Strimming and sticky willy

[Etheldreda]

Hello

I've just taken on a full size allotment plot.

It is full of thick sticky willy.

I've rolled it into a massive heap, however I'm struggling to cut this massive thicket up into transportable sections (to put in one tonne bag, in car to dump).

Would a good strimmer make lighter work of it?

Thanks

E

[veggiechicken]

Hello and welcome!
I'm pulling up a lot of sticky willy/goosegrass/cleavers at the moment and its covered in seeds. You really need to get rid of those or they'll scatter everywhere and give you the same problem next year.
I think a strimmer would chop it up and scatter the seeds in the process.

[Etheldreda]

its not just pulling it up in clumps, its 2ft deep and 6x6 wide tangled mess massive mat to get rid of. Sadly the plot will be infested for a long time with those blighters.

The rest of the plot needs strimming as it has lots of nettles (6ft high) and totally overgrown at the back, cannot get into polytunnel and shed, so will be getting one in I think. Just pondering if you can actually cut into the mass with a strimmer just to get it into chunks you see.

The plot is on black fen peat soil, and the weeds love it as much as the veg does,

[veggiechicken]

Can you burn it off with a flame gun?

[Etheldreda]

no fires allowed on the peat fen allotments, it causes underground fires!!!

We are allowed attended incinerators, however the mass is too big!!

[Dynamite]

Make weed Tea fertiliser out of it and then no need to dump it and you get free feed.

Regards Rob

[Mr Bones]

Hi Etherelda and welcome to the Vine. I take it the cleavers is still green, will it wilt enough over the next few days to be able to compress more.
Alternatively, stack it in one place (maybe cover it with a tarp to speed up decomposition) and allow it to rot. That area will have lots of seeds but it sounds like your plot is already well seeded anyway.
Is the polytunnel on your new plot? lucky you.

[bario1]

Can you use something like a long handled cultiweeder to drag the whole mass somewere else? A bit of waste ground/woods or something?

[Jay22]

Eat it? Recipes online, I kid you not...wouldn't do it myself right enough! Yuk!

[burnie]

Apparently you can roast the seeds to use as coffee......................

[lottie dolly]

get a rake on it to drag it/pull up the worst,then pop it straight into a barrel of water,it will then be easier to dig at the roots,the nettles i would chop down with a cyth or some such tool,or use a spade,bend em over and chop off leaving a few inch of stem,just so you know where they are to dig out,again put in the barrel,but please wear a strong glove when handling,like leather,as the nettle stings go through cloth ones,it save unnesesary wordzzzzzzzzz heheheehe

[Chestnut]

Maybe try a pair of shears to cut it into nore manageable clumps?
Can you manage to separate the bulk from the roots somehow? it shrinks a bit as it dries out (i left a pile on the lawn at home, as I couldn't dispose of them immediately, they were smaller and less sticky a fortnight later!)

[Mark_Riga]

I've always hated removing organic matter of any sort from my plot. I find that the weediest site is likely the most prolific.

Lottie's is the best advice if you can. Put the seedy stuff in water to kill the seeds before putting back on your plot or on a compost heap.

I had a patch of nettles, docks, couch and thistles that I decided to cultivate (as my wife nicked some more of my vegetable garden for her sweet peas).

Last year end, when the weeds had died down, I turned it over - just 1 spit deep and this year, hoed it over twice before planting out sweetcorn in it and butternut squash and pumpkins along one edge with a few courgettes in a corner. The squash and pumpkins are rampant right across this lot now (about 20ft x 12ft) and I'm struggling to stop the courgettes producing marrows. However, there will be docks and nettles germinating there for a few years now.

If you want some clear ground now, I would cut out any bramble but other weeds I would walk over and then turn over with a spade. The rest I would leave to die down in Autumn and turn over then. In future years try to stop any weeds producing seeds and if they do, get them into a water barrel/bucket before they can be dispersed.

[Etheldreda]

Thanks for all the advice... And the warm welcomes x

The mass would take up a skip so I'd need a swimming pool or a skip rather than a barral and plast sacks

Ive bought some sharper shears and will try cutting it up tomorrow. It is nearly all dried and dead anyway..

[Mr Bones]

Good luck with it and keep us posted how you get on