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Any Advice for Clearing My Badly Overgrown Plot.

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Harry:

--- Quote from: Deb P on January 14, 2023, 13:20:02 ---Knowing where to start is always the hard bit!
First thing I’d do is try and identify any useful features, paths, compost heap, trees.
Then I’d dig out any perennial weeds, especially docks and dandelions which will just grow back if you strim the tops off.
I’d then strim the rest and take off the long grass and annual weeds to start a compost pile or add to an existing one.
That should leave you with a better idea of your space, so you can decide what you want to grow this year. Only grow what you and your family normally eat or would like to eat! There are plenty of planting and sowing charts available online ( see TeeGee’s excellent resources on this site) to help you work out what needs sowing when.
After that, only clear an area when you are ready to plant something in it….there is nothing more demoralising that clearing an area, only to have weeds take it back over with depressing speed. Cover other areas you know you won’t be tackling for a while with weighed down cardboard from recycling skips to help knock the grass and weeds back before you tackle them. Prepare, plant and keep weed free as you go. I sow very little directly in the soil as starting seeds at home and planting them out at the allotment has several advantages. Making a defined bed or some sort, a area pegged out with string or with wooden sides can help your morale as it immediately looks better, it stops you walking on it and compacting the soil, and with a defined area if you have limited time you can concentrate on just one bed per visit, sort it out really  thoroughly depending on what it requires (dig it over, or cover it, or plant it up, or weed it) then it looks good and you can move on to the next bit.
It might seem overwhelming at first but regular visits doing just a few tasks at a time is usually a successful approach rather than trying to sort it all out at once. Getting to know your allotment neighbours can be a worthwhile sharing site knowledge and seeing what grows well there. Enjoy!

--- End quote ---
Thanks. Yes. It's daunting and I wonder if I've bitten off more than I can chew.... So I've resolved to literally chew less: I'll be trying to cultivate a fraction of the site well, rather than all the site badly. If I can do 20-25 sq metres this year, I'll feel satisfied. Whether that satisfies the site management is another issue :) *
Luckily very few dandelions and not much dock. The bulk of the weeds seem shsllow rooted and the soil is soft enough to pull most of them out.... So far.
Every walk up and down the plot is a voyage of discovery. While I was clearing a bit yesterday, I found what looks like a matted path of some sort. but it was under an inch of weeds. Makes me think this has been untended a LONG time.*
I like the idea of marking out areas as I go. I also agree that sprouting seeds at home will be better for me because once they're in the ground, I would need to know whats my food and what's newly sprouted weed. I'm not at all familiar with the difference :)

* If the site authorities can leave a plot untended to this level, they seriously can't expect me to hit their strict cultivation targets. And the targets are cripplingly strict!

Minimum Cultivation must take place as follows:
10% by the end of 1 month: 25% by the end of 2 months: 50% by the end of 3 months.

They can coco :)

They obviously didn't demand that of the previous tenant!

Deb P:
Interesting cultivation targets……surely it will depend in the time of year you take over a plot though!?

Another reason to have marked out areas to tackle, it looks like you are doing something even if the marked out are is still weed covered!

Find out if your site get any free deliveries of wood chips or other resources like seed swaps that you could utilise to avoid spending. I’d be tempted with your strawberries to dig them up, discard the oldest looking/ any poorly growing ones and put them in pots temporally, then clear a bed/ area completely to plant them up in rows well spaced and they will be ready to grow on and fruit this year.

This RHS link will help you id your weeds…
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/common-weeds

Deb P:
Also take a look on this site at members gallery pics, lots of inspiration there!

Harry:

--- Quote from: Deb P on January 14, 2023, 13:54:09 ---Interesting cultivation targets……surely it will depend in the time of year you take over a plot though!?

Another reason to have marked out areas to tackle, it looks like you are doing something even if the marked out are is still weed covered!

Find out if your site get any free deliveries of wood chips or other resources like seed swaps that you could utilise to avoid spending. I’d be tempted with your strawberries to dig them up, discard the oldest looking/ any poorly growing ones and put them in pots temporally, then clear a bed/ area completely to plant them up in rows well spaced and they will be ready to grow on and fruit this year.

This RHS link will help you id your weeds…
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/common-weeds

--- End quote ---
Thanks again.
Good idea about moving them to pots. Buys me some time.

Most weed identification relies on having leaves to compare. But that will help, so thank you.

I've met the site supervisor, and he doesn't seem to give a dam. I asked him about the rules on sheds and greenhouses and targets and he neither knew nor cared. He say's he's on the 'committee' but they don't even meet up till March.  Much about the allotment association seems haphazard and amateurish. So I don't think he'll be on my back about those targets. I suppose throwing some plastic or card down and staking out areas will count as 'cultivating'

I wonder if Covid has anything to do with the state of neglect. I would have expected the opposite.

Beersmith:
The first season is always the toughest.

Working to your advantage - we are still in winter.  Nothing is growing rapidly at this time of year, even the weeds. Depending on your location you may have until early April before the weeds will start to growing at any speed.  Working steadily it is amazing how much can be done. Most important is getting to your plot regularly. If you are retired, a weekend visit plus a couple in the week, could give you thirty sessions.

Card and plastic covering is very good at weakening weedy top growth and will pretty much eliminate annual weeds while you are tackling other areas. Rather than the hard work of digging it might be better to try forking over initially.  This gives you a chance to check for perennial weeds roots and riddle them out.  Don't try to compost any of these just bag them and put them in the dust bin. The perennial weeds are your main potential problem.  Ideally you want an area cleared of perennial weeds before starting a strawberry or raspberry bed.

When springs arrives try growing spuds on any rough areas.  They are good at suppressing weeds and earthing up helps reduce weeds too. You get a final weed clearing boost digging them out. As areas come under control get a good hoe and use it, and use it again and again and again. 

Finally, while many contributors here avoid herbicides and pesticides you could consider knocking the growth down with a herbicide and digging it over once it's clearer.

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