[Welsh Merf]

Right!

Enough's enough!

I've been given so much advice on this subject that I'm now confused, the subject being, which is the best way to clear an overgrown plot before using it. The advice so far:

Strim it, spray with weedkiller and let it die for a couple of weeks, then rotovate and crack on!

Strim it, spray with weedkiller and let it die for a couple of weeks, then set fire to it.

Strim it, cover it with sheeting of some sort, and wait until next year.

Strim it, and then rotovate it straight away.

The list is endless. However, I've figured out that I'm quite safe on the strimming bit!

So . . . any thoughts?

[arugula]

If you haven't already seen it, you might find this guide from the main website helpful:

http://www.allotment-garden.org/grow-your-own/allotments/clearing-a-new-allotment

[allotmentann]

It depends what suits you - there is no 'best' way! It depends on your health, energy, time and ecological principles..... and just to add to it, I have never strimmed! The only one there that I think the majority would advise against is the rotavating straight away (chopping the weed roots up in to millions of new little weedlings!). Choose whatever you will enjoy the most. The other alternative is to cover the whole plot and work on a little bit at a time.

[SG6]

Yep, if you do all those 4 sets of strimming, spraying, setting it on fire and covering it you should get the weeds down. 

Any that are going stong after all that I would advise you just leave.   
They might get annoyed. 

[snowdrops]

Yep, if you do all those 4 sets of strimming, spraying, setting it on fire and covering it you should get the weeds down. 

Any that are going stong after all that I would advise you just leave.   
They might get annoyed. 

 

[Welsh Merf]

I have one more cunning plan, but I don't know where to buy any Semtex from!

[Yorkie]

I would not advise #2 (fire risk of it getting out of control and/or may cause a nuisance) or #4 (you'll just chop the roots up and get lots of new plants).

#1 is the non-organic option but much quicker; #3 is the organic option but much slower and may not actually kill off all weeds once you remove the covering.

If you are happy to be non-organic at this stage of your lotty journey, I'd strim and then let the growth re-start a little bit (otherwise there's little for the weedkiller to work on), and then spray with weedkiller.

After 2-3 weeks you can start digging.  Whatever you do, the roots will still be in situ and likely to need removing.

As others have said, there is no *right* way to do it; just some which meet your priorities better than others.

[angelavdavis]

Must admit, I would be pretty miffed if my shed went up as a result of my neighbour trying to clear their weedy plot so I agree with Yorkie that fire might be a bit extreme.

If you do go with weedkiller, use a glyphosate based weedkiller which attacks the living plant tissue - not the soil.  

You don't mention how large your plot is, but I would say for most people, treating a whole plot in one go is pretty costly and probably unnecessary as after treating the initial area and turning that soil over, you will find weed seeds are likely to germinate and you will need to work that area again with the hoe before you plant (or be faced with a fairly large scale weeding job quite soon after planting).  You also only want to apply glyphosate during the active growing period, so covering the bits you won't get around to cultivating immediately will save you a few ££ until spring when you can uncover and treat when it starts growing again.

Far better to select your initial area for cultivating then cover the rest after strimming to weaken the weeds, clear the debris, wait for it to resprout, treat that area fully, let it die back, dig it over, wait for weed seeds to germinate then hoe again, then plant.  Then you can move on.  

It would be gutting to apply the weedkiller too thinly, so only knocking the weeds back a little, leaving you where you started two months later.  If your plot is bad, you don't want to mess about with a spray, put it in a watering can and apply it well working backwards so you don't walk it over areas such as your grass that you don't want to lose!

[dankay123]

i am half way through a very overgrown plot. 5 foot high weeds in some places. just pull them out with your hands and then i dug with a spade then again with a fork to break down large clumps then rake out as much roots and weed remnents as you can. i then covered with weed supressent. i keep turning them over with a hoe once a week to rid any tiny weeds trying to come through. its hard work my way but seems to be working

[Growster...]

It really comes down to the balance between Glyphosphate and muscle.

Take your time, klil the weeds you are able to see, chop down the stems, and the dig out the couch, and the roots etc.

It'll take some time, but you've got ages before planting next years's crops!

Gwaaan - it's a great challenge, and well worth it!

[Welsh Merf]

Thanks for all your kind advice, so here's the plan (as it stands, not knowing what it's going to look like!):

Strim the whole plot.

Split it into four sections.

Cover three of them with weed suppresent.

Attack the fourth with a fork and a toothcomb, removing all weeds.

Once the fourth is up and running, attack another section.

Well . . . that's the plan at least!

[allotmentann]

Sounds like a good plan to me. I have found that very thorough preparation on each new space has meant that I have not needed to use weed killer at all. I do usually leave each cleared space for a few weeks before planting, I find this particularly useful as it gives a chance for any of the nastier perennial weeds I may have missed little pieces of, to poke their heads above soil and I can then easily remove them without disturbing new plants. If it was a very bad patch of ground I will do this several times.
I think that really you have your plot at a very good time of the year, you will be able to get all your preparation done over the autumn and winter and start next year with lovely prepared beds. Plus there are bits you can grow now and autumn is the perfect time for planting any fruit bushes or trees you might be wanting.
Enjoy your new plot

[dankay123]

strimmers on our site are banned as they spread the seeds  to everyone elses plot. i have not used any weed killer as most of the veg i will be growing is for my daughter and i wouldnt want traces of weed killer in the soil so its the dig it out method for me