On 2009-11-10 17:57:07 +0000, Neuneu
said:

Le Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:49:50 +0000, Sacha a écrit :

Aren't you quite a newcomer to urg?

I'll just answer this one.

I first come (not as Neuneu) in 1999.

So who were you then, if it's not an awkward question? Nonetheless,
nothing has changed since then. People talk about what they find works
for them.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

In message , Sacha
writes
On 2009-11-08 16:14:43 +0000, "Lol" said:

"Derek Turner" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:41:47 +0000, Lol wrote:

So please advise and suggest plans of action!
Many thanks
Lol
In a word, glyphosate. And now in in industrial strength. BTW
mares-tail
is a semi-aquatic, you are more likely to have horse-tail q.v.. Bob
Flowerdew recommends moving house if you have it.
Thanks for that.
As it turns out, what we have here is probably "Bottle brush"
So thats Ok then - no need to abandon hope...
Lol

Er, what is usually called bottle brush is a highly desirable shrub
known as Callistemon.

In this case bottle brush presumably refers to the use of horsetail for
scouring.

(When you consider the number of names that Arum maculatum, for example,
goes by, a 3rd name for horsetail is not great shakes.)
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

In message , Bob Hobden
writes
You will find you cannot dig out couch grass no matter how careful you
are and it will be a problem for ever.

I think that I did manage to did out the couch grass from my allotment -
but in hindsight it would have been quicker to have used glyphosate,
except that the rhubarb bed was overrun with bramble and couch. The
problem I have is that couch grass reinvades from the grass paths - the
rhizomes can be up to 2 or more feet long.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

On 2009-11-12 12:43:21 +0000, Stewart Robert Hinsley
said:

In message , Sacha
writes
On 2009-11-08 16:14:43 +0000, "Lol" said:

"Derek Turner" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:41:47 +0000, Lol wrote:

So please advise and suggest plans of action!
Many thanks
Lol
In a word, glyphosate. And now in in industrial strength. BTW mares-tail
is a semi-aquatic, you are more likely to have horse-tail q.v.. Bob
Flowerdew recommends moving house if you have it.
Thanks for that.
As it turns out, what we have here is probably "Bottle brush"
So thats Ok then - no need to abandon hope...
Lol

Er, what is usually called bottle brush is a highly desirable shrub
known as Callistemon.

In this case bottle brush presumably refers to the use of horsetail for
scouring.

(When you consider the number of names that Arum maculatum, for
example, goes by, a 3rd name for horsetail is not great shakes.)

Except that there is a great deal of difference between Callistemon and
what is usually known as horsetail, a pestiferous weed. For a new
gardener that could lead to some costly confusion.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

"Stewart Robert Hinsley" wrote in message
...
In message , Bob Hobden
writes
You will find you cannot dig out couch grass no matter how careful you are
and it will be a problem for ever.

I think that I did manage to did out the couch grass from my allotment -
but in hindsight it would have been quicker to have used glyphosate,
except that the rhubarb bed was overrun with bramble and couch. The
problem I have is that couch grass reinvades from the grass paths - the
rhizomes can be up to 2 or more feet long.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

Wouldn't regular mowing suppress it - via the usual mowing mechanism,
discouraging long growing and encouraging short.
Am thinking that the paths between plots should be regularly mowed, and the
council should do that, since they presumably mow
all the Enfield football playing fields that are adjacent to these
allotments. They are not covered in couch grass - its rye, I think.

Ok, clearly they use a tractor for that.... just a thought.

Lol

"Lol" wrote ...
"Stewart Robert Hinsley" wrote
Bob Hobden writes
You will find you cannot dig out couch grass no matter how careful you
are and it will be a problem for ever.

I think that I did manage to did out the couch grass from my allotment -
but in hindsight it would have been quicker to have used glyphosate,
except that the rhubarb bed was overrun with bramble and couch. The
problem I have is that couch grass reinvades from the grass paths - the
rhizomes can be up to 2 or more feet long.


Wouldn't regular mowing suppress it - via the usual mowing mechanism,
discouraging long growing and encouraging short.
Am thinking that the paths between plots should be regularly mowed, and
the council should do that, since they presumably mow
all the Enfield football playing fields that are adjacent to these
allotments. They are not covered in couch grass - its rye, I think.

