New Alottment

[johno]

Hi just got my allotment 126ftx30ft which was covered with grass & nettles & weeds i had not seen before over 5ft after cutting these down to about 6inch and then spraying with round up i have started digging a small bed at the top of the plot to hopefully get something planted other people have told me to cover the rest of the plot with polythene or plastic sheeting and uncover when I'm ready for digging as this will kill the weeds any advice would be very gratefull

[johno]

[KathrynH]

Covering it is one way of keeping the weeds at bay. Or you could use the area you have dug to start planting crops. If you don't have enough to plant, try growing a green manure, there are different types that are suitable for all year round sowing. They will also help to suppress most weeds as well as nourishing the soil when you dig them in.

[manicscousers]

you could get your fruit beds ready now, if you're having any, ready for planting up in september.. :)
by the way, welcome to a4a  ;D

[flowergirl]

i was exactly the same as you take a look

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35216&id=653222913

I strimmed round up then rotivated then covered.  where i didnt cover it back to the way it was!! my plot is about the same size too.  I have used half of it this year and plan to do the grafting on the other half during winter.  the roots are a bugger!! but i found that covering with this black cotton type sheeting my dad got me and planting through has been a success..No weeds!!

I would defo recommend covering until you figure out what you want to grow and where

Good luck
FG x

[Duke Ellington]

Our allotment was taken on in March ~and was covered in couch grass and every type of weed you can imagine >:(. The only good thing was that being so early in the season they hadn't grown tall. Not only did we have weeds but we had loads and loads of rubbish left by the previous owner of the plot. I thought I had made a mistake taking on the allotment at this stage but we cleared the rubbish IN TOTAL PROBABLY ABOUT 20 TRIPS TO THE DUMP!!! :o . We then covered it in heavy duty damproof membrane. It was like heaven once we had it covered. We couldnt see the weeds and the plot looked so tidy once the plastic was down ;). We then peeled back the membrane dug a section over (my husband did the heavy digging and I did the down on my knees sifting as many roots out of the soil I could. We chose not to use weedkillers or a rotivator. We have put up a shed ~ a path and even built a little paved area for our chairs.( We used to spend all day a the allotment on Saturdays and Sundays!! with our packed lunch!!) Well the good news is the allotment is finished I have one bed left to "deroot" A leaf mould bin to create, and a water butt to set up! This year we managed to grow beans beetroot carrots lettuces french beans tomatoes sweetcorn chard parsnips butternut squash and pumpkins and strawberries. Not bad considering I thought we wouldn't have the time to grow any vegetables at all!! I would like to say to anyone starting out dont give up !! Be methodical...do a little at a time.....take plenty of rests its not a race! When I get my act together I will post photos ...I have logged it from start to almost the end ..I still have some photos to take.

Good Luck
Duke