Digging Allotment

wellused

I have been manfully digging my new allotment plot over this last week or so, it had been neglected for a short time but is still riddled with some deep rooted weeds some of which go down 12 inches or more, this gives me the impression that even though the plot has been cultivated that it hasn't been dug to any depth. One friendly chap came by and reiterated that the plot had been well looked after and had good soil to which I replied that I had been told that by several others. We got chatting and he complimented me on doing a good job but commented that he thought that I was digging it too deeply, to which I replied that it was how I was taught to do it. I told him that the soil was digging well but that it was taking some time as I was trying to remove all of the roots as I went, yes he said my plot is full of weeds also, I enquired as to how long he had had his plot to which he replied 20 years. Hmm I thought no wonder his plot is full of weeds if he only scratches the surface. What do you think?

C_Mababejive

My advice would be dig less,use more weedkiller..

oldtractor

LOL have just round-uped my lotty. the weeds got the better of me this year

RAS

There's folk that dig for England and that is certainly the traditional method.

However I have a plot neighbour who turns his plot over several times a year. He leaves the pernicious weed roots in the soil as a rule so the digging achieves very little.

There are others who dig less but clear their weeds and weed roots.

It also depends a lot on your soil; if you turn over light soil you lose nitrogen and humus. Heavy soil probably needs it.

wellused

It is clay soil around here but this is quite light as far as clay goes, although it is quite shallow so far being only 8 or 9 inches until subsoil is reached. The soil has been cultivated I can tell as it is quite loose I think that friable is the term. I turn it over to one spade depth and remove all of the couch roots, bind weed, nettles, and docs, or try to at least, this can take about 45 minutes to do a 4 meter stretch and although I know it will be a grueling job to complete the whole 10 pole I consider this to be the only way to tackle the digging. I did use a systemic weed killer first but I am not convinced that it would have killed the roots of these perennial weeds totally.

Sambucus_Nigra

Dig out the perennials.
Hoe off the annuals.
Mulch once dug or all you do is bring old seeds to the surface and let them germinate again.

You never get rid of weeds entirely - unless you spray all the time. Best to learn how to manage them and use them wisely. Couch grass roots when bagged up and rotted down make a great potting compost. Nettles make a great compost tea.

I have a green cone and all the perennial weeds go in there, as they never come out again. Annuals all go in one of the other compost bins.

Once dug over, cardboard, grass clippings or fresh compost gets put over it - or a green manure is sown to keep the nutrients in over the winter.

-taff

I'd only bother digging once, to get perennial weeds out, then not bother ever again.
I wouldn't bother using spray either, you'll be eating the food you grow won't you? Nice mouthful of roundup with it?
I'm with that poster ^. Dig, then mulch. The worms will incorporate the mulch, and do your digging for you. The mulch will prevent weeds from taking too strong a hold, and you can easily pull them out then.

Linda32

It sounds as if your doing much the same as us. We've had our plot now for about 5 years and it does get better.

We dig ours over once a year at this time and leave it for the frost to do the work.
I dig out docks and couch grass if I can get the whole root out. Try not to break the route, otherwise both pieces take root and grow.

If we clear a bed to re-plant during the warmer months then we just quickly fork over and pick out the annuals.

Then just hoeing every now again.

HTH

EpsomOldie

Hello WellUsed

I did the same as you when I took over my allotment, although it had been neglected a lot longer than yours. I thought about glyphosating the lot, but decided against this and opted for digging the weeds out for the following reasons:

Glyphosate is:

• dear for large areas
• only works effectively when new growth is being made (and I was tackling the overgrown lottie in October/ November)
• most importantly, the dead weeds still needed to be dug out - or in if you prefer - before I could get at the soil, so I still had loads of digging ahead of me whichever route I chose

So I went ahead and dug out every morsel of couch, nettle, bramble etc. It took a long time, but I got to 'know' the soil and it was very satisfying to do. The good thing was that the soil - rich, loamy clay - is essentially very good, though a bit flinty.

Some existing allotmenteers came along and most were encouraging and supportive and others, er.. weren't.

The guy with whom I shared my allotment quickly turned over the soil on his half, and planted straight into it, so it was in production from the off. I was envious and rather dispirited, but needn't have been. When he gave up his half 2 years later and I got that half too, I found that all the couch, nettles, bindweed was still there, but with knobs on. Because the soil had been disturbed, it looked in good nick but wasn't.

I've noticed that quite a lot of allotments around mine are tended very regularly and are always planted up, but have lots of weeds - big, perennial ones, not just littlies, in amongst the crops. I just don't get this. It's clearly not 'wrong', as it seems to be okay by the people who own the plots, but it would do my head in.

I agree that weeds are inevitable, but I prefer to keep on top of them. I learned the hard way that if I don't, nature will take over. Because of foot surgery and other health problems, I couldn't visit my newly dug allotment from around September until April the following year. I blithely thought "it's winter so there won't be much growth". What a mug. When I went to the allotment the next spring, I couldn't believe it was my plot - it was completely overgrown and looked nearly as bad as when I'd first taken it over.

It broke my heart, but decided I'd learned a valuable lesson. I bloody-mindedly dug out the weeds all over again, only now, when I've cleared a patch I either plant it up with crops or green manure, or cover it with mulch, manure, cardboard, or best of all, black weed suppressing membrane. This prevents weeds growing until I'm ready to plant stuff.

I really recommend the membrane (I got mine from here...it's the Heavy Duty Landscaping Fabric: http://www.hedging.co.uk/acatalog/Index_Weed_Control_Fabric.html ) and I also put it onto weedy patches to weaken / kill them until I can get to them and finish them off properly, e.g. when the soil's too wet to dig, but ideal for weeds to flourish.

A saying that's become a mantra for me is "If you only weed when you've got weeds, you'll always have weeds". Its alternative "If you weed when you haven't got weeds, you'll never have weeds." works too!

Ultimately, it's your allotment and your decision as to how you want to run it. I've found a way that suits me, and I enjoy my plot. I hope you develop a way that suits you and you get as much enjoyment as me.

Hope this helps

wellused

Brilliant you are of my own heart I can't see the sense of leaving perennial weeds in the ground to grow every year, I know that by trying to dig them out I run the risk of leaving sections of root in the soil which will grow again but my logic is that this new plant will be nowhere as big as the original and therefore much easier to deal with, as for annual weeds I will keep them down with the hoe so that they never have a chance to get out of hand. I'll see how it goes but keep in mind that the old time gardeners never had the luxury of plastic sheeting so I'll be giving that a miss although I may change my mind as time goes on.