Topic: new allotment - advice needed!!

[clare]

Hi everyone,

I'm completely new to this allotment lark!!  Have just reserved a plot and am going to look at it tomorrow - very excited :D

The council have just used weed killer on the plot (didn't ask what - must check that out!!).. and are offering to rotovate the site for me too.  Having read some of the other posts on this subject I am now totally confused  ???

should I get them to do it or should I stick to more traditional methods?!  

can't wait to get started and I'm sure I'll be popping in here all the time for help!

[traceym]

Hi clare,if the plot has been weed  killer treated think you will have to wait about three weeks before you can plant anything,unless the plot is in a really bad way i think it would be best to avoid rotavating and do it the hard way,good fork and muscle power,as rotavating just chops up weed roots and spreads them around,and a lot of weed killers only kill the top growth,whatever you decide to do,enjoy it and welcome to the world of lotties.

[legless]

i just got mine and i'm digging it and hand weeding rather than rotavating. make sure you find out what the weedkiller was so you can find out how long it will be before you can plant stuff.

have you got any viable plants on there, fruit bushes etc, to lavish your love on and keep you keen?

[teresa]

Hi Congratulations on the lottie, if they have weedkilled it  you may be able to see the weeds you have. Like thisles, docks nettles these are best removed with a fork. If they can rovoate it with the ground being so hard let them then  either water the ground or let it rain and in a few days you can fork it over and look out for any signs of growth like white roots remove all and anything else growing pile into a heap keep dry few days to dry out and burn it.
then wait for the plants someone will give you a bunch of winter cabbage  ;) Teresa

[clare]

YIPPEE!! :D

just got back from 2 weeks hols to get the good news that I've got the lottie I looked round just before my hol.

Getting the key this morning and can't wait to get up there this evening to have a look at the site again.

going to spend the rest of the day at my desk  :( dreaming about what I'm going to plant where :)

OK, maybe I should really think about where I'm going to start digging but that's not as much fun!!!  that's my weekend sorted....

[LynneA]

And when it gets dark you can search for seed company websites and bookmark them!