In message , Mel
writes
Hi all, can you please help with my dilemma?

I have to choose between 2 allotments, both of which are in abandoned
states. One site absolutely full of horsetail, and I mean so chock-a-block
that in some places I can hardly get a fork in for the roots. The other
site is full of couch grass and is very wet (I can hear the soil squelching
when I walk on it).

It's between a rock and a hard place! Do I choose soggy couch grass or a
zillion horsetail?

Thanks.

If you don't object to chemicals, glyphosate will see off couch grass.
(In hindsight I ought to have sprayed my allotment when I started,
rather than treating the couch - and dock, creeping thistle, nettle and
other pernicious weeds - by sieving.) Wet could be a problem if it's
still waterlogged after this dry spell. But my back garden (heavy clay)
is also still waterlogged, and does dry out in the summer.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley