[warmrain]

I have a patch of ground which is thickly covered with grass (and a sprinkling of thistle and dock!).  What is the best way to remove the grass and weeds and turn this into a lovely moist veggie bed?

I would prefer not to use chemicals/herbicides if possible. I have thought of hiring a mini digger to scrape off the top layer (I also want to dig a few holes for fruit trees) but this would deplete the ground of its topsoil -- and I don't have established bins of mature compost to replace it as I am only just starting off.  I have thought of just rotavating it repeatedly but this would leave bits of broken grass rhizome in the ground and I would have to repeat it for several grass growing cycles which means I would not be able to use the plot for at least a year or two (until most of the grass/weeds have died off from exhaustion).  I have considered a single chemical application followed by rotavating but I do not believe one application of Glyphosate or Sodium Chlorate would reliably kill off dock or thistle anyway so I am reluctant to do this.

The plot is about 50-100 sq metres.  What do members suggest?  

[azubah]

I'm very anti chemical sprays, but I'd spray an area like that with glyphosate. It would be hard work to do it any other way.

[carlrmj]

When I got my plot it was in a similar way.
 
 I sprayed it with a concentrated solution of glyphosate then left it to take effect.

 I then dug it all over and removed all the dock,thistle couch etc that I could,backbreaking
  work but worth it in the long term
 
Docks are a pain as they have long taproots which if you don't remove completely will just regrow.

Cheers Carl

[Wellpotty1]

You could try covering it with black plastic or old carpets. I had an uncultivated plot last year & this worked for me (mostly as I had rose bay willowherb also which is a bit tricker to deal with) I cut off the tops of any tall weeds with hand held hedge cutters so that the covering was going all over the same height. Waited 6 or so weeks & then raked off the debris & covered again for 2-3 weeks before a dig over.

[compostqueen]

Do you need to turn it all over to cultivation in one go?  If you did could you fill it with veg in one go?  I think perhaps not, so you could clear a bit at a time which means you don't have to spray it at all.  Clear as you go.  Skimming the top turf off and stacking it upside down to rot while you get on with making your first planting or sowing area. I wouldn't rotovate either as you just break up the weeds into a zillion bits, making the weed problem worse. You can keep soil under sheet mulch while you proceed

Don't put sodium chlorate anywhere near your plot 

[fatcat1955]

And NEVER use old carpet either. If you knew the chemical's in a carpet you would go no where near it.

[gavinjconway]

Hi warmy... I took over a full plot in November last year and it was in a really bad state.. I double dug it this spring when it was a bit dry and burned all the grass and weeds... I feel do it properly first time. Dont rotavate as you will cut the weeds and just make the weeds and grass worse..  I have a web-blog with my progress but I cant point you to it directly. However look at my profile carefully...    

[Yorkie]

Sodium chlorate was made illegal a couple of years ago.

I agree that glyphosate is the only available weedkiller.  Otherwise it's a question of covering with something other than carpet, or just digging.

[Fen]

Warmrain Glyphosate was formulated for people like us. Forget Sodium Chlorate, its history.
Carpets and plastics contain all sorts of horrible chemicals but all reasearch suggests that Glyphosate is fairly safe.

I have been dealing with the same problem all summer. Sprayed with G. when it firstly greened up, raked and hoed when all was dead and then sprayed the new seedlings and the brambles and nettles which had been lurking below the surface.

Digging it deeply now to encourage a last crop of weeds to germinate and then spray off.

Leave all winter untouched. Rain, sun, wind and frost will give you a superb seed bed in the spring.

[Alastair-I]

A fork and a bucket, radio 5 and McEwans Export.. divide the plot up into managable sections, start at one end and work your way up over Autumn/Winter.  I found a piece of old carpet was handy to cover the bit you're going to be working next - it draws up the moisture and keeps the soil easily workable.

And plant plenty of spuds.. plenty of digging to get 'em in, heavy groundcover whilst they grow and then you dig the whole section over again very thoroughly when it's time to lift them.

[stompy]

Like others have said either Glyphosate or cover it up.
Glyphosate will also kill docks thistles (etc) but they just need a couple more aplications, most grass is killed with just one.

1, Use Glyphosate on the whole plot once and then with either a brush or a small spray bottle target the docks (etc) singularly/locally, then cover until you can dig.

2, If you cover it you dig as you go and uncover it once you need to move onto the next piece of ground.

Hope this helps 

[compostqueen]

You can glyphos repeatedly but weeds are  an inevitability, sadly