hi everyone! i too have just taken over an allotment and am just beginning to wonder if i've bitten off more than i can chew!!! trouble is the plot hasn't been worked for probably at least two years, and its completely overgrown. i've taken a brushcutter to it (well, my kind daughter did - i just raked up) but underneath theres loads more grass that's really tough and long and just lying down - too flattened for the brushcutter to have cut. has anyone else had this problem, and what's the best (cheap!) way to deal with it. cant wait to start actually working on it, but feel a bit stumped by lack of knowledge....
Hi Frannie and welcome to A4a. I got my allotment last year in September (I think!) and it was also covered with weeds. Measure your plot and draw up a plan of what you want to plant and where. Then divide your plot into sections and work on one section at a time, if you look at the whole thing as one it does look like too much. Work on the sections that will need planting first e.g. if you plan to plant garlic or broad beans work on these sections first as they will need planting before e.g. Tomatoes. The sections I have managed to clear and dig over now have things planted in them which is enormously satisfying and motivating. As soon as the ground dries and warms a bit I can tackle the last section, I won't need it until spring anyway because the things I plan to plant there only go in around April/May. You could hire a rotavator and get your plot dug over more quickly but I didn't go that route, because of the expense and also I had (and no doubt still have) Couch grass and I didn't want to chop the rhizomes into millions of tiny pieces which I believe would make things worse later on. Good luck and have fun! :)
Hi frannie,nice to hear that you have taken up the challenge to get fresh food and exercise from an undesirable plot, take your time and do a section at a time, try to devide your sections into 4' wide and as long as the plot is as wide, ask the council or your allotment members if somebody could burn of the grass and weeds from your ground (this will help remove some of the weed seeds) when digging remove the as many roots as possible, after digging you could cover your sections with black plastic and plant throught the plastic (this stops any weed seeds from growing) untill you can dig the site.
Ask your council if they give away free compost/leafmould or even help with your allotment untill you get it up to a good condishion try and build compost bins for free compost,do you have water or can you have a shed on you site,when planing out your site add a place where you can sit in the summer with a drink surrounded by nice flowers to enjoy all your hard work,take some pics and show them on this site,
hope this helps
Windy
Good on you, Frannie!
Nothing really to add to the good advice you've got - except to reinforce the idea of breaking the job up. Work out where you want to have beds and paths - and work on a piece at a time. Get that really well cleared, and growing well. Cover the rest with carpet/plastic, and come to that later.
Nothing like success in one bit to motivate you for the next bit!
Good luck - Gavin
Welcome Frannie,
Congratulations with your new lottie.
Good thing you found this place. As you can see, good advice is only a click away. Also, you can share your miseries and victories here and have a virtual shoulder to cry on when needed.
Personally I have no experience with clearing an overgrown lot but I read on this board that some people used herbicides with success when the job seems too daunting to tackle. If you are not aiming to be organic, this may be an option for you. I would go with the advice given here as I grow organically but it may be something for you to consider.
Good luck and let us know how things are going.
Ina
thanks to you all for the warm welcome and the advice. sounds as if small chunks is the way to go. it seems less daunting already. yes, i do plan to have a shed and a little place to sit and enjoy my plot after all the hard work. i'll probably keep asking you all lots of silly questions, but i will take some before and after pics and let you know how i get on ...
thanks again!!
Congratulations on getting your allotment Frannie.
If you are in no rush to get parts of the plot dug, black plastic or carpet may be of some help. Cover the tough grassy bits with it, and over a couple of months the grass will die off without light, and the roots may get looser.
This is what I've tried on half of my lottie. Using a flame gun, as already suggested by windygale can also be good, but you have to know someone with one, as I suspect they are not cheap.
Good luck with it, I look forward to seeing some photos soon :D
Hiya Frannie,
I have just taken the plunge with my father-in-laws lottie! It's been in the family for years and is privately owned so there are no amenities like water, security or other souls for advice. This forum has given me the encouragement I need.
I have managed to use a slasher (big blade on a long handle) and a petrol strimmer to blast all the vegetation down. It took 2 days, 2 mates, several fires and lots of hard work but the worst is now over (I think!!!). We spent ages just raking and raking. I have had 2 separate stints of digging and at least will be able to plant something come spring. Just take it real slow cos it hurts like hell if you're not used to it (I'm a pen pusher). Listen to what all the others have said because some of them have been gardening for years. Almost everyone I've asked has told me not to rotovate, but dig and hoe regularly. I will try and lay black plastic on what I can't manage to dig before spring.
Good luck and keep us posted with piccies if you can! I posted mine in another thread just to give me a little motivation.
TimJ
Quotehi everyone! i too have just taken over an allotment and am just beginning to wonder if i've bitten off more than i can chew!!! trouble is the plot hasn't been worked for probably at least two years,
Same here Frannie, I found it to be a little daunting when I first inspected my plot but I'm sure we will all get there a little at a time.
Good luck.
hi - back again with another silly question - i have heard that if you cover the ground with plastic you can still plant some stuff through the plastic - has anyone tried it, and what do you recommend planting ??
Hi Frannie.
you can plant through it, I used cardboard and lot's of raw horse pooh (we get it for free) as a mulch (covering) last year and planted squash and potatos through it. The squash (marrows, cougettes, pumpkins) did really well, the potatoes were ok but the mice got a lot of them.
I also planted sweetcorn and beans through membrane -although I'd dug that plot- it would probably work with an undug one if it had been covered for a while.
Jeremy
Take time - or it'll hurt - mainly in the back area - but don't rotovate, let me explain ...
When I first took on an allotment that was ever so slightly overgrown I decided to hire a rotovator. When I got it to the site it was relatively easy to lift the monster out of the van and set up. It had 3 reverse gears - this would surely do the job and impress everybody to boot!
During the next 6-8 hours it dragged me through tons of muck. The reverse gears were a god-send because when it dug itself into a hole I could reverse it out. When it met with a clump of grass it would fail to chop it up but instead leap out of the ground and then proceed at mac 2 (when its in the dirt you need throttle, when it's not, you don't) across the surface of the lottie. Unfortunately, when rotovating, your wellies get buried - and your feet are still in them so when the rotovator decides to go walk-about (at mac 2) you get stretched until you leave go the handle.
At the end of the day the lottie looked great. However, I was utterly knackered and had to call upon and old guy (I'm that old guy now) to help me pick the d**n machine up and bung it into the van.
About 2 weeks later, millions (maybe even more) weeds erupted from the ground. Every type of sodding perennial weed that exists (even those that weren't there before) suddenly attempted a take over of the ground. Took years to get that lot under control - have no idea if it would have been quicker to simply dig the plot and not do the rotovator bit - but at least I would not have wasted 30 quid on hire charges and a whole day being bullied by a over-sexed machine!!!
Mind you - it was fun.
--
LOL...BW..... i've only just stopped laughing!!
Thank goodness I decided to dig! LOL
Oh BW, I really enjoyed reading about your rotovator experience.
I could just picture it, especially the part of being stuck in the mud with your wellies and getting stretched by the machine that kept going hahaha.
Hi everyone I'm also at the daunting phase but listening to folk on here helps. Derbex do you plant whatever your growing then wait for it shooting up then cut the membrane?
well i've certainly decided to dig after reading about bw's experiences! i too have been at the mercy of a rotavator, and its quite scary !! guess i'll take a chance on planting some stuff through the plastic and stock up on radox !