Tackling an overgrown allotment with a bad back
 

Hi all, I have taken on a very overgrown disused alltment covered in brambles with a history of disk problems. I am doing well and decided to document my progress on my blog: An overgrown allotment versus a dodgy bad back please feel free to look and comment.

Tackling an overgrown allotment with a bad back
 

Baz wrote:

So the cardboard helps the Glyphosate?

No, the cardboard smothers whatever the glyphosphate didn't kill. If you
don't want the agent orange approach, run over the whole thing with a good
strong mower, then mulch heavily with cardboard, dead leaves, anything that
makes a barrier and will rot. If you do this in the fall, a rotovator will
finish the job in the spring. Also a good way to convert useless sod into
useful veg garden! (Am I the only one who finds the garden space creeps
into the lawn?)


--
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/4 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

Tackling an overgrown allotment with a bad back
 

Gary Woods wrote in
:

Baz wrote:

So the cardboard helps the Glyphosate?

No, the cardboard smothers whatever the glyphosphate didn't kill. If
you don't want the agent orange approach, run over the whole thing
with a good strong mower, then mulch heavily with cardboard, dead
leaves, anything that makes a barrier and will rot. If you do this in
the fall, a rotovator will finish the job in the spring. Also a good
way to convert useless sod into useful veg garden! (Am I the only one
who finds the garden space creeps into the lawn?)



Thought so!
Are you in the UK?
I think not. If you give advice from another country, or even continent,
you should say so. The USA has very different climate changes from us in
the UK.

Baz

Tackling an overgrown allotment with a bad back
 

On 2/23/2012 2:02 PM, Baz wrote:
Gary wrote
wrote:

So the cardboard helps the Glyphosate?

No, the cardboard smothers whatever the glyphosphate didn't kill. If
you don't want the agent orange approach, run over the whole thing
with a good strong mower, then mulch heavily with cardboard, dead
leaves, anything that makes a barrier and will rot. If you do this in
the fall, a rotovator will finish the job in the spring. Also a good
way to convert useless sod into useful veg garden! (Am I the only one
who finds the garden space creeps into the lawn?)

Thought so!
Are you in the UK?
I think not. If you give advice from another country, or even continent,
you should say so. The USA has very different climate changes from us in
the UK.

Doesn't sound US-based to me - most Americans I know, would say
'rototiller', rather than 'rotovator'.

Tackling an overgrown allotment with a bad back
 

On Thu, 23 Feb 2012 19:02:41 GMT, Baz wrote:

Gary Woods wrote in
:

Baz wrote:

So the cardboard helps the Glyphosate?

No, the cardboard smothers whatever the glyphosphate didn't kill. If
you don't want the agent orange approach, run over the whole thing
with a good strong mower, then mulch heavily with cardboard, dead
leaves, anything that makes a barrier and will rot. If you do this in
the fall, a rotovator will finish the job in the spring. Also a good
way to convert useless sod into useful veg garden! (Am I the only one
who finds the garden space creeps into the lawn?)



Thought so!
Are you in the UK?
I think not. If you give advice from another country, or even continent,
you should say so. The USA has very different climate changes from us in
the UK.

Baz

Baz, old friend, Gary's signature includes "Zone 5/4 in upstate New
York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G". A lot of what Gary contributes to the
group is relevant despite him being over the pond.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay.

Tackling an overgrown allotment with a bad back
 

On 2/23/2012 2:28 PM, Jake wrote:
On Thu, 23 Feb 2012 19:02:41 GMT, wrote:
Gary wrote
wrote:

So the cardboard helps the Glyphosate?

No, the cardboard smothers whatever the glyphosphate didn't kill. If
you don't want the agent orange approach, run over the whole thing
with a good strong mower, then mulch heavily with cardboard, dead
leaves, anything that makes a barrier and will rot. If you do this in
the fall, a rotovator will finish the job in the spring. Also a good
way to convert useless sod into useful veg garden! (Am I the only one
who finds the garden space creeps into the lawn?)

