[Steve015]

Hello everyone, sorry if this is in the wrong place,

I took a new plot on in Feb, but couldn’t start till April, The plot is overgrown with weeds etc, not been used in 2 years. I was going to hire a rotavator and start it from scratch, but cannot hire one at the moment due to the lockdown.

Does anyone have any help, tips that i can do to stop the weed growth till I can get the allotment turned over, the size is 22m x 10m.

Can I just put a UV weed mat over the plot?

Any advice greatly appreciated
stay safe and enjoy the outdoors.

[Aunt Sally]

Hi. Welcome to the forums.

We don’t usually recommend rotavating a Derelict plot as you could make the weed problem worse by chopping up any pernicious weed roots.  Covering with weed suppressant  fabric is a good idea if you can get hold of some, and then gradually digging over to remove the weed roots.

Good luck others will be along to advise you soon. There are lots of ways to reclaim the soil.

[mumofstig]

Order some weedkiller on-line and spray it a few times until nothing is growing as noted here https://www.allotment-garden.org/allotment-information/clearing-new-allotment/

Quick Way to Clear a Plot
  This is the easiest and quickest way to clear a plot. Clear the rubbish and strim down to a few inches above ground level. Rake up the strimmings and pop onto the compost heap.
Then spray the plot with a glyphosate based weedkiller, paying special attention to the perennial weeds. Leave for a week or two, re-spraying any perennial weeds that are still looking healthy. Then dig over or rotovate.
The weedkiller is taken to the roots of the perennials so killing them and making it possible to chop them up without the problem of re-growing.

OK, this method uses a weedkiller but given the number of people who start with the best organic intentions and then give in when they discover it’s hard work, I’d say use the spray and go organic later!

Good luck!

[Steve015]

Thankyou both so much, I have a local couple that can help, and have managed to get 60m x 2m of matting and pegs in a few days, (paid for and will collect locally and safely), I dont want to lose the plot, so will start as advised and keep it slow. Thanks again.

[snowdrops]

You could also strip all weed broth as low as you can & cover with cardboard as well as your matting, this will assist in stopping any light through & weakening regrowth. If you can get any well rotted manure/mulch place that on top of the cardboard & then the matting. If you wanted you could plant direct into the mulch & start growing straight away or alternatively you can cut holes in the matting for things like pumpkins,courgettes. You have hen effectively started a no dig Allotment  . If it’s the sort of matting/membrane that frays run a naked flame over the edges it saves lots of time picking up the fraying strands.

[jambop]

If it were me I would use my brushcutter to clear the weeds back to ground level rake the debris up and make a compost pile and then start no dig beds wherever possible. With the use of cardboard to blind the soil first the covered with soil and compost. You can just make what you can really to get started and blind the rest of the ground with cardboard old carpet you name it anything that will hold the weeds back. Look on youtube for Charles Dowding he is the Guru of no dig. If you get started pronto you will get something back this season. The real problem when starting no dig is compost you can use a lot of it.

[Charlibp]

You have plenty of choices and it is not to late to get going. Don't aim to do too much too soon, it is better to do 1hr a day every day that 8hr in a weekend and hurt your back!
I would use glysophate all over the plot, and several coats spaced a few weeks apart, strimming the weeds.
I would then use cardboard and weedproof fabric over one bed so you can start planting but iwould also dig over other beds.
I am not a fan of glysophate and will be moving to organic planting and companion planting as my plot gets under control. I took mine over last november and it was covered in Ivy and trees...
Just take your time and measure your progress in years not months. Aim for a 5 year plan for a super plot!

[Hampshire Hog]

I would back covering with whatever you have hand plus using glycophosphate.
One watch out for me is whether you have an asparagus bed under all of the weeds.
If you have spears just starting to come up hand weed or you could kill them with weed killer.
Good luck HH 

[Goosegirl]

Just one thing. In these difficult times I hardly think anyone's going to chuck you off your plot because of the lock-down. Just do as advised with whatever you have to hand then make a plan of your plot to decide where you want your first bed. Concentrate on working on that and leave the rest covered for the time being as it won't take any harm. 

[Steve015]

Wow, thanks, so much great advice. I'm going with glycophos a couple of times, remove the worst and rake and heap it into a compost area, cover most of the plot, except a path down the middle and a 10m wide x 4m area at the end, which i will turn over and grass.

Then do a metre or so here and there over the next few months. Does that sound reasonable? I would like to start slow and get it right, than rush in and regret it later.

Thanks again to all,

[Yorkie]

I completely agree with your plan to use weed killer and covering.  Of course, don't apply weed killer and then cover - glyphosate needs the plant to be actively growing in order to work on it.

I wouldn't grass the relevant part of the plot until you are sure that no perennial weeds are going to come back through the grass.

As for rate of progress, nobody is going to expect you to be fully on top of the plot within just a few months (or they shouldn't!), but plan for a steady rate of progress so that you can demonstrate ongoing work.  You don't want someone to say that you've ignored it for months while waiting for everything to die off.

[Steve015]

Thank you, the small village I live in is full of lovely people, and I dont see anyone moaning, though I do plan to work the plot every few days.

The path I plan to grass is currently covered by a very thick material, similar to roof felt, it's very slippy when wet, and not very attractive; but the area at the back I think your right, will need more time to kill off the persistant weeds. I'll use the ugly felt from the path to cover that for a while after spraying a few times.

Are their any recommended glyco based products that anyone would recommend?

[Yorkie]

I get the concentrated stuff so I only mix up the amount I need - it's more expensive to start with but dilutes down to a more reasonable price.  Roundup is the most commonly known brand name but there are others.  Resolva combines glyphosate with a contact herbicide but I'm not sure whether it comes in a concentrated form.

As I said previously, don't cover after spraying, unless the plant has already died off.  At this time of year you'd expect it to take 2, possibly 3, weeks for the effects of the glyphosate to start showing, as the plant has to absorb the chemical and take it down to the roots before starting to die off.

[Aidy]

There is a lot of advise here to take note from however one thing you need to do is to make note of what weeds are growing, the reason is simple, there is one weed in particular which will not be hit by anything you spray and is marestail.
The only way to clear this is by digging and clearing every last root up, once your beds are clear you will probably find it will come back "never let it see a sunday" is the best advise. This is a tough nut to crack and if you are not carefull it will take over. Most other weeds are fairly easy to control.
I have cleared several plots in my time and I have found the best way is to dig, clear a bed then plant, move onto the next section. The first year I would look at crops that grow pretty quick so you can clear that bed again and replant.
Good luck.

[snowdrops]

If you go down the chemical route, be careful of composting the debris as it might stay in the compost to cause issues when using the compost, look up aminopyralid herbicide on here.