[sunshine girl]

Just started work on a new allotment - never done anything like this before. At the moment it is just a field - unsure whether to hire a turf cutter or to rotivate - would welcome any comments

[Joseph]

A lot will depend on the types of grass and perennial weeds you have.
Seen a lot of people take on old allotment areas and spend the next year fighting the weeds  / grass eventually to loose interest.  The best way is to to kill off the entire greenery with a spray preferable systemic and then once all has died back rotivate.  The turf cutter is fine, but will not deal with any deep roots, will generate lots of turf to dispose of and lose some of your top soil. Then you will ned to rotavate anyway unless you have a very strong back for digging.

[Trillium]

While rotovating sounds the easy way, it isn't. A lot of strong perennial weed roots will simply multiply with rotovating, and a glyphosphate spray doesn't necessarily kill them, let alone fast enough. With a garden fork try to dig out the roots of the biggest plants on your plot first. Any others you happen to dig up should also be pulled, trying not to snap any off as you could have bindweed ( ) in the mix. When the worst are out and you see new greenery emerging, spray everything with glyphospate, leave it for at least 3 weeks. Later, if most of the growth has died off, then you can judge whether or not to rotovate. If you do rotovate, have someone behind picking up all the weed roots that surface to minimize future efforts.

[sunshineband]

Just to add to what others have said... if you can plan out where your paths are going to be you can consider leaving these as grass and then just clear the areas for the beds.

Might save a bit of work 

PS Welcome to the forums 

[clarkey95]

your lucky ive not even got an allotment yet
good luck though

[theakston_uk]

This is what I'm left with after spraying and letting the grass die off. This is right in the middle of farming country and the soil is dark and rich, my question is should I use a turf cuter 1st then rotivate the plot, or should I just rotivate it? It's roughly 75ft by 45ft at the widest point

[corynsboy]

Blimey!  That looks ok.  Difficult to tell from the picture but I'd say that was largely grass.  Was it previously pasture?

I was expecting derelict land or scrub but based on that picture and the description of the soil, I'd get cracking with the turf cutter.  The grass may still hold some surprises.  Couch (or Twitch) Grass.  Dig a couple of test patches around your plot.  Try and find grasses that look like different varieties and dig them out. 

If the grass comes up in clumps with short thin white roots get the turf cutter and then it should be OK to rotivate.  If the soil is as good as you say, it won't matter that you take an inch or two out.  Before you cut anything go around with a bucket and a spade and dig out all the Dandelion and Dock plants that might be hiding in there.   That couple of hours will save you a lot of time in the long run.

If the grass comes up in straggly, trailing balls of long thick white roots you have couch grass and no amount of rotivating will save you from this hell.  In fact it will make it much, much worse.

If all that is Couch grass then grab your fork, you are hand digging the lot!  It's the only way to get most of it out.  It's one of the few things we all agree on!  :-)

[prakash_mib]

even if it is grass i wouldnt use turf cutter. you are loosing the topsoil a bit (we are not left with much of it now). Rather I would use brush cutter and you can buy one from argos for less then 100 quid (remember to get additional guarantee as well) to remove the to of the grass. the brush cutter is a best tool i would assume.

[Paul Plots]

Slow down.... you move too fast...  :blink:

If the ground is not too dry and hard I would use a spade and cut the top layer of soil off into "small *layered grass slices" (*can't use the word I want to use!!)  - stack this grass to grass and leave it - makes lovely loam as the weeds should rot if left long enough. It's hard work but makes a better job.  The loam will be great next season 

Next I would dig removing weed roots (mostly the white ones as well as dock and dandelion - annual weeds will compost in a heap). This might be the time to add compost from a heap if you have any - if not leave this until next spring.

All this will take time so tackle one small section at a time. It is a slow laborious process but I think you get the best results by not rushing (put in the time and effort now and you'll save yourself a fight with the worst weeds later!)

When you have a clear patch stick in some potatoes... they make an easy first crop for newly cultivated land. As you clear each section you can begin planting up - courgettes, marrow, butternut or other squashes might be an idea as well as some beans..

Here's wishing you success whatever method you choose 

[Zippy]

Growing potatoes?

Top slice the turves and stack them about 2 feet high upside down and about 4 feet wide by 8 feet long - a barrow if you like.

Then trowel plant seed potatoes in the barrow.

The grass will try to turn around and grow upward again but then the potato leaves will smother them and you will be left with a nice loam to spread over your plot and not have wasted any crop space. You can follow potatoes with potted squashes to keep the loam working and the grass shaded out.

Did it with my plot and it worked a treat. The guy who had my plot before me sowed sports grass to get his own back on the allotment sociaety and I stacked three quarters of the plot on the final quater and planted potatoes, followed by corgettes and squashes  as described.

[PennyS]

What a fantastic idea!

[theakston_uk]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll go down on Friday and ivestigate. I'll take some snaps of what the roots look like and post them here for more advice. Thanks again

[Paul Plots]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll go down on Friday and ivestigate. I'll take some snaps of what the roots look like and post them here for more advice. Thanks again

That's a good idea! 

[Anything long and white and stringy is most likely to be the type of root you need to remove..]

[Kristen]

I've never had much success with turf cutters - they hit a stone and jump out of the ground ... they also leave a narrow strip between each "row" ... but if you were cutting it to stack it would make the job a bit easier - by removing, say, 90% of the turf.

Personally unless you have a specific need for the Loam in a year's time I wouldn't bother stacking it. I would just bury the turf at the bottom of the spit as I dug - dig a trench across one end, barrow the soil from it to the far end and stack, then as you dig the next "trench" into the previous one strip the turf off and chuck it, face down, into the bottom of the previous trench - preferably with some rotted manure etc. - and when you get to the end fill the last trench with the soil you barrowed there at the start.

However, my first choice would be to get the local farmer to plough it for you - if it is big enough and if there is room for access and manoeuvring a plough (or hire a mini tractor and plough if its too tight for a farm-sized jobbie).  The plough's mouldboard normally has a small leading blade that scrapes the top inch, or so, into the previous furrow - i.e. burying the rubbish.

[theakston_uk]

Went down today to have a look what I was dealing with. I used a fork and dug a trench and this is what I saw. No way am I using a rotivator on these roots, I'll be weeding till the cows come home and some. Some of these bad boys are 2-3ft long. I'll attatch a photo so you guys know what I'm dealing with