Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: cacran on May 01, 2015, 19:25:06
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My son has just bought a property. It has a cultivated garden near the house then a fence, then a huge patch of uncultivated land which was purchased, at some time, by the previous owner of the house.
The land used to be boggy, years ago. There are tall boggy type plants growing on it. My son has cut them down. The actual ground is
ridged. There are lines of moorland type grass where the roots seem to form the ridges. When you try to walk on it it is very difficult as you cockle over on your ankles.
My son is in the process of going over it all with a heavy duty petrol lawn mower, but it has not got rid of the ridges, to any extent. I have a rotovator which is quite a strong one. Does anyone know if this would be the best way to deal with the land. He wants to grass it all, eventually (I would like to transfer my allotment to it, but I do not fell as though that idea went down well!!)
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I think the ridges will be the tops of furrows that have been formed to create drain off channels.
Do they run downhill?
I do not now how you define " huge patch" but I think his best bet might be to get a plough in and plough it at right angles to the ridges (which will be a bumpy ride) then harrow it.
It will be heavy doing it manually with a rotovator which is another option.
A picture would help!
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I think the ridges will be the tops of furrows that have been formed to create drain off channels.
Do they run downhill?
I do not now how you define " huge patch" but I think his best bet might be to get a plough in and plough it at right angles to the ridges (which will be a bumpy ride) then harrow it.
It will be heavy doing it manually with a rotovator which is another option.
A picture would help!
What do you mean by "harrow it"?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrow_%28tool%29
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What do you mean by "harrow it"?
Thanks Arti
I would have probably answered by saying rake it but your link says it all.
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Thankyou.
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I would suggest the ridges might be there for a purpose. If it has boggy plants it is a boggy place and normal grass may struggle. It has been dry recently, I think you need to see what it is like during the winter.
There is also the drainage problem test. Dig a hole and fill it with water, and if it is still there in 24 hours you have a drainage problem. If after 24 hours of trying to fill the hole with water there is still no water in the hole you also have a drainage problem.