Thought so!
Are you in the UK?
I think not. If you give advice from another country, or even continent,
you should say so. The USA has very different climate changes from us in
the UK.

Baz, old friend, Gary's signature includes "Zone 5/4 in upstate New
York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G". A lot of what Gary contributes to the
group is relevant despite him being over the pond.

I didn't notice that!

Tackling an overgrown allotment with a bad back
 

In message , S Viemeister
writes
On 2/23/2012 2:02 PM, Baz wrote:
Gary wrote
wrote:

So the cardboard helps the Glyphosate?

No, the cardboard smothers whatever the glyphosphate didn't kill. If
you don't want the agent orange approach, run over the whole thing
with a good strong mower, then mulch heavily with cardboard, dead
leaves, anything that makes a barrier and will rot. If you do this in
the fall, a rotovator will finish the job in the spring. Also a good
way to convert useless sod into useful veg garden! (Am I the only one
who finds the garden space creeps into the lawn?)

Thought so!
Are you in the UK?
I think not. If you give advice from another country, or even continent,
you should say so. The USA has very different climate changes from us in
the UK.

Doesn't sound US-based to me - most Americans I know, would say
'rototiller', rather than 'rotovator'.


Gary is US based (check his sig Baz) and has posted to urg for years
with useful comments.

Obviously not everything applies to the UK (Gary has much colder winters
for starters), but plenty of things do. In the context of this question
I can't anything in Gary's suggestion that wouldn't apply here as well.

Re NT's suggestion.

Id the OP wants to get the allotment in to production as quickly as
possible, then might not be the best approach (unless you are going to
use some sort of no dig approach and plant through the cardboard maybe.

It's not really the time of year to use Glyphosate. You really want
stuff in active growth. And if you've got lots of bramble and other
heavy stuff, you've still got to physically remove it.
--
Chris French

Tackling an overgrown allotment with a bad back
 

On Feb 23, 6:31*pm, Gary Woods wrote:
Baz wrote:
So the cardboard helps the Glyphosate?

No, the cardboard smothers whatever the glyphosphate didn't kill. *If you
don't want the agent orange approach, run over the whole thing with a good
strong mower, then mulch heavily with cardboard, dead leaves, anything that
makes a barrier and will rot. *If you do this in the fall, a rotovator will
finish the job in the spring. *Also a good way to convert useless sod into
useful veg garden! *(Am I the only one who finds the garden space creeps
into the lawn?)

There's no way that would work here, it would make the brambles worse.
Never rotavate them, and you can forget about cardboard or leaves
alone killing them. They're totally rampant here, and only repeated
glyphosate can make them weak enough to be killed off by other
methods.


NT

Tackling an overgrown allotment with a bad back
 

On Feb 23, 8:20*pm, chris French
wrote:
In message , S Viemeister
writes



On 2/23/2012 2:02 PM, Baz wrote:
Gary *wrote
*wrote:

So the cardboard helps the Glyphosate?

No, the cardboard smothers whatever the glyphosphate didn't kill. *If
you don't want the agent orange approach, run over the whole thing
with a good strong mower, then mulch heavily with cardboard, dead
leaves, anything that makes a barrier and will rot. *If you do this in
the fall, a rotovator will finish the job in the spring. *Also a good
way to convert useless sod into useful veg garden! *(Am I the only one
who finds the garden space creeps into the lawn?)

Thought so!
Are you in the UK?
I think not. If you give advice from another country, or even continent,
you should say so. The USA has very different climate changes from us in
the UK.

Doesn't sound US-based to me - most Americans I know, would say
'rototiller', rather than 'rotovator'.

Gary is US based (check his sig Baz) and has posted to urg for years
with useful comments.

Obviously not everything applies to the UK (Gary has much colder winters
for starters), but plenty of things do. In the context of this question
I can't anything in Gary's suggestion that wouldn't apply here as well.

Re NT's suggestion.

Id the OP wants to get the allotment in to production as quickly as
possible, then might not be the best approach (unless you are going to
use some sort of no dig approach and plant through the cardboard maybe.

