[zephrindruin]

My husband and I have just taken on a new allotment, and I mean new! At the moment the whole area is a field with a horse in it. The new owner has divided up the plots and he is going to scrape off the plants from the surface. I have read a few posts and think slow and steady sounds a good idea. I like the idea of covering the area and working piece by piece. Cardboard, black plastic, carpet? Any advice would be appreciated. The plot is about 10 x 12 metres which we are sharing with another couple.

[surbie100]

Congrats on your new plot! 

I cover with heavy duty cardboard, which I get for free from a local bike shop as I am a cheapskate. A plus is that it's biodegradable and you can plant through it, so you can get quick results.

You'll probably get at least as many opinions as responses - if you have cash to spend weed membrane can be really good and can be used from year to year.

Good luck, and don't forget to post some pictures on here. 

[Norfolkgrey]

Hi and congratulations  . My allotment was a field, if I done it again I would cover, cover and cover some more. I spent so much time weeding and loads of plots quickly became covered in weeds as people underestimated the work needed and they just didn't do anything. I think the worst one was a full plot and for the first year they planted 6 lettuces  However I am sure you will be fine 

[Yorkie]

Avoid carpet.  It is a nightmare to get rid of, can disintegrate into pieces - or the grass grows through it (one member here slipped a disc trying to lift it once the grass had grown into it), and you don't know what chemicals will be released when degrading.  In fact, carpet is generally banned on our council's sites.

[Christo]

Congrats on the new plot. Very exciting times. 
I'd agree completely. Keep it covered up and tackle it piece by piece. When I got my allotment I ordered a role of weed membrane (about 50m of the stuff) and I used that.

I agree about the carpet - avoid at all costs. I'm still finding bits of carpet and underlay on my plot. Not much fun.

Good luck with the plot.

C

[zephrindruin]

Thank you for all the advice. I will try cardboard first and if I can't get enough I will by the membrane. I will post pictures as we progress. Width us luck!!

[3759allen]

maybe worth growing some green manure as it's being scraped. there's been a few posts a month or 2 back.

cardboard is good as it rots down.

i use carpet as a weed suppressant in my poly tunnel and as paths, but these are only down for 8 months max then thrown away or dried out and stored. you can't leave it down for much longer other wise as said it gets very messy. 

[brianc]

I started a new plot last year in june mine was alot bigger than yours, i removed the top layer of grass from it
i did not cover it with anything i started to dig it right away. I dug about 3 foot each time removing as many roots
as i could, i ended up with sacks of couch grass roots i did not plant anything that year i just kept removing the
weeds as they regrew, you always miss some . This spring i redug it which was much easier this year and i have
a full plot  of veg. Do not be too eager to plant it this year get it sorted for next year.
Just keep at it.

[Goosegirl]

Exciting times ahead! I agree with all on here about covering and tackling things a bit at a time. Also, make a rough plan of where your permanent things will be placed such as a compost area, greenhouse (?), fruit bushes, fruit trees and growing beds. As you continually walk over the area you will find you "naturally" walk over certain places which may help to establish where your paths could be. As it's a field (like one we took over a few years ago) I assume you don't need to worry about any shaded areas but if it is prone to winds you will need to provide some form of protection around your plot and you will probably have trouble with wireworm in your potatoes which often happens when re-cultivating fields. As for black plastic, if you have a nearby farmer, they use it to bale hay and may let you have some. Hopefully you will get some horse manure to give you plenty of organic matter to lay on or dig in. A bit more advice is firstly to find out what type of soil you have and secondly, dig a small straight-sided trench to see how much actual topsoil you have and if there is a hard-pan below due to tractors or whatever compacting or only rotovating the top so not getting down into the sub-soil which would lead to problems with your soil not draining properly. Photos please!!

[snowdrops]

You may need to consider making it a rabbit free zone from the start

[wil4025]

My advice from a new allotment would be

1: Cover the whole ground with weed fabric
2: fence around your allotment to stop weed seeds coming into your allotment. I use debris netting and acts as a windbreak too .
3: make sure you plan where to put your trees and stuff you cant move
4: have fun

[zephrindruin]

Thanks wil4025. I have done quite a lot of reading on weed fabric and there seem to be a lot of different products out there. Some need covering which we cannot do. Have you any recommendations?