to did or not to dig.........

[stevefarr440]

Hi all

A friend and i have just taken on our very first allotment (its all very exiting) and are after some advise......

are we best to dig the groung by hand, kill it or hire a rotavator to get things going? the ground is coverd in grass and weeds as its been unused for quite some time

so far we've manually hacked away at about a fith of the plot but there seems to be allot of grass and weeds escaping back into the soil, will these die off or are we infor a year of plucking out weeds? has anyone got any tips for successfull digging?

Cheers

Steve

[stevefarr440]

[Tee Gee]

My view is;.... set it out in beds and prepare each one thoroughly before starting the next one.

I'm a bit old fashioned and I believe digging and weeding as you go is the best approach.

I guess most of the regulars have been in your position including me! see here

Before;



After;



By the way welcome to the plot!

[caroline7758]

Don't worry, Steve- not everybody's plot looks as neat as TeeGee's! Mine is a constant battle against the weeds. It's fine being methodical and thorough if you've got loads of time, self-control and patience. But if you're like me you just want to get on growing stuff, so you clear enough to plant stuff then spend the rest of the season cursing that you didn't do it properly, but you still get a decent crop! If you have a search, there are lots of threads like this one - maybe search for "no dig".

[isbister]

I'm with TG - dig and weed thoroughly by hand and plant as you go, This is our allotment a couple of years ago...

[Trevor_D]

Agree: dig & weed by hand, one bed at a time. It's hard work, but worth it in the long run.

[manicscousers]

put the paths in first so you can walk on them then you can work on one bed at a time, if you're not going to plant straight away, cover the earth so the weeds don't spring up again, welcome to the club  ;D

[sea chelles]

welcome to the forum. i agree with dig and weed by hand its hard work but boy is it worth it in the end. good luck with the lottie  ;D

[stevefarr440]

cheers for or all of your advise and warm welcomes!

digging is obviousley the way forward! one last question.... will any clumps of grass that i miss break down okay in the soil? or will they grow back? if they break down how long will this take?

just wondering how vigulent i have to be!

thanks heaps!

???

[norfolklass]

depends on the grass.
if it's couch grass you need to get it out, otherwise it'll just grow back more evil and intent on plot domination!

[Carls3168]

When I first took my plot over I did dig and weed the entire area. Looking back a more methodical way would have been to lay out the beds first, where the shed etc was going and just covered these areas with weed membrain or plastic. (I have raised beds) this way I could have concentrated more on my beds... you live and learn!  :-\
I did have one problem area - infested with crouch. I just weeded this as well as  Icould, covered it with cardboard, then manure, then plastic... grew some great tomatos through this last year.

Heres a pic about a month in...



And one with the beds finished...



...and how it looked last year  ;D



ROLL ON THE SUMMER!!!!  ;D

[ruffmeister]

i would say dig section by section and then clear all by hand, then i start something contraversial and say rotorvate, i would defo use one however make sure you have cleared the roots out first and after you do so. (wait for the anti rotorvator comments)

[Tora]

I agree, dig and clear by hand. I took over my over-grown plot just over a year ago. I'm tackling the plot slowly, section by section. As soon as I cleared a small section I planted vegetables (shallots, onions, potatoes, etc.) and I feel planting the section straight away helps keep weeds at bay.

I still have more than half a plot to clear but even a small patch of plot produced a lot of vegetables last year and I'm pleased with it. ;D

I've seen so many newcomers rotavating their plot and abandoning it after the weeds have grown back. It looks all nice after rotavating but it doesn't stay that way unfortunately!

[bennettsleg]

It looks all nice after rotavating but it doesn't stay that way unfortunately!

Agreed!

However, mine was rotorvated for me before I saw it. Though I did have a minor weed-coping melt-down mid-year, in reflection I am glad that it was rotorvated.

I was able to mark out the beds and put down weed suppressing cloth straight away on areas I knew would not be worked that year. What I would have done differently was to immediately sort out the paths and ensure they couldn't subsequently grow into forests of evil, moral-sucking weeds.

A year on and I am faced with having to weed all the paths and weed suppress/newspaper and straw them so that they don't grow out of control again.  A far greater job than if I did this in the first place. As our land is horribly stoney I fear that a hired turfing machine would not be up to the task!

I have realised that neat paths that surround works-in-progress (beds) give a greater satisfaction to the plot holder (me) and also ensure less worried looks from neighbours/site chairmen and far less feelings of guilt from yours truly. ;D

[Barnowl]

If, like me you're wondering what this infamous couch grass is:

Couch grass removal

not this

http://www.inman.com/blogger/uploaded_images/grasscouch-748063.jpg

[Barnowl]

Meant to say: Like me a year ago when we go the lottie - now only too familiar with the stuff.

Luckily have light soild so the big fork followed by hand fork does the trick.

[bupster]

The only thing about rotavating is that you have to dig anyway to get rid of the perennial roots...