New Gardener
 

"Little Weed" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi all
i have just taken on an allotment, surrounded by books, magazines,
offers of "good advice". trouble is - how do I start? I have the option
of a strimmer, a chainsaw or a flame thrower ;) Definately a case of
can't see the soil for the undergrowth! I'm really up for making a good
job of this but don't need to make heavy work of it unnecessarily - any
ideas?
LW

I am surprised no one has suggested mulching part of the allotment with old
carpet or underlay until such time as you are ready to get round to it. It
may depend on how big your lot is however you could leave part of it slowly
dying under cover whilst you break the rest in and find a lot of the stuff
left fallow dead or dying when you get round to it.

rob

New Gardener
 

Hi all
i have just taken on an allotment, surrounded by books, magazines,
offers of "good advice". trouble is - how do I start? I have the option
of a strimmer, a chainsaw or a flame thrower ;) Definately a case of
can't see the soil for the undergrowth! I'm really up for making a good
job of this but don't need to make heavy work of it unnecessarily - any
ideas?
LW

New Gardener
 

Little Weed wrote:
Hi all
i have just taken on an allotment, surrounded by books, magazines,
offers of "good advice". trouble is - how do I start? I have the option
of a strimmer, a chainsaw or a flame thrower ;) Definately a case of
can't see the soil for the undergrowth! I'm really up for making a good
job of this but don't need to make heavy work of it unnecessarily - any
ideas?
LW

Depends what the undergrowth is. If it's the usual non-woody stuff (up
to and including brambles), going over it with a good strimmer could be
a useful start. But you'll still need to dig over the plot, so you'll
be getting the roots out while you're doing that. If it's just softish
weeds, it probably isn't worth cutting them off before digging. Don't
try to rush it: a bit at a time, stopping before you get blistered and
knackered.

In my experience, the really heart-breaking weeds are the grasses. But
whatever your weeds, you at least have the consolation of starting off
a nice compost heap!

--
Mike.

New Gardener
 

Little Weed wrote:
Hi all
i have just taken on an allotment, surrounded by books, magazines,
offers of "good advice". trouble is - how do I start? I have the option
of a strimmer, a chainsaw or a flame thrower ;) Definately a case of
can't see the soil for the undergrowth! I'm really up for making a good
job of this but don't need to make heavy work of it unnecessarily - any
ideas?
LW

Yep, don't use a rotovator because that just digs the weeks back in.
Sounds like a mammoth task but if it were me I'd take it slow and dig
weeds up by hand over a period of time, give yourself plenty of time
and plan carefully ready for next year. Be patient, which I know isn't
always easy. Give it a good dig once the weeds are all out. I usually
do this in the Autumn and then in about Feb I dig it over again whilst
digging in fertilizer or manure. split it into four sections so you
can do crop rotation, some think it's important and some don't. It
works for me anyhow.

Have fun and don't do too much at once :-)

Gail

New Gardener
 

"Little Weed" wrote ...
Hi all
i have just taken on an allotment, surrounded by books, magazines,
offers of "good advice". trouble is - how do I start? I have the option
of a strimmer, a chainsaw or a flame thrower ;) Definately a case of
can't see the soil for the undergrowth! I'm really up for making a good
job of this but don't need to make heavy work of it unnecessarily - any
ideas?

If it's a plot that hasn't been used for some years, laid fallow, it's
probably quite fertile.

There is not much you can plant now so you have time to set it up properly.
Presumably it's covered in weeds, so strim off all you can asap and tidy it
up, then wait a few weeks for things to start to grow again and hit them
with a spray of Glyphosate weedkiller. That will kill off most weeds
including most perennials within a few weeks. If you have time before winter
you could do this process again to be certain.
Once the green has died away I would hit it with the flame thrower to burn
off all the weed seeds that are lying there.

Now you have a clean plot you can dig it, just a few feet a day, and you
will soon have it fully dug. Keep a bucket by your side for all the rubbish
and large stones you find so you can really clean up you soil. Build a
compost bin or two.

If you intend to use a 4 year rotation (1. Manure/Spuds. 2.Lime/Brassicas.
3. Beans/Peas etc. 4. Onion family and roots.) mark out your plot into 4
equal sections and obtain some well rotted horse manure or similar and
spread a good layer, 4 inches think, over the quarter you intend to put to
spuds next year and dig it in before you plant. The brassica plot will
probably need a good limeing to raise the pH but find out the soil pH first.
(test kit or meter)

You could plant some Garlic in the onion plot at the end of next month,
Sept/Oct. if you have it ready by then.

