[yettobenamed]

G'day all, this is my first post - just got (almost) an allotment in Bristol and looking forward to getting out amongst it this season!

We've just taken over this site which has been neglected over the last few years and has turned to a wild land of weeds, grass and general crappery! With that in mind I would love a bit of advice from some of the old hands on how best to deal with this and get it back to it's best.

The main body of the weeds just seem to be grasses with the occasional flowery looking mystery plant here and there so what I had in mind was a very brutal trimming with a whipper snipper (strimmer to all you not Aussie types) and then follow that with an equally nasty run with a decent petrol powered tiller/rotovator/cultivator thingy to bust up the roots while adding a bit of organic matter to the mix.

So, I'd like you thoughts on that please! Am I an idiot or do I have a generally good idea here? Bear in mind the grasses have not gone to seed yet so no risk of spreading the problem further.

Over to the boffins....

[JayG]

G'day, and welcome to the forums! 

Tempting as it sounds, especially when you're in a hurry, there are limits to what can be achieved just by throwing machinery at the problem, although a lot depends on what sort of weeds you have.

A good place to start reading about what to do (and not to do!) is on the main part of this site:

http://www.allotment-garden.org/grow-your-own/weeds-and-what-to-do

[Kleftiwallah]

 Am I an idiot or do I have a generally good idea here? 

I know how you Antipodians like straight talkers, so 'ere it is,

YEP, your an idiot ! ! !

The grass you talk of is very likely to be couch (sometimes called twitch) grass.   Strim the top off and rotovate, you'll cut up the roots into squillions of pieces and each piece will grow a new plant.

Better to cut the top and then carefully dig over and remove as much root as you can. Luckily the roots are quite white and easy to spot.  Best done while the soil is dry (ish).

With couch, it's not the seeds you worry about it is the roots.

G'day sport.  and Cheers,    Tony.

[amurdin]

i have just taken on our second plot and its the same its over 4ft tall in places i have sprayed it with glyphosate which is absorbed by the leaves and taken down to the roots then it is ok to dig back into the ground when it is all dead.....or so i hope

[yettobenamed]

I know how you Antipodians like straight talkers, so 'ere it is,

YEP, your an idiot ! ! !

Love it Tony! Although you're supposed to add "mate" on the end.


edited to fix quote

[gavinjconway]

G'day from another Southern Hemisphere oke - I'm from Zimbabwe

No to machinery ... for now anyway... as Tony said it cuts the roots up and you have a bigger problem.

Dig and dig and dig and fork all the weeds and roots out... see my weblog (click on the web link under my profile pic) and you can see what I have done on my new plot. It was a shambles and not used for years..  I double dug it all and removed tonnes... yes tonnes of roots and weeds.. had many bonfires and kept the ash to use as potash.

[morbidia]

We are digging ours by hand as its less likely to spread the roots from the weeds around

[yettobenamed]

OK, the war continues....I get the feeling this could be an ongoing war of attritian rather than outright victory being declared to either side in the near future. Rather like a boarder dispute or separatist uprising which goes on for generations!

Anyway I'm considering my options regarding this summers planting and have come to the realisation that I'm a couple of months late for most of the crops I wanted to plant. I didn't have time to get my seedlings under way early enough and now I'm left with at least 1/2 the plot which looks like it may be left vacant until next season. A shocking waste but I really don't think planting 7000 cabbages just because I have the space is really worth the work!

With that in mind I'd like a bit of advice on weed suppression on the 1/2 of the plot I'm putting to rest until next year. What kind of methods work best? I've already dug out all the weeds I can and now I'm thinking about scamming some old carpet off my local carpet layer bloke and covering the whole lot with a layer of hay/straw/?? and whacking the axminster on top to keep any nasty little blighters from poking their heads up.

Thoughts....?

[Ice]

Carpet is usually banned on allotment sites for many reasons.  It leaches chemicals, grass and weeds can grow through it and any foam backing will break down into your soil.

