[mickeyboy]

I have just aquired my first allotment and like most am keen to get started,but have no experience at growing.
 At present it is covered in grass and i am going to have it ploughed soon. Is this a good idea? I have a bad back at mo and cant do much digging.

Also after it is ploughed do i have to leave it for a while before planting?

And finally what can i plant at mo?

Thanks

[muntjac]

welcome to the site matey .when you say grass is it a new allotment site .or is it grass that has grown from last year .. if its a brand new allotment i would suggest poisoning it first with roundup and then having it roatavated . read the new plot threads  in grow your own on the site  and you will get some great help and advice .

[BIG ZOOK]

i`d  also use round-up    2 spray off a section of your plot   , potatoes are good for planting in this instance ( wireworm may be a prob).  dig the rest of your plot over later,when you recover plenty of time for planting up the plot with peas,beans and salad stuff later after you have had time 2 cultivate the land.

[jack russell]

hi and welcome mickeyboy

cheers

jr

[Bigbadfrankie]

Burn it then plough it. Then let the ground rest a week or two then rotovate and plant. Then weed.

[Bigbadfrankie]

Oh and welcome

[mickeyboy]

Thank you all for the warm welcome!!!  And the much needed advice.

Muntjac, the allotment is one that has been used before. It still has some parsnips in it, but not alot else. The grass is very thick and well established.

thanks for your help.

mickeyboy

[Aidy]

Sounds like it may be couch grass (twitch in some places) if that is the case the best and really the only way is to dig it, any left will go mad again in a short time, sorry to be the bearer of bad news mate, welcome to the mad house.

[wellingtons]

... the grass though, because it does come out quite easily, even couch grass.  And if you've a bad back, then crawling about on your hands and knees with a stout small fork is the best grubbing method.  It works for me!

[mickeyboy]

cheers Aidy.  Do i dig it, in or throw on my soon to be established compost heap :?:

[Aidy]

burn it or hardcore at the tip, its horrible stuff. try and get every last little piece up, I dont envy the job as I had it to do when I got mine 5 years a go and guess what, I am still getting it out but dont let it get you down keep battling and learn to live with it and keep digging it up.

[muntjac]

check its couch grass first by taking afew bits up ,if its not then plough it after shoving roundup on it  

[mickeyboy]

how do i know if it is couch grass muntjac?
Thanks

[muntjac]

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/images/allotment/060531-couch-grass.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/allotment/couch-grass-1.asp&h=559&w=630&sz=106&hl=en&start=2&tbnid=VIp7QrDVn3EDbM:&tbnh=122&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcouch%2Bgrass%2Broots%2B%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DISO-8859-1%26sa%3DG  here ya go matey

[agapanthus]

Why poison the soil at all??  Why not just dig it over (rather than rotovate and breaking the perennial weeds roots into lots of pieces thereby making potential hundreds more weeds)....that way you know that all the nasty weeds are gone and the satisfaction factor is incredible ..........I'll await all the abuse now