Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => General Gardening => Topic started by: Digger the Dog on January 16, 2018, 18:00

Title: New Allotment
Post by: Digger the Dog on January 16, 2018, 18:00
We've just got a new Allotment.
It is covered in "grass"
Should we remove the grass or can we just rotovate it in and keep turning it over every couple of days to get the roots to the air to kill it?
We have a Viking HB585 6 tine cultivator which should be capable of handling it.

or what?
Title: Re: New Allotment
Post by: Offwego on January 16, 2018, 18:54
I wouldn't rotovate it as the roots will spread everywhere . i would skim off the turf and start from there. Also store the turf in a mound stacked grass side down and give it a while and the turf will become lovely loam

or follow no dig principles and cover the grass with cardboard  and overlay with compost into beds= google charles dowding thats the way i am going from this year on

good luck with the new allotment
Title: Re: New Allotment
Post by: Digger the Dog on January 17, 2018, 18:27
I wouldn't rotovate it as the roots will spread everywhere . i would skim off the turf and start from there. Also store the turf in a mound stacked grass side down and give it a while and the turf will become lovely loam

or follow no dig principles and cover the grass with cardboard  and overlay with compost into beds= google charles dowding thats the way i am going from this year on

good luck with the new allotment

Skim off the turf" - Do you mean to roll it up like one buy new turf to put down for a Lawn?
Normally, I would just plough the land but I cannot get a Tractor and plough into the Allotments.
Title: Re: New Allotment
Post by: sunshineband on January 17, 2018, 18:45
If you take it off in pieces about 0.5 by 1m, they are not too heavy to handle. You can stack them in neat pile, grass down, and at that size, can make a very neat pile somewhere out of the way. Last time I did this, I covered the whole stack with black plastic and it hastened the composting process a bit and kept the light off any bits of grass sticking out so they couldn't grow