[seayork2002]

Hi,

Unless there is another available, we have taken on (at first glance a 1/4 acre) an allotment that has tall (taller than a person) grass type material growing in it, we have been advised by the man running the allotment that we will need to hire a strimmer to clear it. Does any one have any advice on this or what we need to do next...........or any other advice for new allotment holders.

Thanks in advance

[Beetroot queen]

I signed for my second plot on friday

This was before and after strimming





Next job is roundup  good luck

[Riala]

Can you elaborate Beetroot Queen?

Will you round up and cover, or just round up and dig?

[Beetroot queen]

Can you elaborate Beetroot Queen?

Will you round up and cover, or just round up and dig?

We are thinking of doing a mixture of both, with the plot next door we did roundup and just kept digging for this one we are thinking roundup, cover half and dig the other half

[Riala]

Sorry for hijacking this thred:

Will you dig/cover straight after using round up, or wait a couple of weeks (or however long) ?

I am asking, as my plot has been strimmed by the council, and is now growing back at a scarily fast rate, and I am unsure what to do.

I have some weed control fabric coming in the next day or two, and I would like to round-up or Glysophate, then cover, and dig as I go along.... what do you think?

This was the plot a few days before it was strimmed.

[Yorkie]

If you plan to use weedkiller, leave it uncovered for a week or two as the plant needs to be growing actively to take the chemicals down to the roots.  If you cover the plant, the activity is immediately lessened and the weedkiller won't be as effective.

If you are covering with heavy duty stuff, it may be that you don't actually need to use weedkiller - it's entirely your choice though.

BQ - which strimmer did you use?  I'd have thought a heavy duty petrol one with a brushcutter attachment is preferable for such a weedy plot but would be interested to know what you used.

Edit: I'm whizzing this thread over to Grow Your Own

[beansticks]

Whichever strimmer you use,make sure you hire from a reputable centre,who will also supply all the safety gear to go with it,and will also give you instructions on safe use.They can be lethal in the wrong or careless hands.Good luck and keep safe.

[Beetroot queen]

If you plan to use weedkiller, leave it uncovered for a week or two as the plant needs to be growing actively to take the chemicals down to the roots.  If you cover the plant, the activity is immediately lessened and the weedkiller won't be as effective.

If you are covering with heavy duty stuff, it may be that you don't actually need to use weedkiller - it's entirely your choice though.

BQ - which strimmer did you use?  I'd have thought a heavy duty petrol one with a brushcutter attachment is preferable for such a weedy plot but would be interested to know what you used.

Edit: I'm whizzing this thread over to Grow Your Own

We used the site strimmer which I dont think was great but needs must and maybe another time I would have hired a BIGGER one, I will leave the plot uncovered for about two weeks and then black it, well I will spray it once it staops raining otherwise I will be back to square one 

[Lastcast]

Hi,
we are new allotment holders ourselves and have a similar situation, after speaking to very helpful allotment holders and committee members on our site, we were advised to do the following :-

Strim, leave to dry,
gather up and burn (carefully),
spray with round-up(carefully), leave a few weeks,
spray again(carefully) and leave.
clear surface,
rotavate and clear roots,
start to dig, clear and prepare beds.
weed as you go,
keep weeding,
weeding, weeding, weeding!!


good luck from a fellow newbies

[Ourveggiepatch]

Hi

We took on ours on 4th June it was an old football pitch then a paddock now allotments.

The plot was just rotavated by the local farmer, although this dug the weeds in its made it really easy to pull them up now they have started growing again.

As we are growin totally organically, chemical nuking is out of the question so we have the relatively hard work of digging and clearing by hand, but, the satisfaction of clearing a bed at a time and knowing that next year we will be eating organic veggies far outweigh the hard work we are putting in clearing it.

Had offers of help from family who are desperate to get involved however, we have refused help as we want to say we did it ourselves!

Glutton for punishment I know but the result will be more than worth it.

Oh yes my tip - clear a bit then sow/plant, get all the beds laid out first and get a shed up if poss - i like the idea of shelter if its raining.

[Humbledoor]

Hi all,

I took over a waste land, not complaining, really .

It's a fairly big plot and was challenging to say the least, at first I wondered why I had taken the leap (of faith me thinks!!) , but really, what a wonderful way to chill out, really hard as nettles etc had been allowed to grow for more than 15 years, but, silly as it may sound the more I dug the easier it became. Did not choose to use any hard chemicals, my choice, I was swayed by our four little ones demanding that saving the earth was worth the sweat lol, I agree with Lastcast's post but without the spray, your choice, of course! I took the plot late for growing early spuds but have planted lates to suppress the weeds. I also used a heavy duty strimmer - with goggles!! Have also used old carpet and any covering material I could lay my hands on to make things just a tad easier.

 Anyway enough of my dribble, just enjoy it - will be worth it in the end. BTW, I have met some really, really nice allotment folk, who have been really, really kind and helpful

[shay]

Good luck with the hard work. I have only got about 20-25% of my site actually working whilst we dig and weed up the rest so that next year come feb/march we are ready to go and every bed has had a good feed, maure etc so I can sow and then just weed as opposed to build, double dig, weed, build, double dig, weed, build....you get the picture. Hard work but even seeing a new bed put in and prepped has a nice feeling to it.

[punkrokka]

I'm a few months into a 260 sq metre plot and the end of all the initial digging and planting is in sight. I opted not to use weed killers or rotorvators.
 
I'd go for strimming the long grass down and then planning / marking out your sections & paths.  Cover up the parts you'll work on later with tarpaulin or carpet and take your time digging over each one. You can still use a covered section before you dig it over by just cutting holes into it.

Slice off the top layer of turf and stack it up, dig over with a spade then a fork and pull out all your weeds as you go, add some fertiliser (Chicken Manure seems to do the trick at a low cost) and leave for a week. Rake it over and break up any lumps, weed again and start planting. Then just repeat on how ever many sections you've planned!!

I'd personally avoid rotorvating....It will cause you more hassle than it's worth unless you can clear up all the chopped and scattered weed in super fast time.

Don't rush, stick to one section at a time...the aches and pains of an over enthusiastic first dig are definately best avoided.

Good luck

[Lewjam]

If your not planning to grow tonnes on a huge plot right away, i think the best way organically is to dig out a small plat for the time being manually, make some small raised beds and cover the rest in old carpet/thick black plastic.  Leave it till the following season and everything is dead.

Pull it all up and burn it - still have to watch out for new growth and rotervate but it just take allot of the back breaking digging out of the equation.

Other one i have done before i just rotervating over then basically planting a plot of potatoes, they are so greedy and bushy nothing else can to grow!

[lisa80]

saying that ,we put pots in because were told same thing..... didnt happen weeds are taller than pots nad has severly stunted potato growth  never mind was our first year and as oh says not making that blooming mistake again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! worst thing is it was my dad that told him that !!!ooops