[Hopelesscase]

hello
just got my plot,23th  July 2009, it was rotavated by the parish clerk before I could say yes or no, so please do not tell me it is the wrong thing to do, it's done! I have dug some beds and have lots of couch grass and ground elder roots in nice little fertile pieces. I have good slighlty clay type soil. Shall I invest in some decent weed suppressing fabric and cover the lot or put in some green manure over winter or give up......

[Aunt Sally]

Oh dear 

What makes people who obviously know very little about gardening thing they are doing you a favour by rotavating all the weeds for you 

I would cover as much as you can and start digging a bit at a time to get out as much of the weed root as possible.  At least it will be easy to dig  

[tode]

Yes, but the bit you want to start growing in, I would leave uncovered, so the weeds start to grow    I find it much easier to dig em out when you've got a green sprout to show you where they are.
Question of personal preference 

[Aunt Sally]

Good point tode

[chili]

can i ask what green manure is?

[Kimberley04]

Don' give up - cover a majority of it if you want, and take it a section at a time.

You WILL get there, eventually !

[richyrich7]

can i ask what green manure is?

It's simply a plant thats sown and then dug in after a period of time, the grounds then left for a few weeks before planting or sowing.
Very beneficial they can be too and a lot lighter than horse poo !

Have a look at this link in the info section http://www.allotment-garden.org/fertilizer/green-manures.php

[johnnyboy]

Personally, I would hand weed a piece of ground that you can comfortably work on, so you can grow something this year.
Then Id wait until the weeds come through and then spray with round-up.

JMHO Johnnyboy

[DD.]

I'd seriously consider that as well.

[Beetroot queen]

You cant give up before you started

the start is the worse bit but in a year on, you wont recognise the place, 9 months on and our plot is finished and fully planted. Dont give up just dont expect miracles on week one.

Good luck, take lots of pictures it helps you see what you have achieved