[Jimmy Splash]

so i'm digging away these big clumps of grass on my new overgrown allotment and i didn't know what to do with them. my friend told me to burn them. i'm thinking, "burn them?" so he piled the clumps up for me (after shaking the soil off) and started to burn them. this was last weekend. i go to my plot last night and the mound is still warm so i chuck a few more clumps on. i'm very much a novice to all this so whhilst i'm digging some more my mind is going, "what is that mound doing? what will happen to it? is there any point to this process?" can someone please put my mind at rest....
thank you!

[Dabhand]

Hello JS, welcome to the forums.  I wouldn't suggest burning as an option for anything other than diseased garden waste.   The best way to deal with the clumps is to stack them upside down and leave them for a year.  The grass will die off and The worms will get to work on the pile and you will be left with loam which is good for raising seedlings and improving soil structure when dug in.   

[blue_cortina]

... these big clumps of grass on ...

Is it couch grass ? http://www.mdidea.com/products/proper/Agropyron_repens.jpg

[Sadgit]

I am a lazy none organic gardener and I use chemicals (roundup) then burn the dead grass )

[richyrich7]

It's an old method of getting rid of the grass, also whats left is supposed to be an excellent soil conditioner, I've never tried it but let us know how you get on 

[Jimmy Splash]

no it's not couch grass. i've been picking those bits out by hand and burning those on a different bonfire. what i've been digging up is just grass basically (well to me it is!) and the roots. then i shake off the soil, turn it upside down so the grass burns first. to me it seems like it's going to take a millenium to burn off what i'm digging up!

anyway....

[peterjf]

to me , burning is the only option, once its burned the ash can be scattered around your plot or put onto the compost heap with other waste produce ,

to me , the use oif glyphotsate gives  an allotmenteer the little edge to get things in order,

give the plot a dig over , then let the weather break up the clumps , then rotovate , leave until the fresh young weed start shooting up again ,

then hit the little * again with a dose of glyphosate, weed free in 2 months sounds good to me ,

 

[harrymac]

what i've been digging up is just grass basically

If it's not couch grass, then all you need to do is turn the soil upside down when you dig it, so the grass is several inches underground.

Burning soil destroys all the organic matter such as humus. It's the last thing I would do. 

[senrab_nhoj]

My plot was grassed over completely...Properly dug over row by row removing perennials as I went ensuring grassed turned over and covered by successive row was all it took.

[Jimmy Splash]

cheers john barnes!

so dig the grass up, turn it upside down, bury it and soil over the top?

[senrab_nhoj]

I dug the plot over with grass and all rather than digging the grass up  seperately if that makes sense

worked in rows across my plot digging about 2-3 " at a time and a spit's depth down. turning over and laying grass down nearest where I had dug from