Topic: We have taken on a new plot - pretty overgrown...

[Sparkly]

are we mad????? about 1/3 of it seems to be mainly bindweed which, although hard work, we can dig out and get some maincrop potatoes in over the next month. The rest is a mixture of bindweed, dandelions, blackburrant plants - arghhhhh. I think I will just cover up most of the really messy areas and then dig it over slowly over a number of months. It has 4 small apple trees though so that is good! I will post some pictures maybe tommorrow. There is also a very large heap of soil and composted material. it is huge say 6ft high and covered with weeds. I am thinking that I could weedkiller this and leave it 6 months. By that time hopefully we will have cleared the rest of the plot and can use this decent stuff to fill out raised beds. Any words of advice on this would be great. Also does anyone know a good supplier of thick black plastic in quanities that would cover most of a whole plot?

[pete10]

Hi Standard .

Good luck to you on your quest , Black plastic is not cheap but builders merchants sell it.
For a fair price ,Also farm shops are a good place to look . 

[manicscousers]

wow, if your compost heap's covered with weeds like nettles etc, you have a source of 'black gold'..I would never let weed killer near it,
 if it's proper compost, the weeds should just come out with a bit of persuasion, ..
if, of course, it's a bindweed filled mess then that's another matter   :)
good luck and happy digging

[Sparkly]

wow, if your compost heap's covered with weeds like nettles etc, you have a source of 'black gold'..I would never let weed killer near it,
 if it's proper compost, the weeds should just come out with a bit of persuasion, ..
if, of course, it's a bindweed filled mess then that's another matter   :)
good luck and happy digging

I haven't poked around too much but it looks very overgrown! What about if I leave the it for 6 months after putting the weedkiller in?

[manicscousers]

try pulling on the weeds, if they come out easily, I, personally, would just take them out and use the soil..as you can see, I ain't too happy with weed killer, maybe someone else has some ideas ?  :)

[saddad]

Hope you have as much fun as the rest of us Sparkly... but I'm with Manics on not putting weedkiller on the compost heap... seive and sack it for when you want it!
 8)

[cornykev]

Also no to weedkiller here.  ;D ;D ;D

[The Amateurs]

Hi Sparky,

The best advise I can give is dig a bit plant something then dig a bit more.

Happy Growing !!

C

[katynewbie]

Hmmm, see how we all suggest keeping piles of grotty weeds til you need it? It's the 'lottment philosophy "it may come in handy one day"

Check the "Wiki" button and look at "methods of cultivation" there will be helpful ideas there.

Another thought is to strim the lot and cover with cardboard weighed down with bricks/bags of soil/water-filled milk containers etc, wait some months and then peek underneath and....Ta Daaaaa, soil you can actually dig!

Someone sensible will be along shortly..

 ;)

[Sparkly]

This is a 2nd plot (well we currently have half a plot) so I am not too worried if it takes ages!