lots of good and conflicting advice here

What are the paths at the moment apart from weeds, are/ were they grass. The thing you have to think about is how you are going to maintain the paths. Do you have a battery, petrol or push lawn mower?

When I took over my first plot and whilst developing my second, I dug and weeded the paths as well as the beds because If you have a couch grass or bindweed problem then in my mind there is little point doing a great job in the beds and surrounding the beds with 600mm of weeds all the way around them.

You could use weed killer as a one off, but that's really up to you and how you want to garden.

I have obtained paving slabs off freecycle for main paths and hard standing area, and use weed membrane & woodchip for the secondary paths between beds. Weeds are few when the woodchip is young and you have to top it up and keep it fresh, but as it rots down it becomes a valuable source for browns in the compost heap.

See if your allotment gets deliveries of woodchip, if not contact local tree surgeons.

I have recorded the development of my plots on my diary and blog and you can see what I mean on there. Think about taking regular photographs and making a record of progress, it keeps you going when you hit the wall and it all seems too much and its great to look back on and leave yourself reminders of what went good, bad and needs improving.

[sparrow100]

Hi Katie and welcome to the Vine.

Congrats on your new plot too, it sounds like a lot less work to set up than some, which is a huge bonus. Plus a greenhouse!

Personally, unless you know this is for you, I wouldn't invest too much in the structure of the plot in the first year. I lived with 5 rotting beds for the first year of mine because I'd never grown anything before and I wanted to focus on learning more about growing plants. It gave me time to figure out the soil and drainage on my plot too, ahead of my then fairly comprehensive changes to it the next year!

You could use weedkiller on the paths and that wouldn't impact the soil in the beds, but for that it's better to wait to Spring when they are back in active growing mode. Does your site have woodchip deliveries? Ours has a friendly tree surgeon who delivers trailers of chippings throughout the year. For free. Again personally, I'd get some thick card (bike stores have v thick boxes that bikes are delivered in) and tuck that into the paths before covering with woodchip. You can use heavy duty weed membrane too but that can get pricey if you have many paths.

For garden waste, ask your site rep or committee member. Some sites have skips - ours never does and it's the tenant's responsibility to clear waste away.

This is a brilliant blogpost about setting up an allotment: 13 tips to help allotment newbies… by an allotment newbie! | Jack Wallington Garden Design, Clapham in London

Hope that's of some use! Do you have any pics? They're like chocolate on here, and we like chocolate...

[Mr Bones]

Hi Katie, welcome to the vine and congratulations on getting your allotment.
However you choose to do it you can look forward to the type of tasty fresh veg that can't be bought in shops.

[Bigmallly]

This was my plot when I had it, it may give you some ideas then again it may not:

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...++40+days.html

PS..........Welcome to the Jungle.

[Snadger]

Paths can be cut with a lawnmower or ,covered with plastic or woodchips,paving flags or even straw.

. My paths on my old plot had tin sheeting which I found on the plot and an assortment of rotten wood pieces on top which I also foubd on the plot (some of which were old plot surrounds!) All timber on top of sheeting eventually royts down and can be added to beds.

Beds don't have to be surrounded with timber and can be done as resources permit

[Chestnut]

Hello, and welcome.

Ask the other plotholders what they do with garden waste.
Our site has a natural dip at one end which is used as a tip for biodegradable waste. Hopefully one day all our decomposed weeds will become soil and the ground will be level and usable for growing ��������

[piskieinboots]

Good advice from good grapes above.
Welcome, Katie.

[ESBkevin]

Hello and welcome.

Rather than weed killer you can use vineger or acetic acid (check evilbay - cheaper and essentially the same thing). It will kill off any green groth but not harm the soil although it does not kill deep root perenial weeds like dockleaf, bindweed etc. sust thier current top growth.

OR: Blocking the light prevents any growth and you can use that to your advantage. Cover the pathes with a double layer of brown cardboard. Cardboard is organic and safe, add some woodchip on top (not the shop bought stuff, find a local free source). Now your paths are weedfree and will contribute to the soil fertility over time. Add more woodchip year on year, it's unlikely you'll have many weed problems but they will simply pull out if the every get through that lot.

Hope that helps.

[Mitzi]

If, after reading the good advice above, you still want to use a weedkiller on your paths, then I would recommend a glyphosate-based one. It's systemic, so it's absorbed by the leaves and taken back into the roots, so it does kill deep-rooted perennials. And it breaks down when it's in contact with the soil so it won't harm your beds, as long as you don't have spray-drift onto the leaves of your crops. It only really works when the weeds are actively growing, though, so this time of year wouldn't be much good. Oh and it takes a couple of weeks to take effect, so you have to be patient.

[veggiechicken]

Hello and welcome to the Grapevine.
Cover the weeds with cardboard or some other light excluding barrier. You can plant through cardboard or remove it when you're ready to do a proper weed by hand.
In my opinion there are too many questions about weedkillers containing glyphosate to use them anywhere where you intend growing food. (Other opinions are available!)
Even if you limited the sprayng to the paths, next year you may redesign your plot and the paths will become part of a growing area.
Don't forget to take photos as you progress - its a real boost to look back and see how much you've achieved..............and share them with us

[KatieElizabeth]

Thank you!

Hello!

I thought I would get notifications for replies but I haven't! So it was a lovely surprise to see that you lovely people have replied and given lots of great suggestions.

I am thinking wood chip for the paths as I like the look of this and think it will require the least heavy lifting, but I think first on my list is just clearing as much as possible.

There's a newspaper in the shed from 1979!

I will most likely be back with some more questions. Thank you for the warm welcome 😊

Katie xx

[veggiechicken]

We always reply, Katie so keep checking in!

[Bigmallly]

First thing I'd do is read that newspaper..............

[southlondonone]

Fellow newbie here Katie. Also have a blog of sorts on my allotment. Seems you were left with a better plot than I was you lucky thing!

I think with my paths I am going to put membrane down, some damp proof membrane (i.e. plastic sheet) and then slab it as I want it suitable to walk on (for a toddler or two as I have little ones).