[Casey76]

When I moved into my house last year I also inherited a very overgrown and neglected veggie patch.

Unfortunately as I had broken my wrist just before I moved I couldn't really do much in the garden last year, though I did manage to clear a 2m x 3m section of the veggie patch to put a couple of toms and courgettes in.

In the autumn I went in with a pair of secateurs and cut all the brambles back to ground level and pulled all the nettles (5ft hight!) and docks  etc, and I eventually managed to get to the fenceline to reveal a veggie patch over 6m x 7m.  In october I started the hard work of forking the ground over, hand picking all of the roots out.  I managed a strip 6m long by 1.5m wide before winter set in (we had a really wet cold winter with temps below -5C for weeks this year!)  Since winter broke everything seems to be growing at double speed to make up for lost time and I'm almost back to where I started

Brambles are sprouting up left right and centre, and the most frustrating thing of all is that the entire area is completely covered (once again) with creeping buttercups.

Two weeks ago I lost my temper and sprayed a lot of the area with roundup and at last I can see down to ground level again.

This weekend I'll be taking all the dead stuff off the top and starting the digging again.

I'll have to invest in some weed suppressing membrane to put over the entire area and put my pots on top of it.

Any idea of how I can get rid of the brambles which are sprouting where I don't want them to?  Even when I dig the roots out they seem to keep coming back - the fact they they (last year) produced wonderfully tasty raspberries is no consolation when they are covering the entire back area, rather than just a small space!

[aelf]

Hard work eh? Know that feeling. As the plot has been neglected (for a number of years?) there will be a sustantial amout of weed seed in the ground, all lying dormant and waiting for some kind person to open up the soil and expose them to warmth so they can germinate. Every time you turn the ground over, some of the seed bank will germinate and you can hoe it off. Eventually (took me 5 years as my plot hadn't been used for 10 years) the number of seed germinating decreases and it gets more manageable. A good mulch will help to keep them down. As for brambles, they have deep roots so when you dig them up, some of the root tends to remain in the soil and the plant regenerates. I have brambles in one spot that I just cant get rid of, evan tho I have dug down 3 feet to remove them! Now I just skim the top off every week or so.

Yes, hard work, but worth it. Really worth it.

Don't give up!

[mumofstig]

When my blackberries regrew after i had removed all of the root (HA HA ) i just sprayed a few times with Roundup, till they didn't come back any more.
But you have to catch them quick so they don't get strong again!!

[DaftMule]

I took over an allotment last year that (apparently) hadn't been used for 20+ years.  :blink:  Apart from it being compacted clay soil which was seriously hard work to dig, the weeds were phenomenal.  Cow parsley up to my eyes, bindweed, couch, various other deep rooting types (including horse radish which I didn't cotton on to as I dug and is now springing up all over the place!). 

Anyway,  last summer/autumn I roundup'd the whole area 2 or 3 times.  I then laid black plastic silage sheeting over  the weediest half of the allotment.  The other half I "rough dug" and let the winter sort out the clods for me.  Overall, it has given me a nice seedbed.  Sure, the weeds are still coming up, but nothing like I expected.  Main problem really has been from the seedbank of annual weeds that I set free with the digging.

My plan is to dig in some more of the ground currently under plastic, this autumn...again to leave for the winter to work on.

I agree re the comment above about roundup on brambles.  Hit em young as once they get woody, the roundup will not be as effective.  Unfortunately, it'll probably be a war of attrition 

[scabs]

I'm in the same position Casey, as fast as I dig, I generate more weeds... I guess its just a case of plodding on till the job is done, as has already been said.

It's a b*gger though, eh?

[littlepete]

as a new comer to the allotment world i am having the same trouble i dig the weeds out they come back i have two sections of my allotment that is like a jungle so i have put weed killer over it and lets see what happens, was going to start getting the dead stuff off this weekend but looks like rain again

[Yorkie]

It's also really important to either cover or use ground once you've cleared it, or - as you'll find out - the weeds just come back again.  I find that a hoe is quite useful if the ground is dry enough, and you can just slice the tops off the new brambles - but it is definitely a case of little and often.

