[diddy dave]

as u may know i have just taken on a lotti and as we only have 4 weeks or so left im trying my best 2 get everything done but the garden was not in use 4 2years so it was full of weeds ive been digging the soil over every day and its full of a weed that looks like spaghetti what is it and how can i get rid of the dam stuff please help as my back is in 2  because every time i turn the soil i then have 2 stop 4 ten minutes and pull it all out by hand .........

[Aunt Sally]

There's no easy way Dave.  

It sounds like couch grass roots or something equally nasty.  You can just work slowly away at it a bit at a time, removing the roots as you go.  When the bits you've not got to start actively growing you can knock it down with glyphosate if you don't mind using weed killer.  That will give you more time to get the digging done.

The more roots you can get out the better  

[Yorkie]

If it's thin and is a bit like piano wire, it sounds like couch grass.

Fatter and white, which breaks easily, sounds more like bindweed (or ground elder).

All these are perennial weeds - if you can't continue digging them out, you'll either need to cover them up with something for a while (a long while), or glyphosate them off when they start growing in a few weeks.  There's another thread on glyphosate somewhere else on the current posts.

Good luck!

[diddy dave]

thanks im going 2 try not 2 use weed killer call me modern lol....... i thought of salt i know first hand it kills weeds BUT BUT BUT it kills everything else..
they r white yes and do brake verry easy one of the old chaps said even a little bit left in will start 2 grow again   he then said if i do as much as i can then this year plant my taters there then they should grow....... any more ideas would be great thanks.......  

[GreenOwl]

If it is bindwind it hates cultivated ground.  Thats good for annuals like most veg, bad if you want to put fruit bushes there.

Whatever it is the best thing is to dig it out.  It takes time but would be worth it - if your back can take it.  Otherwise I'd go for the black plastic option and go at your own pace.  This is a link someone posted recently about clearing a lottie but I can't find it!  (I bookmarked it in work so I'll add it to this post tomorrow).  

Yeah it would be lovely to clear it in 4 weeks but not if its going to kill you.  Tortoise and hare mate.

Link:  http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/allotment/allotment-clear-1.asp

[Trillium]

Sounds like bindweed to me. Just went through that with my garden - dug it all out and still had to spray when the missed bits came up. Have to keep working at it and eventually you'll get ahead of it, it's so insidious.  :evil:

[amber]

at the moment clearing my allotment, its been a nightmare! I have a half plot now, but still ages clearing this. i seem to have the same problem as Diddy dave. basically digging up a lawn full of weeds. what shall i do with all the clumps of grass. can they be dug back in.
I am a complete novice need a step by step guide. there is a lot of long green trailing stuff in with the grass. are these weeds. trying to look for a picture of it, not sure what it is, HELP Please

[noshed]

You've probably got bindweed. I would let it grow then zap it with glyphosate.
You can dig the grass in by bunging it in the bottom of trenches as you go along - get some books out of the library and read the bits about single digging.
The main thing is take it steady - your first year will be a bit weedy, then it will be better the next year. Get a good hoe and keep the edge sharp with a file or stone. Then keep chopping the heads off the weeds as they grow between your crops.
Bung some early spuds in (all main shops now) in the next couple of weeks and that will help to get things going. If you like them, sow broad beans on another cleared bit.
Both quite forgiving crops which will help to improve your soil.
Good luck and let us know how you're getting on - we quite like looking at pictures...

[compostqueen]

Everyone seems to be in a tearing hurry to clear their plots at once and killing themselves in the process.  You'll get fed up and turned off if you get overwhelmed by the enormity of the task, so break it down. Do one bed at a time, plant or sow that with a crop and move onto the next one.

Keep all the weedy areas covered over with good quality black sheet mulch, well pegged down, then at least the weeds are getting no worse til you can get round to them.  I like the sheet mulch stuff cos it clears all the surface weeds for you. They disappear like magic if you leave the mulch in place long enough. Cardboard does the same thing but is only a shorter term fix  

[peterjf]

ROUND UP EVERY TIME , LET THEM RE GROUP AFTER YOU HAVE GIVEN THEM 1 DOSE OF ROUND UP , SAY ABOUT 4-5 WEEKS , THEN HIT THE LITTLE * AGAIN

[compostqueen]

Diddy Dave said he didn't want to use weedkiller though. Not everyone does.  

I know what you mean though and it's definitely a quicker route to a clearer plot, and saves much labour.  So it's a case of weighing up the pros and cons. If you need it cleared v quick or whether you have the time and space to lay sheet mulch while working on a bit at a time.  

I've watched an old guy near me tackling his new plot with the slash, burn, weedkiller, weedkiller, weedkiller (killed a 5' strip on the organic plot next door   )Oops.  Rotovated it, weedkilled then rotovated again and within weeks it had more weeds than ever. He bogged off and left it, has taken on another plot and started the whole thing again. Is it me  

I think plotters fall into two distinct camps - weedkillers and not  

[Rampant_Weasel]

i had this problem in my garden when i first prepared it for veg, i pulled it all out by hand (bindweed), altho u do have to get every peice of it out or it will regrow.it takes longer this way but is so much more satisfying when its complete and u know u havent polluted the soil in any way.u will get some regrowing but it will be way less than the first time.i used a handfork and bucket for the job.

[JimG]

Just to say that I can empathise but there's a lot to be said for digging it yourself.  As compostqueen has said, take it easy!  I made the mistake of trying to do it all immediately and got disheartened when I saw all that nice newly dug ground recolonised by weeds that'd been waiting for all that top cover to come down.  (And in what seemed minutes too!)

I managed to get over the shock and am working my way around the plot bit by bit.  It's hard work but you reap the reward the following year as the ground is so much easier to work and, yes, there's a sense of achievement too!

[Teen76]

What do you guys do with the roots when you've dug them up?  I've heard that even burning them doesn't complete kill them.  I've a lot on my plot and wondered what can do with it all.

[love-my-plot]

I agree, do it one bed at a time, then you feel like you're getting somewhere. Sounds like couch grass to me. Those spaghetti roots! They were the bain of my life when I got my plot last year.... we've dug it all out now and still get some spaghetti roots but they're fairly easy to get out once the soil is turned, just very time consuming. Good luck with the plot

Here's a pic of couch & one of bind weed, then at lest you'll know what you're dealing with.

couch

bindweed