[Green Finger]

As I mentioned in the other thread - we just got a plot, we have no experience whatsoever and we have no clue what we're doing....

I've watched hundreds of videos on Youtube and read about 15 books on gardening and hundreds of threads on this forum... And I don't think I'm any wiser
I know I need to dig all those weeds manually. It's mostly grass I think (please be merciful and don't ask me what grass). So I dig a bunch of grassy stuff out, there's plenty of soil between the roots. I keep banging it on the piece of timber that I have handy to get the soil out but it seems to be superglued to the roots. Eventually I give up, I can't rescue the soil, tough. What do I do with the grass? Throw it into compost? Leave it out and wait for it to dry out and then put it into the compost or burn?

Help!

[teamspotty]

Read here:-

http://www.allotment-garden.org/allotment/clearing-new-allotment-plot.php

It is worth getting some decent weed membrane and cover as you go - it will stop you having to weed what you have already dug.

It is also worth getting a petrol strimmer that has a brush cutter - scalp down to the mud and cover and come back to digging it after you've strimmed the whole plot.

[snowdrops]

Drying the clumps would be a good option if fires are allowed, that will kill any seeds in the soil & you get to keep the soil as well. Dry them well then collect a load of wood to get some heat going & you will soon be rid of them

[mumofstig]

Either put it in a heap, roots up and leave it to dry or put it in the compost heap - unless it's couch grass, which has spreading roots like this



If it is couch, then put it black bags and leave it to rot or take it to the dump. - we're not allowed bonfires.

[Kristen]

If you are going to dig the plot anyway then I would trench-dig (more commonly called "double digging") it and put the stripped off turf in the bottom of the trench:

Dig a trench across the plot. Cart the soil to the far end.

Strip the turf off the next strip to be dug.  Place it face down in the bottom of the previously dug row's  trench.

Dig out the soil for the next row and place it into the previous trench, covering up the upside-down turf.

Loosen the soil in the bottom of the new, just created, trench. Ideally incorporate some manure / organic matter into the sub-soil.  Even if you don't loosening it will improve drainage and encourage the roots of crops deep into the soil.

Strip the turf off the next row ... and so on.

When you get to the end fill the final trench with the soil you carted to that far end, at the start of the job.

You could stack the turf to rot down. It makes lovely loam ... but ... unless you will actually have a productive use for it I think it better to just bury it.  As it rots down the fibrous nature is great for holding moisture, which the crops will appreciate.

This is assuming it is meadow / lawn type grass, rather than Couch.

[ptarmigan]

Putting the grass and soil in old compost bags - tying it up and forgetting about it for a couple of years will give you some pretty good compost/soil improver to use when its finished rotting down.   

It's then easy to pick out any weed roots that have survived the darkness.   

Another way of clearing beds is to dig out obvious nasties and then cover with cardboard and put the grass clods back upside down so they rot down in situ.   You are making a sort of raised bed then.  Maybe just do it on a small patch as you have to keep a bit of an eye on it. And add any other organic matter you have on top, like grass cuttings and stuff. 

Just clear a bit at a time - you can't do it all at once - make a bit of space to plant something (anything) and take your time.   Potatoes are quite good to plant as the foliage makes it hard for weeds to establish underneath.

[surbie100]

Everyone has a different way of doing things, and there are lots of good solutions. You need to figure what works for you. I tend to either burn or drown my weeds, because then they are good & dead. But I've also stuck the clods into a dalek and left them for 18 months, which also works - weeds dead and the soil is lovely loamy stuff.

[jaydig]

I do what Surbie does. I stack the nasties  - bindweed and couch grass - until they are dry, and then when we are allowe bonfires, I burn them, together with old brassica roots and stalks, and then layer the ash in the compost heap. Annual weeds I just put on the compost heap, there are already about two thousand years' worth of their seeds on the plot, so I don't worry about that because I know I'll never overcome them. Nettles, dandelions, docks, etc I throw in the water butts to drown and rot down.
I always leave a small clump of nettles in a corner for the peacock butterflies to lay their eggs on, and little heaps of dried stick and stones etc at the back of the plot for various wildlife to use. Old sweetcorn stalks or dahlia stems are good for ladybirds to overwinter in, and don't take up much space.

[Green Finger]

Thank you all! That gives me few ideas to work with. Looks like it's going to be fun

[Headgardener22]

Make yourself a set of good compost heaps. Three bins made with pallets is good. Fill them up one at a time with everything. Hopefully it'll take about 1 year to fill the first two by which time you can turn them into the third one (etc., etc., etc.).

I know the rules say you should separate couch grass, perennial weeds, etc., but if what you're trying to do is clear the ground, you want to do it as quickly as you can and not spend ages separating down to the last bit.

Next year, when you look in the compost heaps, some will be nice and friable and some will be growing all the wrong stuff but you can separate it then.

[Yorkie]

If it's not couch grass, the soil will stick to the roots if it hasn't dried out enough.

[Green Finger]

Thank you once again!

I assume I still need to follow the brown layer / green layer rule when I chuck the grass into the compost?

[Christine]

Yes. 

[ptarmigan]

Green and brown layer rules...yes, technically I suppose...but frankly I just follow the just chuck it all in rule and it seems to sort itself out. Unless I've had a load of grass clippings from in laws which I will mix around a bit.  I find I get compost.

Personally I think what you produce on an allotment to put in compost bins is a it different from gardens where you can get a lot of the same stuff at once. I also grow borage for the bees and also because it's great for putting in compost bins for a bit of green if necessary.

I'm sure someone will be along in a minute to say there's a different way!

With the grass you are pulling up though I'd be tempted to follow one of the suggestions like putting away in a Dalek or compost bags because it does produce lovely loamy stuff eventually, whereas in the compost heap it makes it difficult to turn.

[sunshineband]

It can sometimes be difficult to use enough "browns" when you start of with a plot full of "green".   

Shredded paper mixed in with the weeds and grass cuttings from home, plus kitchen waste of course, makes a really good balance. Layering it doesn't work as well as mixing it in. I kind of stir it in by hand as the weeds and so on go in, and it works a treat