[FarmerRich]

Hi all

I've recently been lucky enough to acquire an allotment from my local council.  It's 12m X 10m so a nice starter plot.

When I got the plot it was 5ft high in weeds and grass which I have strimmed right down and killed with roundup.  I'm just wondering what my next move should be?  If the weeds have been killed is it safe to rotivate or should I take the top few inches off by hand digging first?

All advice is welcome as I'm a newbie to this and want to make a decent job of it.

Many thanks in advance,
Rich

[Beetroot queen]

We still dug ours out by hand even after roundup, the people who took on a plot at the same time did roundup and then rotavated it soon regretted it.

If its worth doing properly i would dig out the roots too.

[Tea Break]

Hi Rich and welcome.
 If it was me i would hand dig and get to know what your soil feels like. It also feels more of an achivement when hand digging and you get fit with out going down the gym .  A rotervator just chops up the weeds and some of them come back with a vengence.
 Enjoy your plot which ever way you go.
Mike.

[Capt Zero]

Got to agree with the other answers, dig and take out any roots you see.

[FarmerRich]

Thanks for the advice Beetroot Queen / Tea Break.

I think I'll go with your advice and dig out a bit at a time and get it ready for next year.  The soil is very hard and clay like at the moment so I've laid a large amount of black plastic over half of the plot to try and rot away the grass.
I see a few of the other plots have this lovely, fine soil so I think I might dig out the roots and try adding some manure to improve the soil, cover over and early next year try rotavating once I'm confident the weeds are all out.

Once again though any advice would be much appreciated as I'm trying to gather as much knowledge as I can to get it right.

Thanks again.
Rich

[BobE]

I agree with the others.  Hand dig with a fork and remove roots and rubbish.  This gives better control over weed regrowth.  Once you are on top of it you can control it by hoeing.  Don't compost the roots.  Burn or black bin them.

[FarmerRich]

Thanks Capt Zero / BobE. I've heard a few allotment horror stories about rotavating so I just wondered when was the best time to do it.  Appreciate the advice.

[BobE]

Thanks Capt Zero / BobE. I've heard a few allotment horror stories about rotavating so I just wondered when was the best time to do it.  Appreciate the advice.

I use a tiller not a rotovator (but after that first weed removal) else your spreading roots about.  Then each season I can run the tiller over the plot and rake up the weeds.  Then the hoe is the best tool, at the end of the season another till and it looks nice for autum.

[Nobbie]

As there's no rush, it might be worth waiting for a bit of rain and seeing what regrows and then giving it another go with roundup. before starting to dig it over (small bits at a time) This is what I'm doing on my new plot.

[seaside]

Much is reported online about initial rotovation, with or without Roundup. In my opinion the actual problems are understated. and can be disheartening 6 or 7 weeks down the line. Rotovating might well be a good thing on a weed free constantly worked plot, but not a neglected one. The only good that comes from an initial rotovate it is that it breaks up the soil to physically help the hard work of the next unavoidable stage of careful methodical hand digging that is necessary.

As for the burning or disposing  of the collected couch/bindweed etc roots, I'm not so sure. I have found quite the opposite. Not through any prior knowledge, but just laziness, tiredness, and a shortage of time and space on my initial dig left me with a large area that accommodated all the root pulling from the rest of the plot.... huge amounts of bindweed, couch and dock.  After covering it all for 18 months, I then uncovered and just pulled anything that came to the surface just like one would anywhere.
A further 18 months on, I have just dug that area like the rest of the plot and planted sweet corn. I have to say the soil there is now THE most fertile and fibrous of the whole plot, it's real alive healthy soil. Such big volumes of  rotting down plant root and material is hard to come by. And it is requiring virtually no weeding compared to elsewhere. I'm not saying put this couch etc in a bin, but I am saying save it, cover it and rot it down, and in 2 years time you'll have a great deal of very useful growing medium indeed... it will rot down eventually if you don't allow it sunlight. Yes, there will be the odd bit of root surviving ready to populate, but no different to anywhere else on the plot.

[BobE]

Seaside, I can see the sense in that.

[willp]

I`m sort of with seaside on this one too.

There is huge amount of organic matter locked up in those weeds - this is an immense benefit to the soil and would take many years to replace by adding compost and manure.

My plots were cleared by hand slashing, applying weedkiller, and digging (digging the dead weeds in). Hand slashing leaves a good amount of leaf area for the glyphosate to work through, while allowing access as opposed to strimming to almost ground level. 2 doses of glyphosate to catch any stragglers from the first application and you`re good to go.  When the ground was dug I raked it over and sowed green manure (mustard) over the whole plot, digging this in when ready.

So far so good - the soil seems in pretty good shape to me 

Will

[willp]

Here`s a couple of pics - the plot as I got it and the following season.

[BobE]

Looks good.

[FarmerRich]

Thanks guys.  All information is much appreciated.

I've gone with your advice of avoiding the rotavator.  It looks like the weeds are killed off with the first douse of Roundup but may give it another spray in a few parts.

I've covered half the plot with black plastic which I plan on leaving in place for a few months to try and rot away the what's left of the weeds and then start digging it over.

Once dug over I will probably cover again over the winter ready to start sowing next season.

Seems the sensible thing to do following all of your advice.

I'm looking into a small chicken coop in the meantime to keep me occupied down there.

Once again many thanks to all of you.

Kind regards
Rich