Good luck!

[digga666]

Any idea of how I can get rid of the brambles which are sprouting where I don't want them to?  Even when I dig the roots out they seem to keep coming back - the fact they they (last year) produced wonderfully tasty raspberries is no consolation when they are covering the entire back area, rather than just a small space!

Sheep or Goats they love em!!. That's why they dont grow in fields where these animals are kept.......The reason they keep coming back is because the ground is full of seeds from the fruit and i dont think your weed killer will get those......So dig it over remove what you can and then cover with plastic untill next year if you dont plan to grow this year, this way it should be clean for next spring

[Casey76]

Never, never plan on doing anything in the garden... it makes the rain appear   

Anyway...  veggie patch currently looks like:




I've bought some mulching film which I hope will do the job of keeping the weeds down as a fork over the ares and pick out the roots... if the rain ever stops!

[Casey76]

So... halfway through day one (had to break play due to rain  ) we're at this stage:



I finally called it a day after about 5 hours total work at this point:



Just have make sure that mulching film doesn't blow away now!



And a final comparison...
yesterday:

today:


Not too shoddy I think!

[Yorkie]

Wow!  Think you've earned yourself a nice cuppa tea (and a Radox bath  )

Doesn't it look bigger once the bushes at the back are cleared 

[Casey76]

It looks loads bigger once the back section is cleared.  Unfortunately, because it's right in the corner of the garden it was much more neglected than the front section.

In Oct last year it was taking about an hour just to fork over one strip (one fork width) picking out all the nettle dock and bramble roots.  Fortunately the woek has payes off as where I worked last year it is still relatively weed free... only where I never got around to forking it is full of regrown brambles and nettles (and the nettles are vicious burgers too *note to self: much safer to wear a long sleeve top when picking nettles*)

The section which is now covered with film is about as much as I got done for summer last year.  this year I'll just keep going bit by bit and keep the whold thing covered with film - though I might start a couple of rows of radishes lol.

[Elcie]

Looking really good so far - well done for getting so much done in one rainy day.  I am very jealous.  Would love access to something similar at home but I am lucky to have an allotment I can go to.

[Casey76]

Weather has been absolutely atrocious today, and I've spent all day dodging rain and wind.

The ground was really far to wet to be digging around in it, so I used the time to trim back the trees/bushes in the back corner, and then spent the majority of the time freeing up the area underneath the thornless blackberries.  At last I'm starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel, but I still dispair of what to do with the ground cover of various grasses and creeping buttercups.  In an attempt to stop them getting even worse I've put a basch down in the back half of the patch.  It's only 2x3m but hopefully it will at leat weaken the  growth under it to make it easier to pull up.

I really had a mind to do much more, but between the rain and the ban on powertools on a Sunday... well, what can a girl do?

One thing though, I talked my mum into buying me some pea and bean seeds and posting them to me from the UK.  I really need to get much more of the area dug over, as I'm dying to erect a Munty bean frame 

Does anyone know if sorrel should be confined to a pot sunk into the ground?  My inherited patch seems to have grown amazing tree root-like tubers underground, and it's not half going to take some work getting it all out!

Anyway today's updated photos, despite taking 4 50L bags of green out you can' teally see that much of a difference 

Yesterday morning:


Tonight:


Anyway I'm now probably going to bombard the forum with question relating to brambles... be back in a minute 

[Yorkie]

Well I think it looks as though you've definitely made progress, look at the photos between end of yesterday and today - you can see the fence!

Good choice not to go on the soil - if it sticks to your boots it's too wet and you are likely to damage the soil structure by walking on it and compressing it.

A little bit at a time, and  you'll look back in a month or so and be proud of yourself (you should already be proud)