[fred-quimby]

Finally got a new plot just over a month ago.  Overgrown full of thistle, dock and the usual suspects.  The plot is very level but low lying and after all the rain is very wet.  I have covered about 2 thirds to 3 quarters of the plot with black/grey plastic sheeting and when covering the edges with soil the holes left just filled with water.

So there we are.  I need some advice on how to proceed.  The plastic is lifting daily and some thistle has forced its way though.  I thought it was supposed to die off underneath and make cultivation easier!!  It took a lot of work in the wind and rain to put down down so am a little disheartened at the moment.

One end of the plot is wetter than the other.  Would it be a good idea to put in some fruit trees down that end and maybe fruit in general?  The thinking is that these wil take up the water!!  I could, of course put my lean to down there to collect water for my water butt.

Do not like chemicals but see no option as trying to dig out the weeds is almost impossible as there are too many and too deep growing.

So looking for inspiring speaches to keep my spirits up.   

[baldy-bob]

Don't get disheartened. I've had my plot for 10 years now and I'm still digging weeds up. The trick is to clear a little at a time, digging some compost or manure in if you can get it. Then sow or plant that bit and move on to the next bit. If you try and tackle it all at once, the job will seem overwhelming and you will get depressed. Once you start seeing things growing, you'll feel a lot better.

[spuriousmonkey]

There are lots of new people on my allotment site this year. They all come enthusiastically in the beginning and try to tackle the whole thing at once.

You can literally see them getting discouraged.

I started only last year, but what I learned was to indeed take it in small pieces at a time. I prepare a bed, plant it. Move on to the next one.

[Dopey113]

I did the same as you, black DPM over most of my plot, left it there for almost a year, I got the plot at a funny time of year so I couldn't do much with it anyway, but that was a good thing in the end as I only had to concentrate on the small bit that was left, I rotavated the whole plot first, then put plastic aver 3/4 of it, this year I pulled it up and like you say, the thistles were still there, but very pail and weak, and then dug them up (or you could spray them with a weed killer, probably better) look at it as a long term project, like the others say, a bit at a time, uncover what you think you will need, and leave the rest covered until your ready for it

[Yorkie]

The plastic will be preventing the soil from drying out so I'd consider removing it in the lower areas.

What are other plots near you like?  Are they similarly soggy?  Have you chatted to their owners to find out whether it continues to be quite wet even in summer? 

Is the soil type clay?

You may find that you need to resort to raised beds to raise the height of the soil above the water table if the plot is perennially soggy, but don't resort to that until you've chatted to other plot owners.

As for tackling the plot one step at a time, indeed that's far better than trying to do it all at once.

I am not convinced that fruit trees and bushes will thrive in soggy conditions.

[carlrmj]

Nothing to do with your plot but Fred Quimby was my favourite producer of the

Tom and Jerry cartoons in the 50's

[angelavdavis]

Hi Fred and congrats on getting your new plot.

I personally would select to grow rhubarb, raspberries and possibly globe artichokes in your wetter end of the plot.  However, I would grow them in little hills of soil, so they aren't completely immersed.  Not so sure about fruit trees - will leave that one to someone else.

It has been a very wet spring this year, so it might just be that your plot has suffered more than usual.  If you find that your plot doesn't seem to dry out much - raised beds might be in order, I must admit, I use these on my plot for this reason and lost my garlic and onion to white rot in the beds before I created raised beds - although not caused primarily by wet soil, I don't think it helped.  Although I introduced loads of manure and grit into the beds, I had to eventually create raised beds to alleviate the issue - this is the first year growing the alliums in the raised beds so fingers crossed I might have more luck.

I think Yorkie is right - you can't beat talking to the other plotholders to get a better idea of the usual state of the plot.  Some people suggest digging out a ditch and filling with stones to create a drain on the plot too.

If you don't like chemicals - why not read up about lasagne gardening?  I started my plot this way and, provided you loosen the soil before covering with layers, you may find it better for your drainage issues (as well as stifling the weeds somewhat).  My plot suffers from bindweed, dock and couch and I would say that 90% of the weeds were killed off by creating the beds using the lasagne method, with the rest dealt with individually.

Most importantly, don't beat yourself up about getting it all done.  Give yourself some time to enjoy it too.  We only did two beds initially using the lasagne method and planted with strawberries, cabbages, beetroot, chard and squashes of varying types so we had plenty to harvest, then did the rest over time after that.

[fred-quimby]

Thanks everyone for the advice.  Still not sure what to do down the damp end but have made a start.  The reason I covered 3/4 of the plot was so that I could do it a little at a time.  Have now dug out the weeds of one small patch - 3m x 1.5m, sprayed the rest, built a lean to so that I can collect water and put together a composter so all in all a good time so far.

Looks like it was worth covering the rest in the all that rain as the plot next door, which is empty, has really taken off and is nearly knee high with weeds.

[morbidia]

We got our plot a few weeks ago now and we covered everything that we weren't working on, ours was soaked at one end with massive puddles lying on the surface ,these have now gone because its been really sunny but we have moved a raised bed to one end of the wet area to see if that works out ok, we are going to dig beds in the rest of it and just see how it goes,if it gets waterlogged again we will have to resort to raised beds on that side of the plot

we are also doing the plot bit by bit and now have two areas sorted and with stuff planted, just have to see if any of it grows now