Topic: New allotment

[Staff Sergeant RMP]

I am at the point of starting to dig over my Amazon rain forest into a somthing I can plant up. Problem is half of the plot has a mesh network of some sort of root, its a nightmare to try and dig up. any tips/hints or am I just to keep on digging and end up with a few slipped discs. ??? ??? ???

[Mrs Ava]

Dig dig dig is my advice, as boring as it is, well, I don't find it boring, love digging me, but then I am a little odd. ::)  Buy some radox and book yourself in for a good massage  ;D

[Tenuse]

Bite its fibrous rooty ass!

Ten x

[gavin]

Do you know what the roots are?  

Assuming they are "ordinary nasties" like couch grass, how about getting the half-plot without the roots working and growing well this year?  

And covering the "rooty" bit for this season with plastic sheet, cardboard, carpet (hmm?) ------- and then digging and cleaning out the roots in autumn?

Good luck, Gavin

[Jimdax]

Sounds like couch grass or twitch as we call it in Yorkshire ..Suggest You feed the half with the roots in it with a liquid fertilizer. When it has a good growth of leaves on it.Wait for a dry day and  give it a good spraying with roundup ..
This should sort it roots and all...

[Staff Sergeant RMP]

Thanks one and all for the advice, it is couch grass, couch grass from hell. have turned over half the plot today, dont know if I will ever stand straight again, but at least have found a new and exciting way of putting myself through the hell of basic training again. If you know any infantry guys looking to dig a few battle trenches point them my way.

Thanks all again

Shaun ;)

[gavin]

Hi again Shaun - I've just spent a bit of the afternoon (re-?)claiming a wild bit under couch grass.  Don't know if this would work for you - depends how deep your top soil is.

But I'm just skimming off the top 4 inches (?) as turves, and piling them grass side down - should have a nice soil/compost heap by autumn.

Good luck ---- and it ain't nearly so bad next time around!

Gavin

[Staff Sergeant RMP]

Thanks Gavin.

Unfortunatly we do not have a great deal of top soil at our site, and its clay underneath. I always try to find an easy way first, never seems to work though and always end up having to do it the hard way. Should have stayed with the Engineers, at least I could have blown my site up then ;D ;D

Thanks again.

Cheers

Shaun. ;D

[kenkew]

Go back to the RE's ranges in F'borough, on the left of the range just round the corner from the last spider block there's a cardboard box half full of thunder-flashes....!