"Helen wrote in message
Am thinking about taking on an allotment this year. However, according to
the allotment secretary, it is well overgrown. It hasn't been used for at
least 3 years. No-one seems to want to tackle it ;-)

Why not? Our main one hadn't been used for over 20 years and it's soooo
fertile now. So what's the problem with this plot? What did the previous
bloke garden like? Do some checking!


So, given that I can't spend all my spare time down there .. and the fact
that I don't have much spare time to start with, what's the best /
quickest
way to clear it?

Don't want to use chemicals, btw. An advantage of the plot is that it
should
be clean re chemicals and such nasties.

Assumption re "nasties" ? Use a strimmer to cut down all weeds now and then
spray everything with Glycosphate Weedkiller as soon as the weeds start to
regrow. This will kill all the grass including the couch and most of the
perennials unless you have Mares Tails. You may have to spray a second time.
The weedkiller works by contact with green bits only and is neutralised by
contact with soil, all traces will disappear in a few weeks as it breaks
down. Any large weeds ie. brambles, will need digging out.
Then Rotovate it all in with some mature (at least a year old) manure, not
too much as it should be reasonably fertile after a 3 year rest. If you
can't get old manure don't bother now just pile some up for next winters
use.
You will then have a clean tidy allotment ready for full use this season.
Then as you crop each bit dig it by hand so that by the end of the season
it's all hand dug, then when you realise it makes no difference to your crop
don't bother again. :-)


What about simply dumping a whole load of manure over the top?
What about rotavating it - if I can borrow a rotavator?

No! You probably won't get old manure and new stuff (straw showing) will do
a lot more harm than good especially in bulk. Rotovating will spread
perennial weeds if you don't kill them first.

Oh ... and what is a 'rod'? The sec said they were '10 rod' allotments.
How
big is that is real money?

See our site below.
--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.