[Quetzal]

Last year was our first year with a (half) allotment, and it was such a success that we decided to take on a second half patch. Luckily we managed to get a site next door to our first one, but perhaps unluckily it is a spot that hasn't been used in as long as any of the fellow plotholders can remember (at least 17 years).

It was very overgrown with a mix of bramble and giant comfrey plants, so I've cut back the top growth and dug over a half of it. However, as my wife has just given birth, I can't see myself getting down for enough time to finish off the digging on the second half. So I need a plan to deal with the remaining area. In addition to the bramble, there appears to be quite a lot of couch grass root in the edges of what remains to be dug over.

Given the couch grass, i assume that rotivating in the spring is a bad idea?
Can I put some form of weed killer on the area?
I was alternatively thinking of covering the area for the time being, with either carpet or plastic. If I do this, is there anything I can plant in the spring (someone suggested potatoes) or am I better off to admit defeat for 12 month and tackle it again next autumn.

Basically I'm open to all options for how best to handle the undug portion and would welcome any and all advice.

[Yorkie]

Rotavating when there's perennial weeds in there is definitely a bad idea!  Some people do advocate constant rotavating for a season, to make the plant weaker and thus easier to battle, but I'm not in favour of that approach.  For a start, you run the risk of creating a hard pan / layer underneath where the tines rotate, causing potential drainage problems in the future.

Weedkiller probably won't work at this time of year.  The most commonly used one is with the active ingredient glyphosate, but as it is absorbed into the plant system then it needs the plant to be in active growth.  You'll need to wait until spring time before applying it, choose a dry windless day and make sure no rain within 6 hours of application.

Covering up is probably your best plan, as long as you won't get reported for a year's worth of inactivity.  Please don't use carpet - even if it's not banned on your site, it causes a number of problems.  It disintegrates over time, couch grass will often grow through it making it very difficult to lift (one forum member has put his back out trying to cut underneath it).  It can release toxins and will be really difficult to take to the tip when you've finished with it.

Black plastic is an option, though for a complete season it doesn't do the soil much good as it doesn't allow air and water through.  More expensive, but far better for the soil, is a form of weed suppressant fabric.  Go for as wide a width as possible, as it will be easier to pin or weight down (1m wide just tends to get wind underneath it, rendering it useless).

Also have a look at the Information pages of the site, there's an article on clearing a plot somewhere there.

And congratulations on the recent arrival 

[binner]

hi, no doubt some people will disagree with me here but here goes, i got mine last spring and it had never been grown on since the area was lanscaped 15 years ago,  it was just like yours except i had no couch grass and the council cut the rough down for us, i set out some beds with string then gave it a good dose of round up to kill the grass and weeds, then once it died i run a rotovator over it  just to break the surface up and removed the dead grass and weeds, i then dug it over and picked what perenial roots out i could, i grew a few bits and bobs but it was getting too late by the time i had it sorted, only the odd perenial weed has popped back up. i put some tatties in as i was told they would break the ground up and they did just that, i now have 5 large beds all ready for spring. i only did half the plot as i knew i wouldnt get it all done so the other half i have covered with some carpet and round up'd the rest, i managed to dig a third of this over before the weather got so bad and i am going to fill it with tatties in the spring

[Kristen]

As Yorkie said.

"I was alternatively thinking of covering the area for the time being ... If I do this, is there anything I can plant in the spring (someone suggested potatoes)"

How about Squash or Pumpkins?  Dig some decent planting holes (they will be a long way apart for this sprawling plant ), add plenty of manure etc., put a short stick in (so you know where the hole is - doh!) and cover with plastic / weed suppressing fabric.  Cut an "X" where the sticks are, and plant through the sheeting.  That's it for the season until harvest time Weeds will be weakened by not seeing any/much daylight for a season too ...

[Quetzal]

thanks for the rapid responses.

Actually the plan was that the undug area was to be a big squash-patch when dug anyway, so it sounds like it might be possible to use the area and yet hold off the full digging til next year.

I doubt i'll get into trouble because i've dug half the plot, and i also dug up half a builders' dump of bricks so i'll have something to weigh down the cover. I have the squash-growing secrets of the woman opposite who had an amazing harvest this year, so i'll look into some cheap plastic or maybe some weed retardent.

[chriscross1966]

There's a place on ebay that sells 4.5m wide woven poly weed supressor... I used it this year and it seems to have done the job, I also grew squashes through some of it and they really were pretty easy, did a bit of hand pollination but that was about it. If you've got the space Bon-Bon is gorgeous... really sweet, lovely as a roast veg, and to make a great roast squash soup, roast the squash with the rest of the roast dinner, make sure there's a few spare bits of potato and a few chunks of onion too....

Take the onions, put them in about a pint of stock (you could fry an onion and add stock if you needed to), use a hand blender or liquidiser to blend the onion into the stock, add the roast squash and roast potatoes, season with a bit of pepper, a little cumin, dash of soy and some (smoked) paprika, add a pinch of mixed herbs then using a potato masher break down the lumps a bit until you have a thick, coarse textured soup... it doesn't want to be smooth, lumpy is better, adjust seasoning and it's ready....

chrisc