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK

New Gardener
 

"Little Weed" wrote
i have just taken on an allotment, surrounded by books, magazines,
offers of "good advice". trouble is - how do I start? I have the option
of a strimmer, a chainsaw or a flame thrower ;) Definately a case of
can't see the soil for the undergrowth! I'm really up for making a good
job of this but don't need to make heavy work of it unnecessarily - any

I took on an abandoned allotment in late May, so I sympathise with you! Cut
or strim down the weeds (start your compost heap) then you can better see
what you're up against. Do you have horsetail? couch grass? annual weeds?
Roundup is my weapon of choice, followed by rotavator after the weeds are
dead, but if you're organic it's just a matter of digging.

Couple of websites with good info:
http://www.farmgarden.org.uk/Documen...oretheplot.pdf (excellent
leaflet on tackling derelict allotments)
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Learning/publi...allotments.asp

New Gardener
 

Little Weed wrote:
Hi all
i have just taken on an allotment, surrounded by books, magazines,
offers of "good advice". trouble is - how do I start? I have the
option of a strimmer, a chainsaw or a flame thrower ;) Definately a
case of can't see the soil for the undergrowth! I'm really up for
making a good job of this but don't need to make heavy work of it
unnecessarily - any ideas?
LW

Take a flask of tea or coffee each time you go, or beer.
Make sure you have got somewhere to sit comfortably and preferably some sort
of shelter too for when it rains.
Get your hands on a wire basket for the coming months, so that you can have
a fire if you want one.
Take a portable radio for music/sport/news/weather etc.
Do a little bit each time and the above items will make it all happen a lot
quicker!!

New Gardener
 

Just a thought, depending on how bad the undergrowth is...
When we bought our house the "garden" had been left untouched for
approximately 15 years and was literally an impenetrable jungle of nettles,
6 to 8 feet high brambles, bind weed and self set trees. I started strimming
it, a job I anticipated would take several weeks. However, we had a man
laying a new drive and he offered to skim the undergrowth off with his JCB.
It took him around 10 minutes to do the job! It is also "organic". You are
just left with the roots to dig up etc, but at least you can get onto the
land. It is certainly as good if not better than strimming.
--
David
.... Email address on website http://www.avisoft.co.uk
.... Blog at http://dlts-french-adventures.blogspot.com/

New Gardener
 

I am surprised no one has suggested mulching part of the allotment with old
carpet or underlay until such time as you are ready to get round to it. It
may depend on how big your lot is however you could leave part of it slowly
dying under cover whilst you break the rest in and find a lot of the stuff
left fallow dead or dying when you get round to it.

rob

Thankyou everyone for those ideas - I am really looking forward to
getting started. Most of it is long grass, brambles and general weed.
There are also two small trees which I intend to dig out. I shall be
taking on board all of your suggestions, and look forward to getting
'something' in very soon - probably kale, and fruit trees, just so I
can say - its mine! Winter will be spent replacing the fencing - aided
by my potting shed - which I shall furnish with a couple of chairs, my
flask - and who suggested beer? My husband reckons that was the most
attractive idea of the lot!

LW

New Gardener
 

Little Weed wrote:
I am surprised no one has suggested mulching part of the allotment with old
carpet or underlay until such time as you are ready to get round to it. It
may depend on how big your lot is however you could leave part of it slowly
dying under cover whilst you break the rest in and find a lot of the stuff
left fallow dead or dying when you get round to it.

rob

Thankyou everyone for those ideas - I am really looking forward to
getting started. Most of it is long grass, brambles and general weed.
There are also two small trees which I intend to dig out. I shall be
taking on board all of your suggestions, and look forward to getting
'something' in very soon - probably kale, and fruit trees, just so I
can say - its mine! Winter will be spent replacing the fencing - aided
by my potting shed - which I shall furnish with a couple of chairs, my
flask - and who suggested beer? My husband reckons that was the most
attractive idea of the lot!

LW

I too have recently taken on a plot full of weeds and brambless and the
dreaded bindweed.

My weapon on choice was Gliphosate although be carefull to follow the
instruction as my first lot was too dilute :(

This kills the buggers off so now I have started digging but as people
say justy doing a bit each time. The kids come with me which makes it
difficult to stay too long as they get bored after a bit of digging and
looking for worms. Although we did have some redcurrents which we
inherited which they were happy to indulge in.

I'm having to be very carefull digging it over as it had load and loads
of potatoes which hadn't grown to anything as they hadn't been looked
after but my fellow allotment owner have pointed out I need to get
every little potatoe out or they will keep coming back.