That's what I'd have done. Certainly the hard way's faster.


It's not really the time of year to use Glyphosate. You really want
stuff in active growth. And if you've got lots of bramble and other
heavy stuff, you've still got to physically remove it.

Yes - but if you remove it before the plant's dead, you've then got no
way to poison the bramble roots, and boy do they grow back.


NT

Tackling an overgrown allotment with a bad back
 

"DiggyBob" wrote in message
...

Hi all, I have taken on a very overgrown disused alltment covered in
brambles with a history of disk problems.



--
DiggyBob

I must apologise now before I start. Firstly you have my sympathy regarding
the back broblem.

As for the above quote, I have to say I was struck by the thoght of brambles
with back problems.

Sorry , sorry sorry :-):-)

BTW I don't envy your task of site clearance

Bill

Tackling an overgrown allotment with a bad back
 

On Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:31:18 -0500, Gary Woods wrote:

No, the cardboard smothers whatever the glyphosphate didn't kill. If
you don't want the agent orange approach, run over the whole thing with
a good strong mower,

Brambles will laugh at that, glyphosphate will get 'em but may take a
couple of applications but as has been pointed out you need active
growth for it to be really affective.

At this time of year the napalm approach might be better a really
good hot blaze will kill any weed seeds lurking as well.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Tackling an overgrown allotment with a bad back
 

On Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:05:23 -0800 (PST), Dave Hill
wrote:


When I worked in Cardiff a colegue was Sec. of a local alotment Soc.
and when a new person was taking over an empty alotment they would
cover it in old pallets and burn them to clear the site.


On old site we had a communal activity day to clear a plot for a new
person.
I think it's probably the most sensible thing to do - to at least
attempt to clear it for people.
I know how much hard work it is on our site starting from scratch,
especially if you're not used to the hard labour of digging.
--
http://www.voucherfreebies.co.uk

Tackling an overgrown allotment with a bad back
 

Jake wrote in
:

A lot of what Gary contributes to the
group is relevant despite him being over the pond.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay.



Do , O'R GORAU JakeI ca erioed 'n weledig unrhyw arall bostio / s chanddo.
Hyd yn oed ar ôl a chwblha adlonna chan 'r dwr Might bod amsera awron ata
at ca arall newsreader! Btw , bydew 'n ddigon Cymru am Twickenham doe

Baz

Tackling an overgrown allotment with a bad back
 

On Sun, 26 Feb 2012 12:04:33 GMT, Baz wrote:

Jake wrote in
:

A lot of what Gary contributes to the
group is relevant despite him being over the pond.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay.



Do , O'R GORAU JakeI ca erioed 'n weledig unrhyw arall bostio / s chanddo.
Hyd yn oed ar ôl a chwblha adlonna chan 'r dwr Might bod amsera awron ata
at ca arall newsreader! Btw , bydew 'n ddigon Cymru am Twickenham doe

Baz

But I thought your current newsreader was designed to meet specific
needs which you've "spoken" about in the past. I'd have thought your
replacement choices were very limited indeed.

As to yesterday, I think it was about time we won at Twickers. Think
it was over 20 years ago that we last did it. I recorded the match and
spent the afternoon in the garden - that way if we'd lost I wouldn't
have had to watch! And not being a Cardiff City supporter (indeed
can't stand football) I'll be off out again now. Couple of apple
trees, some roses and yet more strawberries to plant and lots of seeds
to sow.


Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay.

Tackling an overgrown allotment with a bad back
 

As to yesterday, I think it was about time we won at Twickers. Think
it was over 20 years ago that we last did it. I recorded the match and
spent the afternoon in the garden - that way if we'd lost I wouldn't
have had to watch! And not being a Cardiff City supporter (indeed
can't stand football) *I'll be off out again now. Couple of apple
trees, some roses and yet more strawberries to plant and lots of seeds
to sow.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -



Did you notice "BBC Won Wales" Last night Jake?
After a heavy morning shifting boxes and more gravel for the track I
had to recover by watching the rugby on the box.
David @ the wet end of Swansea Bay