Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => General Gardening => Topic started by: wombling2006 on August 02, 2006, 15:36
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Good afternoon all from costa del Wigan.....I have just acquired an allotment amere skip away from where I live...It is very much a work in progress as it has a caravan shell 2 rotten sheds (1 with asbestos roof) and lots of japanese knot weed and mares tails...What joy...however I'm undeterred by the hard graft needed and after having a quick shuftie about knot weed would be extremely welcome on any advise to deal with it...I've managed to dig some of it up...not sure what to do with it to get rid though..same with the mares tail... :? I have lots of enthusiasm but not much experience so far....glad of any advice!!! I have until September (when I will be back at work) to make it an oasis of self sufficiency and calm...and yes I am a glass half full person!! hehe..
Just read another posted titled "invasive bamboo removal" which sounds similar to mine....Can amicide be bought easily from diy shops then??
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Amicide (ammonium sulphamate) is the active ingredient in some brushwood killers available in your local DIY or you could try the organic catalogue for mail order or your local good garden centre, horticultural supplier.
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Cheers!! I shall be shopping later then, after burning as many weeds and rotten shed bits as possible... :)
Does anyone know if I could use the ashes (minus nails etc) for anything after??? I hate to throw anything away....
Trudi
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Bit of a tricky one that -
Wood ashes are a good source of potash, good for spuds and tomatoes BUT the preservatives on the shed may contain pollutants so using them may not be the best.
My own feeling would be that if the shed was weathered to use the ashes on the compost heap. If fairly freshly covered with creosote to dispose of on the heap.
It's a bit like sewerage sludge. If all that went down the sewers was 'natural it would be fine but apperntly it has heavy metals (I thought they were a band) and hormones etc.
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Hormones and heavy metal??? good grief..Yes I see what you mean...
what would you do with the ashes of japanese knot weed and mares tails then??? would they be ok as long as they are properly charcoaled?? :roll:
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The sheds and site has been left derelict for some time..many have tried but failed to resurrect the allotment...one of the sheds to come down has an old asbestos roof as well...Lots of problems to deal with..just needs alot of tlc and preparing...Ive uploaded some pictures for anyone wanting a laugh..erm sorry..a look!!! :shock:
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Your weed ashes are fine - mares tail soaked in water makes an anti-fungal spray (banned for use without extensive testing by the EU so I'm not suggesting you use it :wink: )
Took a look at your photos - you do like a challenge!
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Have had a look at your pics Wombling2006 and wish you much luck as you embark on your enterprise. Japanese knotweed and marestail have to be 2 of the worst weeds of all time to be tackling on an allotment site and quite frankly I'm glad I've not had to deal with them on my plots. My bindweed pales into insignificance compared to what you are facing. If you manage to get these pernicious weeds under control you will deserve a medal!!! :tongue2:
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I feel like I deserve a medal today :( ....I'm just back from across the road...managed to get 1 shed down and was a humungous jurassic style knot weed clump at the back of it...the stump alone was 3mts high and the knot weed tangled in the tree behind it some 9ft high!!! :cry: Had a shower but all I can smell is burnt japanese knot weed..aaarrgh...I'm now averaging about 5 hours hard slog a day and have found an absolute raft of car parts..oil filters, glass, aerials,wing mirrors...I would love to know who had it as a garage... I think they should be made to pay to clean it up...High point of today...Ive found a water butt and a compost bin hidden in the 9ft knot weed!!! hurrah....Its made it all worth it... :D
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thanks for the info on the mares tail mix John....I have been a vegetarian since I was very small and will eventually want to have a lovely, hopefully organic allotment and would enjoy and have faith in using naturally occuring treatments rather than man made stuff...Plus I could use the info on my gardens at home now.. :)
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one of the sheds to come down has an old asbestos roof as well
Probably compressed white asbestos board, but has risks all the same, especially if disturbed (ie chipped, broken). It should be double-bagged for disposal. If it's a council allotment, see if their cleansing/waste management people will agree to collect and dispose of it. Whatever you do, don't saw it up or drill holes in it :shock: .
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Thanks Mick..I hope to be tackling it later on today/this weekend...Its tough really as to dismantle the shed I can't do anything else but disturb the asbestos roofing...I'm out to buy plastic to wrap it up in and some masks to wear while I'm dismantling...It is a privately owned allotment and council have told me today that I have to take it (by prior notification ) to an allocated asbestos skip at the local recycling place..fully wrapped and taped...I will have to break it up considerably to fit it in my car before I wrap it up...I'm certainly not looking forward to it.. :(
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Ideally you should dress in one of those protective suit things but if you can get some disposable overalls and something to cover your hair (even one of those plastic rain caps women used to wear in the days of beehives) made from a carrier bag.
Dispose of clothes into a plastic bag and shower afterwards to ensure no fibres remain on you to inhale.
Basing that advise on some stuff I had from the states on what to do after the bomb dropped!
Somewhere I've the instructions on building an improvised air filter for your refuge room.