Anyway I find it amazing theropy and have actually really enjoyed the
digging and weeding so far. It's a million miles away from the
pressure of the office and takes my mind off it completely and the wife
enjoys it as she gets the house to herself :)

So above all enjoy :)

New Gardener
 

Thankyou everyone for those ideas - I am really looking forward to
getting started. Most of it is long grass, brambles and general weed.
There are also two small trees which I intend to dig out. I shall be

I too have recently taken on a plot full of weeds and brambless and the
dreaded bindweed.

My weapon on choice was Gliphosate although be carefull to follow the
instruction as my first lot was too dilute :(

This kills the buggers off so now I have started digging but as people
say justy doing a bit each time. The kids come with me which makes it
difficult to stay too long as they get bored after a bit of digging and
looking for worms. Although we did have some redcurrents which we
inherited which they were happy to indulge in.

I'm having to be very carefull digging it over as it had load and loads
of potatoes which hadn't grown to anything as they hadn't been looked
after but my fellow allotment owner have pointed out I need to get
every little potatoe out or they will keep coming back.

Anyway I find it amazing theropy and have actually really enjoyed the
digging and weeding so far. It's a million miles away from the
pressure of the office and takes my mind off it completely and the wife
enjoys it as she gets the house to herself :)

So above all enjoy :)

Thanks! I will - I have tentative plans as I don't actually take over
for a few days, so the weekend is going to be very busy. I hope to have
it cleared by October half term, with a greenhouse around the same
time. fencing will go up over the winter. I have some raspberry canes,
so these are a priority....as is ..everything...Lucky I like making
lists...I am hoping the weather is going to hold off over the weekend
to help me make a start, sadly in the Lake District nothing is
guaranteed! best of luck with your plot
LW

New Gardener
 

Little Weed wrote:
Thanks! I will
(snip)

Do look into organic gardening and don't get carried away with
chemicals and hard labour which usually brings to nothing, other than
destruction around you and pain in you! I always look into low energy
inputs for high yields - and it works everytime! Weeds indeed.... some
are beautiful and fill in gaps, others need dead heading fast before
they spread, a few are invasive so they need digging out and the rest
is beneficial to insects and nettles bites. As Bill Mollison once said:
"You haven't got an excess of slugs, you've got a duck deficiency"
;O)

New Gardener
 

Do look into organic gardening and don't get carried away with
chemicals and hard labour which usually brings to nothing, other than
destruction around you and pain in you! I always look into low energy
inputs for high yields - and it works everytime! Weeds indeed.... some
are beautiful and fill in gaps, others need dead heading fast before
they spread, a few are invasive so they need digging out and the rest
is beneficial to insects and nettles bites. As Bill Mollison once said:
"You haven't got an excess of slugs, you've got a duck deficiency"
;O)

Oh I intend to use organic methods - although I'm learning as I go
along - umm starting from a knowledge base of nil! I am just about to
order two compost bins from our local council - one for the house and
one for the allotment - doubles my chances of getting it right I
suppose. :)

New Gardener
 

Little Weed wrote:
Oh I intend to use organic methods - although I'm learning as I go
along - umm starting from a knowledge base of nil! I am just about to
order two compost bins from our local council - one for the house and
one for the allotment - doubles my chances of getting it right I
suppose. :)

Funny, but I had a feeling that you were on the right tracks!!

I have two composts, home and lotty. I've started bringing stuff from
the office too as we've entered ourselves into the UK Carbon Trust
challenge. We want to be company champion. And we will. I sure. I hope
:o)

New Gardener
 

La Puce wrote:
Little Weed wrote:
Oh I intend to use organic methods - although I'm learning as I go
along - umm starting from a knowledge base of nil! I am just about to
order two compost bins from our local council - one for the house and
one for the allotment - doubles my chances of getting it right I
suppose. :)

Funny, but I had a feeling that you were on the right tracks!!

I have two composts, home and lotty. I've started bringing stuff from
the office too as we've entered ourselves into the UK Carbon Trust
challenge. We want to be company champion. And we will. I sure. I hope
:o)

Hmm - I wonder if I could use the sruff from the school kitchens next
week? Or maybe I have enough to be going on with - especially as I have
a tonne of horse manure being delivered on saturday! Nothing like an
enthusiastic novice I suppose ;) I'd better clear a small space in
which to put it....
I'm sneaking down there tomorrow ( a day earlier than my contract) to
give it a good strim as I believe the weather will change on Friday.
Again.
Best wishes
LW