Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: Buckeye Girl on March 25, 2010, 23:59:53
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Not being one to shy away from the usual questions that a beginner may ask.....
I live in Bristol. I have managed to clear a portion of my new plot so that I can now grow for the first season. My problem is that there is still a portion of the large plot which could do with having a digger come in and clear it. Some of the area is unlevel & it is my hope that one day soon I can get a shed organise.
I would welcome suggestions. I don't even know how to begin to search for the services of someone who may do this sort of thing. What name would I use to do searches? It wouldn't require anything huge .... a bulldozer for example. I am just not certain what direction I should be looking.
Any ideas??
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Black plastic and patience would do it without bulldozing your topsoil off.
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you do not want to be getting anything in to dig it out, the weight of machinery could damage the soil structure and as mentioned the top soil will be moved and then you are left with a mess.
As mentioned black plastic to cover the plot to kill the weeds will make it easier. Maybe get a strimmer if its really over grown and bad with high weeds before doing so, or use a weed killer and then cover in black plastic.
if you want to level out an area for a shed then my advice is some back braking hard work, dig it out and make it level yourself, then you can remove the top soil and use it elsewhere.
I have only had my plot 5 months and have had sweat and tears wit it but its been worth it
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the back half of my plot had really really really deep trenches in it like some massive plough had been and left bit lanes all over it.
we found a chap on our site with a mini tractor and mini plough and he went and leveled the back for us!
we dug the actual plot ourselves but he helped with that back bit which would've been a nightmare to correct!
so basically what i'm saying is the first place you should ask is on site
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Silage sheet
8m - 12m wide weather proof IR resistant black plastic. Keep the weeds covered over and kill them that way. Clear it by uncovering a small portion, digging it, then covering it back up. That way the weeds dont go rampant.
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Dig a trench a spit (a spade's depth) deep all the way round the edge of the black plastic, and run it down to the bottom. That way long roots of couch or ground elder can't run underneath. If you're using several sheets, overlap them a little. Use old bricks or whatever to weigh the edges down.
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Strim it, kill regrowth with weedkiller or black plastic if you prefer and can leave it to do its job, then see if you can rotovate it.
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Food for thought, thanks to everyone.
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The basic premis is - don't rush and take your time.
I know with the massive increase in demand for allotments councils and committee's place massive demands on people - like "here's a plot that hasn't been used for 5 years, you'll have it ready in three months won't you?" but this is just unrealistic.
Unless you're used to manual labour day in a day out this sort of thing will just kill you.
Take your time - if it takes 3 years to straighten the plot out then it takes 3 years. As long as you can show you are making steady progress, pictures and a blog help here, no one with any modicum of common sense or appreciation of exactly what it takes to put this sort of plot back into operation can really fault you.
Also when leveling don't use a small 12" standard garden rake - get youself a landscaping rake - it's much broader but does require more effort to use. Also the practice now will stand you in good stead in later years. But then I like nice neat tidy raked level beds - some prefer the Somme
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I agree with the others there are no real shortcuts.
In the long term hard work will pay off in the end. I know I've been there two or three times over my allotment career.
This is my slant on the issue;
http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Allotments/Introduction.htm (http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Allotments/Introduction.htm)
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Lots of experience and good advice given already. I know as a newbie you can just want to get it all sorted, planted and looking great. Think about the long-term. We had a huge 10x20ftx7fthigh heap of soil/compost/weeds/junk on our plot when we started. We moved it over a period of 2 years. We sifted through the lot and it was great top soil to fill our raised beds. Don't rotivate until you have dig over the area a number of times and you are confident you have removed perenial weeds. Rotivating these in will make the job much, much harder.