Allotments 4 All

Hello all.  Well I'm "borrowing" an allotment from a friend who's too unwell to tend to it, it's been overgrown for about 8 months but seems to be mainly grass rather than brambles which is good (I think!).  I'm planning on strimming the lot back (should I compost this grass - i'm guessing not or burn it?) then digging it over, but what I wanted to check is once it's been dug, should I cover it with plastic to suppress it.  My grandmother also mentioned something about digging it in trenches, but she's confused me with that 1. Not too bothered about planting for now. But want to get the beds dug out over next 5/6 weeks.  Any advice very well received.

hiya, posie, welcome to the site,
there are as many ways to do things as there are plot holders,
we covered with anything we could and worked one bed at a time, the old grass you could bag up to hold your plastic down..your gran must've been talking about double digging, if you search here, you'll find things about it
whatever you decide to do, have a great time  ;D

Thanks for welcome manic.  Just hope the fellow growers are friendly on the site, apparently guy next door loves pronouncing "you'll never last" to newbies, so that'll make me get the bit beneath my teeth lol.  I guess first things first is to measure it up (it's huge), then strim and rake it, then come up with some kind of plan for it and start digging and covering.  I've taken a quick wander around the other plots to see what they're doing with them, lots of people seem to grow marigolds around their plots (I'm assuming that's a slug thing).  Ideally I'd like a herb/flower patch up around the shed (once I've secured it) and then plan to start from the bottom and work my way upwards (just so the inspector sees that work is being done to it).

good idea, posie, we made a  paper plan then marked it out with stakes and string, we covered the paths up with cardboard, weed suppressant then wood chips, it made it easier not to  walk on the 'bed' area and to build them up  :)

Well I've put a photo link in gallery now which I intend to add to over the coming months, so hopefully the next one will actually show some earth.......and my shed lol!

Hi posie and welcome to the site  ;D

It's always a bit daunting at first, but if you split the plot up into smaller, more managable chunks and work each of those one at a time it won't seem so overwhelming  ;)

Take it slowly and make sure you enjoy yourself along the way ;D

Thanks kitten.  Definitely going to be little and often I think, specially with the awful weather we're getting in lovely cloudy Wales. Have a sneaking suspicion that all that lush grass may actually be couch grass...... oh the fun and games.  ;D

Welcome aboard Posie... as I always tell Newbies on our site... don't be put off by weeds, if it won't grow weeds it won't grow anyhting!
;D

Thanks Saddad, we measured it up today, it's 80 foot long by 26 foot wide! And it's definitely couch grass.  However I have 3 gooseberry bushes and 2 blackcurrant which is a bonus, although there does seem to be some kind of vine twisting itself round it all.  Off up there with a strimmer this week, so hopefully we can get going! ::)

Hi Posie an welcome to the madhouse, as you said strim the grass to ground level, I did this when I started and put all the trimmings to one side they soon break down then throw them on the compost heap. I then cut off the top inch of turf with a spade and stacked these in a pile out of the way and then turned the soil over, the turfs should break down by next year then throw the earth back on the soil, if your not planting this year then as Scousers have said cover it and Posie everyone has someone on their site who gives the old he/she won't last speech and when you feel its getting on top of you just look across at the grumpy old fart it will give you that extra bit of enthusiasm, good luck and happy digging.  ;D ;D ;D

Thanks Cornykev, met the neighbour today, he gave up once I mentioned I had a small patch at my mothers! lol  Made my paper plan. Due to the size of it, I've decided to have a 2 foot path through the middle and up each side and 8 10 foot wide by 4 foot depth beds either side of the middle path (with 2 foot in between each bed).  I'm hoping that's not too ambitious!  Oh and a herb bed by the shed! Reckon I'll still have room for a small zoo after all that lol! ;D

Good luck with the plot. :D   Don't forget to leave space for water butts by the shed - next summer might be like last!


PS Planting marigolds is usually an anti insect measure although some African varieties are meant to discourage weeds

Hello posie just like to add my "welcome aboard"to all the others, you will find this site a friendly forum with help & support just a finger tip away. Enjoy ;D happy digging. :)

Thanks Susie, everyone's been fab.  My head is spinning with so many different ideas that I can't sleep lol!  Off to buy the strimmer today, so hopefully I'll wear myself out strimming what looks increasingly like half a field! Then yet more pondering on whether to green manure it all........ ;D

 :( :( :( Well I went to get a rechargeable strimmer today, v limited budget so can't afford petrol just yet, and it only had a battery charge life of 20 mins! So and I can't believe I'm saying this, I've bought an old fashioned, manual lawnmower! This is probably a really bad idea but it's the only option I have other than a scythe, which I couldn't get today anywhere. Wish me luck!    :-[

Ps - Please send the St. Bernard in if no-one hears from me for a couple of days.......

don't worry, posie, we'll strap a bottle of brandy to it's neck...good luck  ;D

Divn't fret, I'm doing a double allotment with scythe and shears!

Had to spend last week getting ready for a three day market, looooooooong weekend at said market, two days pickiing up and sorting out so guess what?  It's hard to see what I've done.

Oh well, onward, ever onward!

BTW - hello and welcome and enjoy  :)

Steve

Looks like it's you n me Steve versus the weeds. What will win.......brute force and sheer bloody mindedness or a bunch of unwanted greenery!  ::)

I'll let you know lol  :)

Couch roots do make great compost Posie... drown them for a week or three first then put into old compost sacks and wait, a year usually does it if they were dead... and it may be an old wives tale but it seems to work for me that it doesnt re-invade areas treated with the compost...
;D

I bought the rechargable strimmer Posie, as you said 15/20mins max, used it 12 times and its given up the ghost, easyly the most useless garden tool I have bought, but I have been looking for an old manuel mower, the new ones in the shop are 50+ quid so I'm on the look out.  ;D ;D ;D