[emma5306]

Hi all. Our fabulous town council has opened up a new allotment site and myself and my family are one of the lucky recipients!!!! The problem being that I have no idea what I am doing. I have read books and sought advice from other allotment enthusiasts but so much of the advice is conflicting. My patch has never been used before and is completely covered in grass. A few people have told me to take the turf off but take it off nice and deep and then invert the patches so that it's grass side down. We've done this and the grass is now a good 3 or 4 inches below the surface (we did this last weekend). The next step is to rotivate the plot in a few weeks..........however, since doing this and making our plans some people have said it'll take months to rot down, others have said we'll get grass popping back up (which i don't mind as i'll pull it up as we go), others have said that this is a terrible idea all together, some have said to do it now so that the frost will get to it and help it rot, then someone said to cover it to keep it warm to help it rot; so as you can imagine we're more than a little confused. We would ideally like to plant as soon as possible, i don't mind if we don't get perfect or bumper crops, we'd just like to be able to supplement out shopping each week. So please please help, what should i do? We live in the South West if that matters 

[Y.E.A.H]

welcome to the forum 

[Ice]

I've moved your post to "Grow your own".  Why not pop into the "welcome" forum and intrtoduce yourself.

[Jodie A]

If the grass you've turned over is couch grass it will grow back, if it is paddock grass you may have more hope, as bits that regrow are easier to pull out.  I would have taken off the top layer, and stored it so it could break down at it's own pace, ie grass to grass like a sandwich.

You may have had more luck late last year, with frosts and the helping of snow to kill off roots, but with spring just around the corner I reckon it will just sprout and become a right pain.

If you can lift up the turfy bits, and store them, whilst putting well rotted manure/compost onto the growing area - I think would be the best option.

[madcat]

You have learnt the first lesson of allotmenteering ......

20 gardeners, 21 opinions of the right way to do something!

And the second lesson ...

Its not just you!   

[chili]

why not just dig out segments less work to maintain till you formulate a plan

[GreenOwl]

Hi Emma,

Where in the South-West are you?  If you put it in your profile it helps people advise you.  The climate is really different here to where I grew up 100 miles N/E of here fo example.  You don't have to be specific, county or nearest big city/town.

I'm still waiting for our brand-new allotments so I am very jealous.

You've buried the grass nice and deep, its up to you if you want to re-stack the turves to rot down or just leave them and see what happens.

GreenOwl

[gillie]

Do the turves you have lifted consist entirely of fibrous roots, or are there some white stringy ones?

If there are stringy ones you have some couch grass amongst other fine grasses.  In which case definitely make a stack of the turves, grass side down, and leave for a couple of years.  If there are just fibrous roots you could rotavate straight away.  Yes, some grass will regrow, but it should be easily dealt with as the soil will be nice and loose.

Do not forget Rule No. 1.  DO NOT trample on soil which is too wet  and compacts into a concrete like material under your feet.  If you want to work, or it is the kind of soil which takes a long time to dry out, either work from walking boards or set about a plan of marked beds so that you do not have to step on the soil which is going to grow things.

Cheers,

Gillie

[emma5306]

There are no white roots whatsoever, it's all fine stringy grass roots. The turf will be easy to turn back over, so I'll turn it back over and remove what i can and leave it to rot. It is a little wet so thank you gillie i shall get some old scaffolding boards or something to walk on. We're in North Cornwall but about 20 miles in from the coast near the Devon. Thank you all so much for your help xxxxxx

[strangerachael]

Also, as your plot was previously grassed over you might like to read the thread about wireworm and how to deal with it... forewarned is forearmed and all that...

[DD.]

Don't forget Chafer Grubs - they like turf.