Ok, clearly they use a tractor for that.... just a thought.

Mowing will not suppress it IME at least it didn't on our last plot where it
constantly crept back onto the plot each year and each year I had to try to
dig it out again before I rotovated yet I kept a 6ft+ wide path around the
plot mowed constantly.
If you expect your Council to do anything other than provide a plot you are
either new to allotments or live up north. We mow our own paths, erect our
own rabbit fences, can't use hoses, can't have bonfires, sheds/greenhouses
etc have to have specific permission, the rules for manure deliveries are
amazing/prohibitive, but we did get a new lock on the gate this year.
I have no doubt the playing fields are treated with herbicides.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London

On 12/11/09 14:39, Bob Hobden wrote:

If you expect your Council to do anything other than provide a plot you are
either new to allotments or live up north. We mow our own paths, erect our
own rabbit fences, can't use hoses, can't have bonfires, sheds/greenhouses
etc have to have specific permission, the rules for manure deliveries are
amazing/prohibitive, but we did get a new lock on the gate this year.
I have no doubt the playing fields are treated with herbicides.


Wow!!! That is an incredible list of restrictions. Ur plotty in a
residential area? Where is it? How much they charge you?

Ed
(East Herts)

Ed ex@directory wrote:
If you expect your Council to do anything other than provide a plot you are
either new to allotments or live up north. We mow our own paths, erect our
own rabbit fences, can't use hoses, can't have bonfires, sheds/greenhouses
etc have to have specific permission, the rules for manure deliveries are
amazing/prohibitive, but we did get a new lock on the gate this year.
I have no doubt the playing fields are treated with herbicides.

Wow!!! That is an incredible list of restrictions. Ur plotty in a
residential area? Where is it? How much they charge you?

The list looks very similar to our list for a plot in Harlow.
Yes, residential (as in, one side of the whole site backs onto house
gardens). Think it costs us between 30-40 pound a year for 1 1/2 plots.

On 12/11/09 17:20, wrote:
Ed ex@directory wrote:
If you expect your Council to do anything other than provide a plot you are
either new to allotments or live up north. We mow our own paths, erect our
own rabbit fences, can't use hoses, can't have bonfires, sheds/greenhouses
etc have to have specific permission, the rules for manure deliveries are
amazing/prohibitive, but we did get a new lock on the gate this year.
I have no doubt the playing fields are treated with herbicides.
Wow!!! That is an incredible list of restrictions. Ur plotty in a
residential area? Where is it? How much they charge you?

The list looks very similar to our list for a plot in Harlow.
Yes, residential (as in, one side of the whole site backs onto house
gardens). Think it costs us between 30-40 pound a year for 1 1/2 plots.

Is that for 0.5 plot or 1.5 plot?

"Ed" wrote
Bob Hobden wrote:

If you expect your Council to do anything other than provide a plot you
are either new to allotments or live up north. We mow our own paths,
erect our own rabbit fences, can't use hoses, can't have bonfires,
sheds/greenhouses etc have to have specific permission, the rules for
manure deliveries are amazing/prohibitive, but we did get a new lock on
the gate this year.
I have no doubt the playing fields are treated with herbicides.


Wow!!! That is an incredible list of restrictions. Ur plotty in a
residential area? Where is it? How much they charge you?

Not so residential, a river and fields to one side, wall of a property to
another and the other two are bordered by roads, one without any properties
and the other with properties on one side only.
Near the M3/M25 junction (Thorpe Park area). Runnymede Borough Council.
Normal charge is £9.20 per Sq Rod p.a (so £92. per 10 rod allotment p.a.)
concessions for paying by DD and age (50%). Proposed to raise that to £9.95
per rod for 2010/2011.

And to answer your next question, yes, there is a waiting list!

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London

Ed ex@directory wrote:
The list looks very similar to our list for a plot in Harlow.
Yes, residential (as in, one side of the whole site backs onto house
gardens). Think it costs us between 30-40 pound a year for 1 1/2 plots.

Is that for 0.5 plot or 1.5 plot?

1.5. One and a half. Or more accurately, half and one, cos we started
off with a half, then they went and gave away the other half to someone
else before we could expand, so we got a different whole one the next
year.