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Now you mention the overall thing...I think I have seen them on my numerous travels....disposable ones would be ideal...I feel quite frightened and wary of it but needs must....I think I will hire a skip to get rid of the normal stuff....its overwhelming me at the moment...and even though Ive taken seats out and lined my car, theres still only so much 1 person can do...up side to this?? I've lost weight just in the past few days... :D
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I didn't want to scare you but you breathe in white asbestos and you're probably OK but 10 / 20 years later you find out you were unlucky.
Bit like us smokers - did that last fag just kill me?
The upside to this is you will be fitter for the work, enjoy the veggies and help save the planet. Phew!!
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I can but try my best anway :) ...I'm hoping it will make me alot fitter in general and who knows, I may take after my Gran and be singing karaoke on my hundredth birthday....I will, to quote a wigan phrase, "keep gowin wit yed daan"...I have an idyllic idea of raised beds, free range chickens and various fruit trees in abundance :D ...whereas at the mo I have an abundance of broken glass, car parts and giant versions of the worst weeds in circulation :shock: ...Is ground force still going??? or any other makeover programme??? nominations please, pretty please???!! :cry:
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You'll get there - can't repair years of neglect in weeks. I think it took me a year to clear my first plot but I was very unfit . By the time I finished, I was a lot fitter and so was the plot.
I get a bit irritated with people who take on an allotment and think it's just a matter of plonking some seeds in the ground and they can walk home with champion veggies. They don't even bother investing a fiver in a book or reading the back of the seed packet.
Those who do actually put the preparation in, like you are, end up with a sense of satisfaction way beyond the 'players' When you finally have that plot cleared you'll feel like you are on top of Everest.
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I probably will feel like I'm on top of everest..the mountain of rubbish will be that high!!! :wink:
I do feel a little more excited every day though...Even though some days the plot looks worse than when I started with pulling the sheds down...Its like having my own secret garden...A film that influenced my childhood along with the wombles and the good life with Tom and Barbara...A prime example of how we all should live :lol:
Well in theory anyway :wink:
Off I go ..into the breach again...I will get more pics taken as a progress report..
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Any chance of an update,I`m sure I`m not on my own wondering how you`re doing and hoping you haven`t been overwhelmed.
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It was when the tribe of bushmen started shooting poison darts as the jungle was cleared that wombling wondered if this was the best hobby to have.
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:shock: ...ahhh yes those darn knot weed bushmen... :wink:
It creeps and grows like nothing ever has or will....that and the mares tails :evil: ...I have been very busy pick- axing concrete up, of all things as I discovered, amongst the car parts, an inspection pit/concrete ramp structure...Gosh the fun Ive had....Ive lost half a stone in the past 2 weeks!!!! Ive managed to get around 20 car loads of rubble broken glass,soil etc shifted and countless amounts of weeds burned on campfires..I know the recycling centre guys on a 1st name basis now..and they are convinced the allotment is the size of a footy pitch with the amount of stuff Ive taken there...The local kids have been great though..especially the ones deemed by neighbours as "troublemakers"..they have helped me the most and have got stuck in chopping the sheds up and digging up concrete...its done everyones heart good to see them and has renewed trust of teenagers within the immediate area...I feel posh now as well as I have acquired an 80's caravan as yet another do it up project..brilliant to use as a hideaway and brew van...and for mini breaks away from the weeds of course.. :)
I have 3 cats who visit us on the allotment, the eldest one stays there with me most of the day and into campfire time at night...curling up on my lap as I watch the weeds burn...bless her...I have treated the knot weed and mares tails new shoots with glyphosate mixture, which doesn't seem to have worked at all so far....I shall resort to digging out again now though as most of my blisters have healed :roll: ... manic organic!!! I'm in need of a cunning plan I think..or a bomb... :wink:
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I keep telling everyone - horsetail is best done with Amicide. Glyphosate doesn't get it unless repeated about half a dozen times whereas amicide takes one or two goes at most :)
Involving the local kids - brilliant. You are turning potential vandals into actual security guards and showing them something better in life.
As for the cats, glad I'm not there.. we have 3 already and left to me that would be 30!
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They had a feature on this morning's BBC News on Japanese Knotweed in Cornwall. They were cutting it back, then injecting something lethal into the hollow stem: It seemed like the stem was in hollow sections (like bamboo) and they needed to actually inject it down through the bottom of the section wall. I assume otherwise it would just pool in the top section and either evaporate, get rained out or just not penetrate. The roots apparently go down 10ft. :shock:
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10ft??? :shock: good grief :shock: yes I can believe it.....Its a complete hassle and one of those creations that makes you wonder what its point in the big scheme of things is...like wasps....My youngest is now pointing out all the knot weed out she sees when we are out and about in the car...That, mares tails and ragwort, she is now expert in spotting from miles away... :roll: I dread to think what she will be write in her "what I did in summer hols" essay..... :?
