Hi @Alan4711. Thanks for that advice. I didn't know that so if I come across any carpet pieces I shall make sure they are not rubber backed. Hi @AndyDean. My allotment was a jungle when we got it but fortunately my son was here and transformed it into a garden for me. (By no means finished yet). He got rid of all the bindweed initially but I still have a lot of couch grass. My son has gone back abroad so it's up to me what happens now. I don't mind the ordinary day to day weeding in fact I quite enjoy it finding it therapeutic. It's the larger areas that get absolutely covered that takes so much time especially when it involves "sticky buds". I am hoping that I have got rid of them but won't hold my breath. I don't know about Charles Dowding but my weeds seem to grow when I don't disturb the soil! My nightmare at the moment is the damage that the recent storm created. My long fuchsia hedge has blown over covering some of the planted area. They were securely fixed to the stone wall but the storm got the better of them. Not quite sure what to do with it yet but as it was around 7ft tall and started as cuttings in pots I might just cut them down to see if that makes life easier. My son won't be home till next year sometime so will have to have words with my SIL. They are so hardy I am sure they will grow again once uprighted.
We upgraded to a full-size plot this autumn, very overgrown so spent a long time carefully removing all the weeds (couch grass ) we could before putting down a big mulch of manure. Fully expecting to do lots of weeding for the next couple of years but hoping that if we keep on top of it and mulch well it'll calm down after that. Haven't tackled the paths yet, that's going to be a pain but hopefully a big mulch of bark (our allotment association has loads) will help.
Re digging: I'm a big fan of Charles Dowding's no-dig philosophy, a lot less work than double-digging every year! He says he gets far fewer weeds because the soil isn't disturbed as much. I'm too new at this to say from experience, but it makes a lot of sense to me!
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Hi @AndyDean. My allotment was a jungle when we got it but fortunately my son was here and transformed it into a garden for me. (By no means finished yet). He got rid of all the bindweed initially but I still have a lot of couch grass. My son has gone back abroad so it's up to me what happens now. I don't mind the ordinary day to day weeding in fact I quite enjoy it finding it therapeutic. It's the larger areas that get absolutely covered that takes so much time especially when it involves "sticky buds". I am hoping that I have got rid of them but won't hold my breath. I don't know about Charles Dowding but my weeds seem to grow when I don't disturb the soil! My nightmare at the moment is the damage that the recent storm created. My long fuchsia hedge has blown over covering some of the planted area. They were securely fixed to the stone wall but the storm got the better of them. Not quite sure what to do with it yet but as it was around 7ft tall and started as cuttings in pots I might just cut them down to see if that makes life easier. My son won't be home till next year sometime so will have to have words with my SIL. They are so hardy I am sure they will grow again once uprighted.