hi i am new to this site , i have just planted onions which i started in compost

[zooskie]

will i get a crop or is it to late , also need help to get rid of blacckberries and scrub to bring back overgrown allotment, i live in billingshurst west sussex .

[gillian62]

We got rid of a lot of blackberry bushes at my allotment by digging out the roots. You can cut them down to start with and then dig the roots out then.

Overgrown grass etc is best to be dug out too. We rotovated an area last year but it just splits the roots of weeds and you still have to dig them out.

Cover any areas you aren't using as this helps to stop weeds sprouting and therefore makes it easier to dig them out.

[Thelma Sanders]

were they spring onions, grown from seed that you planted out?

I had some old blackberry bushes to dig out, it's a bit of hard work but worth it

[Aberdeenplotter]

Blackberries are quite shallow rooted and easy to dig out if you cut back the prickly bits out of the way first. As Thelma says, it is hard work but well worth the effort. Whether you get a crop from your onions at this late stage is doubtful but if we have a nice end to the growing season, you may well have some success. In the meantime, do try to get everything cleared and ready for a big dig over towards the end of Autumn and that way, you will get a flying start next year. Enjoy

[zooskie]

they were onion sets only paid 10 pence they were realy good sets , have made a slit trench so the roots go down easily then filled with compost , will let you know how it goes will keep watered .

[rustylady]

The reason they were only 10 pence is that they will not have time to mature and form bulbs this year!! That said, you should be able to use them as "overgrown spring onions"

[Florence Fennel]

As rustylady says, they might get a bit bigger than spring onions, but nothing like "onion" size. Good luck with your growing and particularly the clearing!

[ginger ninger]

Hello and a very warm Yorkshire welcome to the vine from Jinny cat & Me. Hope you have a good growing season.

[Two_Sheds]

Blackberries are quite shallow rooted and easy to dig out if you cut back the prickly bits

eh? No they ain't !

It's taken me 3 years to get all the bramble roots out of my plot ... the roots were as thick as my wrist nearly, and went down a couple of feet. I've broken SS forks trying to lever them out of the ground

What I did in the end, was hack off and burn all the topgrowth, then start digging out the roots. Take a pruning saw Z, you'll need it to get through those big ole roots