My personal preference would be to use Glyphosate to get it under control first.  Cardboard makes a good weed suppressant if you don't want to use chemicals.

[Esplanade]

the carpet will almost certainly have some chemicals in it and will look a real mess in a few months time.

why not try cardboard and then the straw layered up with a bit of soil, then some grass cuttings etc with plenty of worms, ie - a no-dig lasagne approach? even some black plastic over the top to cook a little, but dont forget to regularly water to keep the worms happy

lots of the traditionalists will frown at it saying that you cant improve the soil without digging, but you can do both - improve and repress weeds at the same time.

you've done wonders already (was looking at your blog over the weekend).. dreaming here of a plot..

[Growster...]

G'day Yetto - and a warm welcome!

It may be an idea to just cut down the weeds on the spare bit, and occasionally strim, or even mow them.

By later autumn (Oct/Nov here of course), zap the stuff with Glyphosphate as Ice says, and you'll have less greenery to dig out over the winter. It will also look less daunting, and you'll be able to spot any brambles or other nasties, and hoik them out as well!

Carpet looks horrible, and the underlays are sometimes a bit noxious too! Cardboard is a good idea, as long as you anchor it.

(BTW, my grape-growing friend in The Hunter Valley, swears by Glyphosphate, and he's one of youse guys)!

Best of luck anyway, and keep in touch with all the good people here regularly when you have a moment!

[compostqueen]

Covering it with sheet mulch (the heavy duty woven variety)  A trip to the leccy shop to ask for cardboard is a good idea as they have loads of it. Well ours always does. 

I have a bit, quite a large bit actually, that gets mowed.  It looks lovely and I've actually planted some fruit trees in it. It's just waiting in the wings til I get around to it. Til then it makes a great place to hang out and have barbies etc.  It is destined to go though quite soon

As you say if you free up all the area in one fell swoop you'll be forced to plant it all up and then look after it

You're not too late for sowings. Far from it. You can sow and plant as you clear. You only need a bit of clear soil the size of a doormat to get something going.  It's all about the veg remember.  That thought can be lost in the cut and thrust of petrol strimmers and heavy duty machinery

I've had neither near mine preferring to take the slow route and clear it by sheet mulching. At least that way you don't get confronted with tonnes of weeds. They all disappear as if by magic, feeding the soil as they decompose    It is a slow route and I'm still on with it.

[Madame Cholet]

most shops will be glad to give you cardboard as they have to pay fro it to be disposed off.

[fatbelly]

The best way to win the war you are currently fighting (without breaking your back) is glyphosate then come back in 3 weeks, & then rotavate the soil into a nice tilth. Hoeing off any returns.

Don't glyphosate a small area but hand dig this instead and put some Veg in to get you going.

I took my Lottie over on May 27th 5 years ago and it was riddled with Couch, Dock and Mares Tail. I wanted to be 100% Organic so spent the whole of June , July & August hand digging and weeding the whole plot.

Looking back now if had known what glyphosate was and what a great W/killer it is I would have used it on the entire plot and saved myself a bad back that lasted until Bonfire night.

[angelavdavis]

Hi and welcome to the site.

I have just taken over an additional quarter plot (2.5 rods) in addition to my existing 5.5 rods.

This plot is riddled with a thick mat of couch grass and the clay soil is solid and bent my border fork!  

We strimmed the top off and have started laying out the plot using weed supressant where the paths should be, and cardboard and grass mowings where the beds are planned to be.  

I will eventually layer up more composting matter on top of the cardboard and grass mowings as I get hold of it (a trip to the stables is in order as soon as the weather clears up).  I have covered one section of the plot up with a tarpaulin which we chanced upon in the existing compost heap.

I would recommend the lasagne bed approach if you want to get up and running quickly.  I used the method for the first time when I set up my original plot (see my blog for info).

It is worth doing a little research beforehand and you will need to get hold of as much composting matter as you can.  A phone call to a gardening company and/or advert on freecycle asking for grass cuttings/cardboard usually does the job.