Bare soil overwinter

[Lando]

Hi
I have just moved onto an allotment. I can not decide whether to dig out the existing weed/grass and leave the soil bare and risk the rain leaching any nutrients out, or to leave the existing weed/grass until next spring?

I don’t have any plastic to cover the ground.

What do you suggest?

[Capsid]

Autumn is the time for digging, it's not too hot or cold for you and the soil is not too wet that it seems like you are lifting an elephant. Turn the soil over and let the winter cold break up the clods into a nice friable structure. If you have compost, it's good to add that to the turned soil too.

[Two_Sheds]

What do you suggest?

Cardboard, newspapers etc. or sow some green manures. I never, ever, ever leave soil bare

[taff]

dig it out [perennial weeds and couch grass], put it to compost somewhere safe, or drown the roots, or dig a pit and line the bottom and sides with very thick cardboard, fill and cover], then do as TS suggests.

[Two_Sheds]

See Taff, I do it the other way around: cover it for a few months, then in the spring the couch etc will be much easier to dig out ~ the worms will have done half the job for you

[taff]

good to know, I'll do it too if I still have my garden in a couple of months

[who says you can't learn new tricks? ]

[northepaul]

I have a big patch of ground at the lottie that I am not planning on using until next year, so I dug it over, (removed as many weeds as poss) put cardboard and plastic over, then next month, if the weather is still ok, I'll re dig it and remove more weeds and recover it. In spring I'll sow something....

[arpoet]

Try and get hold of some big cardboard boxes and flatten them out and use them to cover the soil (use stones and planks to keep em flat). The rain and snow will rot em down and the weeds will die off over the winter. In the sping it will be easy to remove any weeds and soil will be better for the cardboard. When you get organised next winter cover with well rotted hos muck too and let the worms dig it for you.
Like twosheds, i try not to dig, but do use a rotovator to plough furrows in the spring for planting.
Roger
ps Welcome to the madhouse

[Snadger]

You may have no choice.

If you leave it weed ridden you'll probably get grief of the allotment committee.

Hopefully your committee are enlightened though and not part of the brown desert brigade wanting you to leave the soil open to the elements.

Dig it, if you must, but preferably plant something in it. A crop is best, or a green manure if needbe or failing that an organic mulch of some description (but pleassssssssssssssse not black plastic!)

[Alison]

You may have no choice.

If you leave it weed ridden you'll probably get grief of the allotment committee.

Hopefully your committee are enlightened though and not part of the brown desert brigade wanting you to leave the soil open to the elements.

Not all sites have committees, thankfully we don't so are left pretty much to our own devices with the exception of the council inspection in early summer. Would prefer the council to be a bit more firm in getting rid of plot holders that do nothing for year on year but am VERY glad that we don't have to suffer the painful attentions that some of you have reported on here

[alldigging]

If you want to plant in it in early spring when are you going to get it ready for planting?

Know what you'll grow and that'll dictate more what you do.

You can smother weeds but it'll take a lot of material.

Why not go for a mix? Dig a couple of small beds and mulch and cover the rest. Once you've dug the small beds you might want to move on to the rest slowly, or decide that no dig is for you.

[kathyd]

When people keep saying 'please no black plastic', does that mean black landscaping fabric too? I use landscaping fabric in various places, and it seems to create wonderful new habitats for all sorts of things including slow worms and um.. well adders probably.

[Alison]

Personally I don't have a problem with black plastic (really hate the use of carpet though after trying to dig a load of it up when I first got my plot), it can be very useful. What I don't like is when people just cover the whole plot with plastic (or anything else for that matter) and then don't actually do anything in the way of growing for the next year. When I first got my plot it was late summer and due to other commitments we didn't have that much time to get too much done until the spring. As a result we strimmed back, did a bit of leveling, found some raspberry canes and covered most of the plot in either tarps or cardboard. As soon as the weather warmed up in spring I gradually uncovered areas and planted as I went. Some might frown on this approach but it worked well and was far better than the option taken on another plot of wide spread weed killer. I now have a series of edged beds, OH put down membrane and bark to make paths between some of them which works OK although the best paths are the ones which had cardboard under the membrane as it supressed the couch grass.

[alldigging]

When people keep saying 'please no black plastic', does that mean black landscaping fabric too? I use landscaping fabric in various places, and it seems to create wonderful new habitats for all sorts of things including slow worms and um.. well adders probably.

Weed fabric which blows about is a nuisance as much as weeds that seed.
Weed fabric that frays at the edges and then gets tangled up in things is horrible too.

It is useful stuff when used properly though.

It shouldn't be used to cover an entire plot for a year though.

[redser]

I have my entire plot done in scaffold board raised beds. I covered them with black plastic last year to protect the soil and nutrients from winter weather. A quick turn in the spring and they were ready to rock. I'll be doing the same this year. Although I may uncover them for a couple of days and give them a quick turn during a very cold and dry spell in January. Let the frost at them and any eggs that might be there. Makes sense to me not to let the rains wash out the nutrients.
Still learning and next year I hope to be organised enough to try green manures instead of the plastic, at least on some of the beds.