Topic: How best to prepare for a plot move...?

[firstofficerspong]

I have until next Spring to move from my current plot to a new one. 

The new plot is on a brand new site and the soil there is shallow clay so it could do with some improving.  The site has been ploughed and sprayed with herbicide so there are few perennial weeds left.

I have started to dig, but does anyone have any advice on how best to improve my soil and keep it weed-free until the autumn which is the earliest I was thinking I would need to start planting there?

I have plenty of rotted manure.  Shall I pile this in and then cover the plot with polythene?  Sow a green manure?  Do nothing until I need it?

Any opinions gratefully received!!

John

[flitwickone]

i would defo gto for the manure option as this will keeps the weed down for you and the worms will drag the muck in for you

and by the time your ready to plant it will be a cracking little plot good luck with it  ;D

[cornykev]

As above, good luck.    ;D ;D ;D

[firstofficerspong]

Thanks for the suggestions! 

I have been digging manure in as I go (all 2m so far...!).  So do you reckon if I also mulch with the same stuff after it's dug that I should avoid too much of a weed problem over the summer?

[flitwickone]

yep let the manure lie

[Unwashed]

I've found manure is quite a good way of bringing in weeds, particularly fat hen and dock, but don't let that put you off.  I'm a big believer in digging a full spit deep as it gets the air and weather into the soil, and I'd probably just spread the dung on top and let the worms take it down as it's easier like that, and then dig it in in the autumn.  I'd be tempted to plant a whole plot full of trailing marrows to keep the weeds down.

[Digeroo]

A bit late for potatoes.  So I think I would go with unwashed and cover it in courgettes and squashes.  Maybe dig a hole every now and then an fill with manure and plonk a plant on top.  Their roots are second only to pototoes for breaking up soil.  I had an area which had been run over buy a tractor and was covered in deep trenches and furrows which had turned to concrete.  I simply put in manure and left the courgettes etc to get on with it and dug it like butter in the autumn.  I enjoyed the squashes as well.  :P 

Peas and beans are good too.  Afterall it does not matter much about the crop.  So a good large type of french bean, maybe broad beans planted really close so the weeds don't get a look in.   Maybe green manures phacelia is my favourite the bees just love it.   But mustard comes up really quickly and smuthers most things.

[jennym]

Green "manures" that I've used to cover bare soil and that have been successful are:
Cheap peas (used dried marrowfat types from cheapo supermarket) or any dried bean seed that can be bought cheaply from food shops.
Squash/ pumpkins - the spaghetti squash type seem to grow rampantly on my clay soil - I used Franchi from garden centres.
Poached egg plant Limanthes douglasii.
All these seem easy to dig in for me.
I've seen folk on here recommend tares and clover as green manure, but they're too tough for me to dig in properly so I steer clear of them.

[cambourne7]

Exciting times  ;D

On your old plot ....

1st of all get it in writing the exact date you have to vacate (my plot was taken 2 weeks early and they set fire to what they did not give away!)

I would think about getting cuttings in pots of any fruiting plants in case its not practical to move them come the time or they dont survive the move.

I had planted spuds in all my empty beds to smother out the weeds on the plot i was giving up you might want to think about a simular crop or manure...

On your new plot ....

Have u checked the PH? Is it sumular to your old site?

Start your compost bin with the stuff from your old plot so bring your green waste to the new plot rather than the compost bin on your old plot :) you then have a good idea whats in there and can keep your imported weeds down. While your plot is accessible i would speak to a couple of tree surgeons and see if you can get a truck load of there chippings this will be fresh but if you build a bin similar to your compost bin to store them then you can leave this to age over the winter and then use it in the spring for a path between your beds :). Usually they are happy to have somewhere to dump this :) You can then also consider using the wood/compost bin in early spring to create a hot bed for starting off your seeds :) Once your wood chips are used up you can then either use this as another compost bin or plant spuds in this rather than taking up allotment space or take delivery of a fresh load of wood for next year :)

I would cover over your site so that when your not working on it the weeds are being choked out you can do this with membrane or a large delivery of manure topped with cardboard to stop it drying out in the summer. I would consider either planting through the membrane or using the manure and use lasagna method of planting to help add to your soil and keep the weeds down.

I would think about plants where you have taken cuttings and they have started to grow to move 1/2 to the new site as it will cut down the moving later on and if any of the plants you move die then there might be a soil problem and you have a second chance to get it right :)

[firstofficerspong]

Thanks for all your ideas everyone!  I am off today so am heading down the new lottie to get a bit more done...