[The Red Baron]

Morning all.....
Little background, got my 12 rod plot in late July. Hadn't been used for years! Totally over run, anyway, sprayed the lot, strimmed it and knocked all the tips off....but now. Lordy those nettles have roots! Any advice on weeding by hand? It's going to take me forever to dig the garden over! Anywho, thought I'd ask.

[dugless]

What did you spray them with. if it was glyphorsate. then you don't have to worry about the nettle roots, they will be dead. you will just have the usual Annual weeds to deal with.

[allotmentann]

Weeding by hand is really not that bad. The trick is to focus on small patches rather than a whole plot. I have never used any weed killer. If you remove weeds and roots thoroughly to start with, you will get very little re growth of perennial weeds. Annuals,of course, will self sow whether you pull by hand or use weed killer and will always need keeping in check.
It may be as Dugless said and the roots are dead. I would just take it slowly, digging it over bit by bit and covering or mulching as you go.
It may simply be that your soil is still very hard after the lovely summer, my soil is only just starting to soften enough to make digging easier. Three or four weeks ago I was struggling to get a fork in, now it is fine.   

[Sweetpea C]

I went for the hand dig option and its actually very rewarding to get the critters out. I do enough space for one raised bed at a time then it's not too damaging on the back. You are lucky that you have plenty if time before you start sowing or planting. I'm about half way through mine now

[surbie100]

I'm another dig-and-weed person - I found that very little comes back after a thorough dig and scour through. And my cultivator takes care of that in no time. 

[NickoV]

I use as right angled fork for getting nettles out, available from Chillingtons.

Nick

[New shoot]

If the ground is very rooty, digging with a fork can be easier and a lot will depend on your soil.  As allotmentann says, if your soil is baked hard, waiting until after a bit of rain can make a big difference.

You have lots of time before planting starts next year, so no need to kill yourself digging for hours on end.  Make a start where you want to plant first (the bits you have earmarked for shallots, potatoes, early broad beans) and then go from there. 

The odd spray on a perennial weed resurfacing won't hurt, but digging does more that just removing weeds.  It lightens the soil ready for plant roots and gives you a chance to incorporate organic matter like manure or compost. My plot is heavy clay and an annual dig over as crops clear and additions of homemade compost are working wonders 

[RJR_38]

I went for the hand dig option and its actually very rewarding to get the critters out. I do enough space for one raised bed at a time then it's not too damaging on the back. You are lucky that you have plenty if time before you start sowing or planting. I'm about half way through mine now

Snap! I am aiming to have mine finished this winter- I got it late November last year so it will have taken me just over a year by the time I have finished. Very rewarding though.

As sweetpea said, a patch at a time and as each raised/edged bed is created you can get planting

[Nikkithefoot]

Another vote for hand digging and weeding. I used glyphosate sparingly on the most stubborn patches, but you can only successfully use it when weeds are actively growing.
If you have heavy duty weed membrane or loads of cardboard you can cover some of your plot, by the time spring arrives most if not all the weeds under will have died back, again making weeding and clearing easier.
Take it slowly allotmenting is a marathon not a sprint.

[Totty]

People don't still hand weed do they.....

Strim, allow regrowth, spray. Done.

Totty

[The Red Baron]

I think all the roots are dead but wanted to get them out so all my lovely veg I dream of growing has plenty space....I'll persevere, like I say, it's a new plot and hey, it's not a race

[RJR_38]

People don't still hand weed do they.....

Strim, allow regrowth, spray. Done.

Totty

Yep! Those of us who want to a) do it more cost effectively b) don't want chemicals on the plot

[Totty]

Agreed, some don't like chemicals which is fine, everyone has their own ideas on how they want to garden.
It's not more cost effective for me though. If it was more cost effective on larger scales to hand weed, I doubt you would see it being used commercially.

Totty

[goodtogrow]

I think all the roots are dead but wanted to get them out so all my lovely veg I dream of growing has plenty space....I'll persevere, like I say, it's a new plot and hey, it's not a race

If they're dead, they're dead.  So why dig them out?  Won't they just break down in the soil?  But are they dead?
Chances are they're not.  Glyphosate supplied to the garden market isn't 100% effective, even if applied as directed, on grasses maybe, on pernicious nettles, not in my experience.  Not even after two applications.

If, to make sure, you're going to dig them out anyway, why spray them first?  To get rid of the top growth?

Just wondering.

Tom

[The Red Baron]

In all honesty....sprayed in ignorance....never had an allotment before and well, I thought that was how to get rid of weeds, weedkiller=kills weeds...that's all my brain saw haha but digging them out just to make sure, ground needs turning anyway.