How far into winter can we clear our plot?

[moppet_217]

Hi

My Dh and I got our first plot just over a month ago. It has not been used in years and is overed in bindweed, nettles and all sorts of rubbish.

We have cleared about a third so far. I am just wondering when the weather gets cold does it damage the soil if it is dug over. The bindweed roots are quite deep that we have been clearing.

Obviously you can't when the ground is frozen.

Hope my question makes sense.

[BrideXIII]

well you can't when it's frozen. cos its too hard a job, but digging it over and letting the frost get at it breaks the soil up for spring.makes it much easier to dig and rake in the spring then.

if it were me i would keep digging for as long as i could , I am down south so our really cold weather doesn't get here until jan/feb.

if you put your location in your profile it will help us to see where you are and what weather conditions you are used to .

[Nicos]

Yorkshire eh????
HA!..will probably be be the rain which will stop you!
...I mean if the ground gets too wet then you'll be compacting it -which is not good.

Welcome to the Vine by the way!!

[moppet_217]

We are in yorkshire. I am from queensland, Austrlia and to me cold is 20 degrees. My husband is brittish so generally if he thinks it is to cold for something I just go with that.

[Nicos]

A good rule of thumb is that if the soil claggs onto the spade whilst you're digging- and it's hard to shake it off, then it's too wet to continue.
Get stuck in whilst you can...if that's what you want to do...it's not a race to get it all prepared.

[Hans Mum]

welcome from me too, i'm in yorkshire and generally when its wet its too heavy to dig as we tend to be on clay......whereabout are you/ i'm in leeds but there are quite a few yorkshire grapes on the vine.....if you dont get it all dug before the weather changes or your back goes then cover it in old carpet or cardboard until next year.

[Two_Sheds]

Yes, cold isn't a problem for the soil, it's the wet. If the soil sticks to your spade, then it's too wet to dig (you'll compact it, which isn't good).

If you can't dig it all, then get hold of as much cardboard* as you can, and get the weeds covered over. This will weaken them, and digging them out will be so much easier come springtime.

* find it at the rear of small local shops. Lay it down, wet it, and cover with a bit of soil to stop it blowing onto the next plot. Thick layers of newspaper (broadsheets) work well too.

[SarzWix]

Welcome to the 'Vine Moppet_217
I'm in Yorkshire too, and as the others said, it's usually wet/waterlogged soil which holds up the digging for me. Just do it as & when you can. Half of my beds were covered over with cardboard & manure last winter and were much quicker to dig over in the spring, plus the soil was already improved

[Gro-Bag]

yikes - I've been digging when it was too wet then - it was definitely sticky! I thought that was more down to the clay and that getting lots of compost and organic matter in would help. (the bits of patch I've had the longest were less sticky) It was during a dry-ish spell, after a wet-ish spell but then again they all are - I don't think it's stopped raining here for more than a few days since 2006. Is it worse to dig wet soil and risk compacting it, or to steer clear when its heavy but risk missing out on getting the soil improvers in?

[Alison]

I'm not doing any more digging for a bit now but am going up there after lunch to cover more the areas which we've taken back to ground level with some tarps which I bought last weekend in the sale at B&Q. Am hoping for a bit of nice dry weather in the spring so that I can get some more sections dug over ready for planting next year. I'm not too worried about getting any soil improvers in this year, next year will be my first so I don't really have much of an idea about the soil. It seems to dig through well and be better stuff naturally than that in my back garden so will see how things go and add accordingly next winter.

[Jenegade]

Is it ok to dig when there is a ground frost then?

I was going to dig some more today but had to go Christmas shopping instead - at least we've bought all our presents!!

Anyway, was very frost today, with a very thin layer of ice forming over still water. Tommorrows meant to be the same here, but I really want to get out digging (taking a lot of time, as there are TONS of rocks in my plot)!!

[Matt.]

If its a bit sticky as long as you don't stand on the dug bits its fine. Thats another good reason to have beds 4' wide so you can stand on the paths at the side.

Definitely agree with the use of cardboard.

[terrier]

Lots of cow/horse poo if you can get hold of it. Just shovel it on top of the soil and leave until spring. Let the worms and microbes in the soil do the hard work for you. Every winter I cover all unused ground with at least 6" of equipoo, it's a pretty persistant weed that will grow through that lot. I the spring, I just rake it over and take out any green bits that are left. If you put card or newspaper down under the dung, it will just rot away through the winter and add to the soil conditioning.