Overgrown wasteland of allotment - worth it?!

tsstss7

having problems with my back I've tried lots of supposed no dig methods and I can tell you what doesn't work. lolol

CARPET - only works for short lived weeds and does not get rid of brambles, bindweed or dandelions to name a few. Plus if you leave it down longer than a season things start to grow on top and through it!!

WOODCHIPS - even when thoroughly cleared underneath will only keep weeds away for one season before it starts to rot down and become a good growing medium for any weed seed happening to be on the wind.

BLACK PLASTIC SHEETING - works well for first and maybe 2nd season but then will catch and tear and start to disintigrate in the sun. Plus woody and tougher weeds grow through it anyway, it also encourages ants! HOWEVER it does work over shorter periods and can be useful as part of a gradual clearance technique (to keep ground dry enough to dig in wetter weathers for example and to discourage rampant growth on area's before digging).

I am currently trying and getting mixed results with a woven balck mulch that has a special close weave to stop weeds growing thorough often used for strawberries in pick your own places. - combined with regular hoeing. The mulch used is not the same as the woven mulch sold in most shops but is more hard wearing. This is quite expensive but I needed a more reliable short cut as I was pregnant and working full time so had both little time and a shortened growing season to deal with!

I have found that some weeds do grow beneath it but hoeing helps keep them down - I plant perennials and larger annuals in slits in the mulch and have gaps in between sheets of mulch for beds of annuals and biennials.

I am also currently clearing larger areas with a hoe (must be sharp) and just keep hoeing to stop new weeds taking hold ( I think this is called the stale bed method) this has actually been very successful but does have to be done at least once a week (and more often initialy) and obviously you cannot plant in the areas undergoing clearance. Once an area starts to stay clear for a period of time ( say two weeks) I then plant up and continue to hoe - pull weeds between new plants. It sounds labour intensive but hoeing is very quick and easy (once the initial harder ground clearance is done) and it is also much easier on the back than all that digging!

I do dig as well btw but only if planting (spuds etc)

Oh and I hardly ever water - encourages shallow rooting! I only water in to plant (or sow) and water baby plants and potatoes if needed.

Keith

Only spent an hour this morning and then an hour this afternoon there, it was far too hot! Still cleared another fair bit, the middle post is a guess at where I started today, I also raked the soil to fill a few holes and get rid of the hill which greeted me yesterday. I also dug up a load of potatoes, I'm going to relocate the plants to my current veg plot and eat the new potatoes




Barney - I'm not unfortunately, I'm in the south east which made me even more surprised to get a plot.

Barneysmom

:rotfl: You couldn't be much further away, good luck anyhow!
I'd love to see more pics as you get it established.
You could write a book about your adventure!

Zazen999

We took over an allotment in April, and swear by weed fabric to walk on and cardboard to suppress weeds. Cover what you are not going to plant up, or you end up clearing weeds only for them to grow back again as soon as you are on your way back home!

Plus the cardboard will rot down and it improves the soil as it goes.

louise_1981

I got mine a few weeks ago

http://lottielouise.googlepages.com/home

it was already separated into beds but it has taken me three weeks to dig out 3/4 of on bed due to the couch grass. But my next door neighbour who got his a week earlier has taken a different approach, dug over then planted what look like sprouts. Im not glad I am hand weeding, but I can see the benefits of my efforts, rather than watching weeds growing throught my sprouts!

I am going to card board three and four and dig five and it seems to have less couch grass, and is half the size. I have spent 4 hours today, but your right the heat is too much, but so is all this rain!

planted out pak choi, courgettes and beans today and only 1/4 of the bed to go!!

need to sow somthing to go in these spaces

Keith

Spent another 8 hours this weekend down at the old allotment, things are coming along nicely now, going to turn over this section over the next week and then hopefully plant something!



Not sure what I'm going to do with all this though

tsstss7

I wouldn't leave it there if I were you - you'll end up with a hump.:rotfl:

tsstss7

good job btw - bet your back aches.

greenfingeredsteve

keith you can rotovate your plot evey fortnight until the weeds give up then rake the top amount up,whilst you are doing this put up a few raised beds to keep you going then next spring your plot should be clear .
then take the beds down next year and if youve done it right you should be clear of weeds.thats the plan worked for me , weeds give up if continually turned over anyway see how you get on good luck

Keith

Unfortunately I don't own a rotovator, so the hire costs would be huge.

I was off today, so went down at half 9 and cracked on, the sun burnt me badly, I was stupid and didn't put on any sun cream, I have a very red back tonight.

I started with by double digging a bed of 1.8 x 1.8 and removing all the large stones, this was hard work.



I've got some radish, carrot and lettuce seeds to go into this in the morning. So hopefully I'll get a small crop from it this year.

I then dug a trench and relocated potatoes that I had growing in pots on our patio and earthed them up, I hope I've understood this right :rotfl:



Then I set about another patch of weeds, and generally tidied the plot, removing lots of new weeds and stones from the ground. I'm now past the half way point



The other tenants are fantastic, I've been given a lot of advice