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Yay! I have an allotment, but has been badly neglected.,,Help!:(
Caral
Posts: 301
Finally got the letter through offering an half plot. I'm absolutely delighted, but completely overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the weeds, from mint with roots as thick as my thumb, to prolific weeds that I've never come across before.
Any advice on the best way to clear the plot, and what to do with once I've dug all this unwanted growth and weeds up? There are a couple of weed compost bins on the site but they are full.
0
Posts
Depends how quickly you want to get planting. If you can wait, spray the whole thing with Glyphosphate and let the weeds die off.
If you can't wait you'll need a garden fork and a fine garden riddle to catch all the little bits of root that snap off. And a lot of patience. Break it down into manageable sections or you'll either do yourself an injury or get disillusioned and it'll take longer than it would.
cover most of the plot with a double layer of corrugated cardboard, cover that with straw/hay/grass cuttings/fresh manure top dressing - the choice is yours, to as deep a layer as possible (5 inches or more is best) and wait till autumn to plant up.
keep one area clear of the covering and weed by hand so you can plant something this summer, if you need more beds clear the cardboard and covering off and clear that area by hand.
by spring next year the majority of the weeds below the covers will be dead, the cardboard will have rotted and you can plant into the top of the rotted top dressing material.
Thanks Jimmy. I'm happy to wait, but its an organic site and I don't think I'm allowed to use glyphosate.
Dividing it up into manageable sections makes perfect sense, thanks for excellent piece of advice.
Treehugger!!! You're an absolute star. That is a wonderful plan. Thank you!
I'm absolutely tickled pink. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I'm feeling so much better, now to source the cardboard and top dressing.
Got any pictures?
I have a special sealed bin on my plot in which I throw the really ghastly weeds (horsetails included) and I leave the slugs and worms to break everything down. It means they don't pollute the other compost heaps and I can deal with the horrors once they have rotted down nicely.
Cardboard mulch is a great way to go, you are recycling a product that normally gets thrown in the bin and it rots down nicely too.
You could create some temporary raised beds, and grow right over top the layer of thick cardboard (that is over top the weeds).
Layer the entire plot in four or five layers of cardboard, make sure they have a long overlap. Build a number of raised beds directly over top. Put down mulch/straw over the pathways between.. fill the beds with a thick layer of newspaper on the bottom (fold up along the edge to help keep the soil inside until it all settles) and then add straw covered by bagged compost/rotted manure/mushroom compost/etc. It won't be pretty, but should take care of the majority of weeks.. and you can still grow something this year.
It sounds a little weedy to have forage crops break up the soil for you. You could fork out the unwanted plant roots (little and often is advised over doing large areas in a short time, even if you're super-fit and super-motivated) then cover the area you're not planting now as treehugger responded..
You could also punch through the mulch and plant through the holes but depending on the weeds you'd have to select species with strong roots. You'd also have to water through the hole.
In late summer/ early autumn as production has slowed a the least work method is to sow a green manure (eg vetch and rye / ryegrass / a clover). This will cover the ground reducing soil damage and can be dug in before seeding and a few weeks before sowing to improve soil structure as well as fix/lift nutrient. I think ryegrass is easier. cotswoldseeds.com, greenmanure.co.uk, grass seed store or a local agri seed merchant can advise for your soil type, time of year and circumstances. I left it too late for sowing last year so instead of simply receiving the seeds by post, throwing them down and a simple dig in I'd the extra shlep of finding mulch materials, cardboard and weights,dragging them home, spreading it, fixing it down, replacing cardboard blown away then an inevitable clearing of bulk unrotted material and dig in. I spent more on poundshop tent pegs than the seeds would have cost. Id prefer the plants did the work, I'm quite lazy like that. (but green manure is for when your plot is relatively weed-free)