[HypnoticMonkey]

Hi all,

Sorry if this is in the wrong place, or if I'm posting something that 101 people have posted before. I've been active on forums for other things in the past and I know that each one has its own rules and netiquette, so please let me know if I'm doing anything peculiar to this site.

So, I got my first allotment in October, but didn't do much with it. I decided only to make use of one half of it in my first year, and started to clear that half.

I then put some weedkiller down (I'm not going organic... not yet anyway!) and gave that a few weeks to take hold... but nothing happened. My intention was to clear everything that's there and start again, but the weedkiller had only a minimal effect.

THEN... the weather got colder, the ground got harder and conditions were less pleasant, then Christmas happened, then the snow came, then we had what felt like 40 days and 40 nights of rain, then more snow....

So essentially I haven't done much to say for myself yet on the plot, but I'm keen to get started as soon as I can. I need to go down this weekend and see just how wet the ground is and what can be done with it, but I just wondered if any of you had any tips for clearing a plot quickly and getting it ready for its first use with a new tenant?

Do I really need to be doing it ASAP, as I suspect I probably do, or is time not quite that pressured? Am I best waiting till the water has drained a bit (assuming there is much there) or should I just get stuck in?

I've never done anything like this before, so any advice at all would be greatly received.

Many thanks,

Luke

[mumofstig]

Here is the site advice on clearing an allotment  
http://www.allotment-garden.org/grow-your-own/allotments/clearing-a-new-allotment

Glyphosate only works when the weeds are actively growing, so perhaps it was already too late when you applied it  

it's still too wet to be digging and too cold to be spraying, so get your planning done before you start in earnest. Good Luck  

[Sparkyrog]

If you go on the ground when its too wet you will do more harm than good ! watch what other plot holders around you are doing 

[Welsh Merf]

Snap!

I got my allotment in October as well.

However, mine was "virgin territory", with nothing having been grown on it before. I used glysophate mixed with 5-litres of water and sprayed the lot. Four weeks later it was all dead. And then I set the lot alight (while in constant attendace and with a fire hose in case).

I rotovated three sections to about 15" deep and then covered the lot with horse manure. It's been in that condition since about early November. Since then (between Christmas, snow, ice, showers, downpours, tornados, typhoons, etc) I've been doing some tidying up, building a railway-sleeper base for the shed (which is due to be delivered and erected this coming Thursday), and starting on the boundary fence (built out of wooden pallets). The first things I intend to plant are the spuds, and they won't be going in until at least April.

There are plenty of things you can be getting on with in the meantime, even just getting everything ready and tidy to the point of planting: measuring out beds, planning, chitting your spuds, etc.

Obviously, I'm new at this as well, so what I've just said is what I intend to do, and then - the most important thing - learn from my experiences.

Best of luck, and hope all goes well for you!

[angelavdavis]

Hi, I suspect the temperature difference in Welsh Merf being in Kent and HypnoticMonkey being in Birmingham was probably enough for the glyphosate to work for Merf and not for HM.

I took over the other half of my plot in October when the other plotholder gave up, so with the weather making it too wet to do much on my site, I am in the same position.  I have decided to lift the non-producing fruit twigs tomorrow (I already have enough soft fruit on my other plot) and will lay out lasagne beds as I did with my original plot. 

I was going to ask my husband to rotavate (I can't due to a back problem), but I really don't like using the rotavator as there is couch on the plot and it will just multiply the problem.  I can't use glyphosate large scale as my children will simply walk it around the site 

So, I am off to source some cardboard and manure....

[Totty]

What type of weeds are present. If you are lucky enough to have just annual weeds and grass, rather than any deep rooted stuff like dandelions and couch grass, you could spray it tomorrow, and notice the effect by Tuesday if you used a diquat based weedkiller such as Weedol as apposed to glyphosphate.
 It will kill all greenery quickly and you could then either rake it off or burn it off.
Only use this if you don't have any deep rooted weeds.

Totty

[Yorkie]

If the soil sticks to your boots then it's too wet to be walking on it and digging.  You might find it's dried out enough by today - or certainly by next weekend if there's no more rain this week.

Weeds won't be growing that actively yet so time is still on your side, particularly when you realise that a lot of things don't go into the plot for a while yet.  For example, peas / parsnips / spuds from next month or later, and less hardy stuff like beans and courgettes from late May or early June (having been started off in April under cover on windowsills etc).

You can start things like onions off in modules and plant them out later, so all is not lost.

What you should try to do, though, is get something to cover up the ground you haven't cleared by say May.  As others have said, cardboard or weed fabric.  Not carpet.  This will stop the weeds getting on top of you and prevent you getting a warning letter!

If you click on the Grow Your Own link underneath the top banner, you'll find some articles written about getting started, which may give you other ideas too.