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Hi all...Still not much further on really.....still battling with the weeds on a weekly basis...no sign of being able to grow anything until next year really....Lots of things seem to have happened past couple of months preventing me from spending the time I wanted to in the allotment...par for the course I suppose most of the time....Haven't lost sight of my organic allotment dream though...will just take me bit longer to get there at this rate...still having battles with the knot weed and mares tail...just on my way over there now though to treat them again...heres hoping 3rd time lucky....I keep chopping crushing and spraying them...they start looking brown and crinkly..then they bounce back.... :evil:
I would love to hire a mini digger and blitz it all down a good few feet!!! :evil:
Been attacking the overgrown garden at my mums newly acquired bungalow....There are alot of rose bushes I've had to chop right back....will they be ok taking them and the rest of the garden green stuff to my allotment for the compost bin ?
I haven't been able to compost anything from the lottie its in such a state..
If so...how long would it take to rot etc to be useable as compost??? :)
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Yup I would put it all in your allotment compost bin - you can never have too much composting material - if you get time (when not battling with the knot weed) to chop the chunkier woodier stuff into smaller bits it will compost quicker.
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Great stuff....Rather put it to use on my lottie than put it in the green bin.... :)
Might look for a second hand shredder as well as I have lots of trees at home and at the lottie, the flotsum and jetsum off those would prob be good shredded and composted... :)
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Wombling ,had my lotty for 3 /4 years havnt a clue well just abit . I clear the ground then throw it in . If it does well I do it again , (ha for the experts ) I then plant in another spot the next year) . Best thing I had was instinct ! take advise then just go with it,. I mucked up on some things , but generally I got what I wanted . JUST STAY WITH YOUR PROGRAM . Adapt as you see fit.
cheers Trapper
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I live in hope of the days I will finally be able to grow something apart from the Knotting knot weed :evil:
Still can't put it to rest...mind you Rome wasn't built in a day and this allotment has been left to rack and ruin liberally sprinkled with car parts for years so I am in it for the long haul....My latest cunning plan is something advised by a friend who works on the chemical bit of council parks and gardens. :shock: ..Its a chemical called "finale" I think...They have a patch with knot weed which they experiment different weed killers on...They said this seemed most effective...Tried glyphosate, sodium chlorate,amicide and just ripping the darn stuff up...Yet up it comes like some kind of Audrey 2 plant :evil: (If you have seen little shop of horrors musical film you will know what I mean) :evil:
You can actually cook the stuff and eat it..heaven knows what it tastes like...with the amount I've got growing in there I could open a chain of gourmet knot weed restaurants and be well supplied!!! :evil:
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Hallo Wombling glad to see you're still at it - see the horsetail topic - Muntjac recommends mixing glycerine with the weed killers - here is his quote:-
"Can i just add a little note here .if you use shop bought glycerine and mix that with weed killers etc it acutally sticks and does not get washed off and the weeds actually feed on the glycerine taking the poison in faster . as sold by monsanto ,we use it on the farms on the estate here"
It might help speed the end your knot weed situation?
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A chain of JK restaurants - crikey. Don't put it in on your compost heap - it will grow again from tiny bits of root. I put mine in a bucket of water to fester - seems to kill it. Then I put it in the skip.
Burning it would be OK.
Our council bloke was keen to get a contractor in to ours, so that might be an option.
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alas and alack, the allotment I have is privately owned and the council will have nothing to do with anything on it only to tell you what you can't do... :?
I shouldn't really call them though because the majority of them have been really helpful....
The glycerine tip (mixing it with the weedkiller) seems to make sense and by the sounds of it a tried and trusted treatment..Is that ordinary glycerine then?? :?
........Its just that I have a bottle in my medicine cupboard
(my kids always cringe at the mere mention of my medicine cupboard as I always give them home remedies wherever possible...Its amazing how fast they recover before I've even given them anything!!) :wink:
...and if I can use that I will have another go at the blighters (thats the knot weed and mares tail not the kids) tomorrow.... :)
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to balance the bad with the good and to exercise my Irish and welsh farming heretige, can anyone recommend something I can plant into some big plastic bell pots that I can harvest over the winter or earlyish next year :? .... I feel a great need to do this to preserve my sanity and my motivation and at least see something good come out of the work done so far instead of all the weeds :evil:
It will encourage the kids as well who all seem to get easily daunted and neede to be inspired beyond my mere words and pictures from book :) s...
Thanking you all in advance,
Trudi :)
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Hi Wombling, what about some potatoes in those pots? I don't think you've got a greenhouse yet to keep them in have you? So you'd maybe need to cover them with fleece or something when the frosts come. or maybe you can get hold of some spring cabbage plants?
Some of the others on here say japanese bunching onions, some salad leaves are hardy enough, and some of the hardier herbs would be okay. I've got a huge pot I grew my sweet peas in this year. Hubby buried a green tomato that the dog was chasing in it, and now I've got 7 little tomatoes growing. I'm going to see how they do, but I'm lucky and have a greenhouse, so they will go into individual pots and go in there soon.
Good luck anyway, oh go have a look at John's month by month guide to what you can plant in October, you may find some ideas on there!!!
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Cheers Grannieannie....I will go and have a look...at least girls and me will be producing stuff instead of seemingly destroying all the time... :)