Starting from scratch. Advice please!

[heebiejeebie]

Hi - I have a share in an allotment which had been untended for 2 years. You know - knee high grass, bindweed, thistles...

It is in three sections.
The middle is fruit trees and low maintenance since it just needs mowed now and then.
The far section was dug over with compost and planted in July so now it is producing crops well enough but also needs a LOT of weeding to get roots out. A bit of rain and the thistles, bindweed and couch grass shoot up.
The near section (officially my bit on the lease although we're sharing the lot) has just been mowed. I don't want to be spending every spare minute pulling up couch grass etc and grubbing around finding all the bits of roots.

What's the best approach?

[Squirrel]

[QUOTE=heebiejeebie;26305
The near section (officially my bit on the lease although we're sharing the lot) has just been mowed. I don't want to be spending every spare minute pulling up couch grass etc and grubbing around finding all the bits of roots.

What's the best approach?[/QUOTE]

If it was me I would suggest Glyphosate! I try to be organic as possible, but resort to weed killer when I become overwhelmed with perennial weeds! Once you have got rid of them, then just dig them out as you find them. Gives you a fighting chance that way!

[dinky_doo]

hi ive been a on the plot for 8 weeks or so and mine was chest high in grass,thistle sand brambles what i did was to strim the lot down then use some "round up " on it im now in the process of diging it over hard graft i know but hopefully worth it next year when im drippin in veg i just paid £1 for a bag of spuds at the local shop
and the kids think its ace having a "new garden"
all the bestand stick at it
i have a few photos on another thread "newbie seeking help" of the plot

[sewer rat]

Hi Heebie-Jeebie
I agree with Squirrel and Dinky-Doo, there comes a point when organic principles have to be sacrificed and only Glyphosate weedkiller will get the job done. In fact, although it relates to larger scale growing than allotments, the largest official organic body in the uk, the Soil Association, state that it takes two years to gain full organic status but that the first step is to kill off any perennial weeds by spraying with Glyphosate. So don't feel guilty about it, nuke them weeds !

[JennieAtkinson]

Believe me ...... they'll have a very good go at growing back!

[nick the grief]

Yep, I agree Glyphosphate is you best option then dig it & anything that green is a weed & get rid.

My Dad had a maxim "1 years seed = 7 years weed" that doesn't mean you 'll have loads of problems for evermore it just means that the seed can lie dormant in the soil for ages.

If you can get some black plastic try using that to cover the area that will exclude the light & kill some of the weed seedlings off as well. You can always grow stuff in tubs & use the tubs to pin the plastic down so it won't look too bad.

[dinky_doo]

if you buy roundup get the concentrate as its a bit more stronger than the ready mixed shop bought stuff thats a tenner for 3 liters
look on e-bay theres a link on one of the forums to a guy who sells it in 1liter tubs which would do my 2000sq ft plot "10times over" give it a whirl

[soobeth]

Whatever you do don't grow mint out of a pot unless you want your gardenoverun beware it tends to try to send "runners" out of pots

[heebiejeebie]

Ta!

I sectioned it off & treated half of it to a good (careful) spray of roundup today (then my roundup ran out...). My allotment-mate has some black plastic so we'll cover it with that too.

I have previous experience with inheriting a garden full of applemint so the mint is in a pot on a shelf - I made one of those shelf thingys shown in last month's magazine, out of an old CD rack and some planks I found in the shed.

[graylegs]

hi everyone
when using glyphosphate/round up give it time to translocate down to the roots and kill them first! this is how this product works taken in by the leaves and carried down to the roots to kill the roots then the tops die when the roots are dead !
all the best Ian

[heebiejeebie]

Ta

I've done a second spraying on everything that was still struggling to grow and I think it's fit for digging over now!