Overgrown wasteland of allotment - worth it?!

smoky_joe

if the site has been left untouched for a longish period then the ground will be full of dormant nettle and dock seeds, we have been at our new house for 6 years and every year we are still plagued with them i have tried poison and every year they come back relentless :mad: mind they have reduced in size and strength,
as for the tarp i have a proper truck tarp which i bought of a haulier for £20 as once they get a bit taty they replace them with new shiny ones;)

Keith

I've been lucky to get an allotment, however, it requires clearing! When I got there this morning it looked like this...



After an hour...



I've spent 2 hours trying to clear it, however, I'm finding that a load of top soil has been dumped on top of weeds! So I've left it like this




What is the easiest and quickest way to clear this, or is it me and my trusty fork for the next few weeks?

Any advice will be much appreciated, thank you
Keith

kazwookie

Well done on getting your allotment.

Some swear by old carpet on top of the weeds to kill them first, then dig over or borrow a rotovator.

I like a flame thrower to get rid of the weeds last time I used one ,the neighbours thought kids were having a bonfire and call the local fire brigade out!!

Good luck

Keith

Unfortunately, carpet is banned by the local authority, and the chairman said not to rotorvate it until it was all dug out

Guess the best plan is to just clear a quarter, plant in it, and then work backwards.

I've got it free until October as no one has wanted it due to how much work is required to clear it. Hopefully the weather will be nice for the next few weeks and I can spend a fair bit of time on it.

I wonder if a flame thrower would kill the roots, or just burn off the plant

evilgoose

I'm working on my house and attempting the garden, I dug some of it in the winter to let the frost get in there - which seemed work a little. Your allotment looks A+ compared to my garden! lol
I cant use a rotivator due to the type of weeds - mares tail & dandelion to name a few. I dont really want to use weed killer. Its been several months of hard slog to dig it out with the trusty fork! I found easiest - especially when we had those few weeks of v hot weather - was to dig a patch the width of garden by just putting fork in and levering back just to disturb the roots, left it a few days and the sun got to work. then digging it out fully. my back is in half!

Oh yes one other thing I did was I bought some very cheap rolls of turf (someone selling for a £1 each as they bought to much and layed them over a section) acted a bit like a green carpet. moved them onto the next patch wehn underneath looked worse for wear then dug over the section.

hmmm, a flame thrower does sound alot more fun though! but suspect it wont kill off the real problem weeds.

sevlow

Think about how you will divide your plot up in the future. I would suggest a series of beds each just wide enough so that you can reach in to plant from either side. Sketch out a plan and then roughlt mark out the beds with bits of wood.

Then concentrate on one bed at a time. Dig it, weed it, prepare it and plant it. Then move onto the next. You have time to get some plants into your first bed this season and feel like you have achieved something.

I took this pic from my alottment this morning and you can find links to others at my blog

ok_go

Is this any help to you???

http://www.permaculture-exchange.org/sheet.html

You may need to think differently than traditional digging style allotmenting but it is a quick way of enhancing your plot and you can do it in stages if needed.

The method is also not going to be good for root crops like carrots

If this appeals have a look at some of the permaculture info out there

regards go

Keith

I am going to speak in the morning to the head guy and take the whole plot instead of half, and then start digging the rest of it, plan is (weather permitting) to spend most of the day there and hopefully break it's back before mine!

The rear of the plot looks easier to clear than the front so I hope to pull up the grass and then rotorvate it, I think I am wasting my time at the front.

3m cleared today, 32 to go

Barneysmom

Keith maybe you could get some help with the promise of a couple of spuds/a cabbage next year?
Don't suppose you're in Staffordshire are you

mrstginger

Keith wrote: »

I am going to speak in the morning to the head guy and take the whole plot instead of half, and then start digging the rest of it, plan is (weather permitting) to spend most of the day there and hopefully break it's back before mine!

The rear of the plot looks easier to clear than the front so I hope to pull up the grass and then rotorvate it, I think I am wasting my time at the front.

3m cleared today, 32 to go

We got our allotment last year , too late to really do anything much,we rotovated it and put in some leeks,by the time we wanted to start this spring it was a mass of weeds again.

Now we just clear the ground we want to use and start working on the next section for the next lot of planting.It takes time but is very satisfying to see it getting clearer little by little.

Keep it up, it is worth it.:D