Allotment - Clearing advice

[Ricko]

Hi,

Having responded several times to queries like this myself I have finally been offered an allotment plot, that is overgrown with weeds etc.

It has been cleared to ground level in parts but has grass/docks/mare's tail etc growing all over it.

Effective advice needed please!

I was thinking of raking it to clear debris, then applying weedkiller (what variety would you reccommend)

What do you think?

Cheers

Ricko

[CZ550Kevlar]

only 2 ways to clear an allotment of those weeds, either the hard way or the easy way, hard way you dig every single piece of root out by hand/fork and keep hitting it when they try to re-grow then you can get ontop of it, other way is cover it with silage wrap and leave for a year for it to die off then dig it over or the quicky way use glyco based weedkiller like roundup which allegedly neutralises on contact with soil but i wasn`t keen on spraying mine then growing veg in it.

 

EDIT- Whichever route you go strim to about 3 inches high all over.

Edited October 27, 2011 by CZ550Kevlar

[Brown Sauce]

Napalm

[Dirty Harry]

Electric fence and a couple of pigs. They will fertilise it for you and you can eat them when your done.

Harry

[al4x]

Roundup is the way forward, spray it ASAP then when growth has died back turn it all over and repeat, the more often you do it the less weed growth you will get. If you look at where roundup is licensed for use, ie near watercourses and other sensitive areas you'll realise its pretty harmless stuff, in fact most of the bread and beer you drink this year will have had the raw ingredients sprayed about 10 days before harvest. Covering with plastic will stop some weeds but will do nothing for the seed burden in the actual soil they will just germinate when conditions are right. Your only problem is at this time of year re growth is slow depending on temperature.

Edited October 27, 2011 by al4x

[Fisherman Mike]

Roundup is good for normal perenial weeds but you would be better off getting Glysophate ( active product in Roundup ) from the local Agricultural suppliers and mixing it up double strength.

 

Strim off the worst down to 2 or 3 ins. Apply the weed killer and then cover in Black polythene DPM ( builders merchants )and leave to cook over winter.

 

Rotovate or dig next spring.

 

This will kill all the couch, dock, thistle and bindweed roots that roundup in its normal concentrations wont.

 

Or you can leave it uncovered and burn off the dry weeds with a flame gun. This has the benefit of putting potassium back into the soil but will catch airbourne weed seeds which will germinate.

 

Make sure youve got a good hoe because whatever you do they will come back.!

[Vince Green]

Just dig it over properly and most will go the first time. Thats if you know how to dig it over properly. I'm not just talking of a lttle spade waving. And this time of year is the time to do it. While you are at it get some leaves into the soil to bring the air and water down and to rot down later. Then let the frost get into it over the next few months.

 

Dig down a good six inches more and turn the clod over to bury the weeds and the leaves nice and deep.

[holly]

i got my allotment in april this year it was overgrown and not been dug for at least 10 yrs (according to neighbouring allotmenteers) heres what i did, first off i used a petrol strimmer everywhere raked into a pile and burnt the rakings.i marked out with posts and string what was going where . managed to get some old carpet (not foam backed) from an house clearence . i decided on a three bed system with a dedicated fruit bed as well , i covered beds 2 3 and fruit with the old carpet and set about digging bed 1 by hand with a fork going down to clay ,which on my plot was about a fork and half deep . the roots i took out were unbeliveable i was filling a wheelbarrow every dozen digs i bust two forks in the process , my plan was to have at least one bed up an running with a few late crops but i just kept at it and managed to get two planted up the carpet helped big style as it stopped fresh growth so speeded up the preparation ,its been a long hard slog and shooting and fishing as this year been put on hold to cocentrate on getting it all sorted . the stage i am at now is beds 1 and 2 dug and being left to over winter bed 2 adding lime this weekend, bed 3 after i finished clearing and forking over ( end of august)i applied 10 dustbin loads of manure raked it out on the surface and then covered with cardboard this will stay like this till feb . fruit beds been cleared and planted up with masses of strawberries ,gooseberries ,and rhubarb . the old carpet was cut up and used to cover the pathways between the beds , its hard graft to start with but well worth the effort i had home grown sweetcorn for the first time this year and that alone made it worth while

[Lampwick]

Dont mess about! get some nasty chemical into it as mentioned above.

 

I tried the hard work approach on mine and ended up blitzing it with Roundup

 

Still have a small couch grass problem but getting there. If you dig and miss even a small bit it comes back again and again and...... You get it.

 

Get a rotavator too not only do they save time they give you another toy!!

 

Shippy

[ROBLATCH]

round up is best all round,but make sure you bruise the mares tail before poisoning by standing on it because the foliar is realy tollerant to letting anything in otherwise.

[TaxiDriver]

I've done three allotments now clearing Chest high brambles, nettles, weeds,

 

I start with petrol strimmer, then Roundup2000, repeat every 6-8 weeks for 3 or 4 times.

then keep scalping it with a petrol mower repeatedly.

then I burnt the top off with a sheen weedgun (brilliant fun) and rotavated to a depth of 12" - 14" then IF nescessary a week later go over with the weedgun again to burn off anything thats come to the surface.

[Ricko]

Although I have a few small plots at the homestead, I developed these from scratch.

I have been down to measure the plot 13.5m x 14m

It has been stripped back to ground level with a few brambles around the edge.

From what I have read,

• 
   
  
• I will rake out dead material
  
• Dig up docks by the roots
  
• Spray with round up
  
• Mark out beds etc
  
• Double dig beds
  
• And continue to spray with round up
  
• Use some pallets to make a few compost heaps and start to transport horse manure & straw to manure plots
  

[paulf]

Personally I would dig out the big weeds like the docks then till it over with the F600.

 

Once the weeds germinate and are at the two leaf stdge I would the spray with roundup, repeating this a couple of times into the spring, by this time you will be ready to sow/ plant and will have cultivated semi sterile ground.

 

A sheen gun will work as well as the roundup and you can often get them cheap from car boots etc.

[jacksdad]

Not too keen on the rotivator tbh!

Couch grass is a real nightmare to eradicate, you need to fork the ground and remove the roots (Rhyzomes?) completely: rotivating will just chop them up and produce more grass!

Its pure hard work, nothing else for it :blink:

[verminer]

all good advice given above, but if you have a Mole Valley Farmers near you, go and buy their weedkiller called CLINIC as it is just as good as Roundup and half the price.when i got my allotment i sprayed it then someone rotavated it for me once the weeds were all dead. (no hard graft involved really)

[Big_Paulie]

Here you go mate, this will solve all your problems:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RoundUp-Pro-Biactive-450-Glyphosate-Weed-Killer-5-Ltrs-/140627045501?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Weed_Pest_Control_CV&hash=item20be066c7d

 

P

[Ricko]

Just been to South West Lancashire Farmers, they have 5L of Clinic Ace for £26+VAT.

I think that a couple of doses of that will sort out most of the weed problems.

[verminer]

Just been to South West Lancashire Farmers, they have 5L of Clinic Ace for £26+VAT.

I think that a couple of doses of that will sort out most of the weed problems.

it certainly will and you can plant in the ground a few days after its been applied (i think), i use it all the time, if you have just the odd weed later you just nee to spray a little bit on the leaves as it attacks the roots

[DSPUK]

Only a few have picked up on Mares tail - that stuff is a nightmare - you will be very luck to get rid of it -- it was so bad at the renter we had we let it grow and mowed it - was better than lawn -- Trouble with Mares tail is if your ground is wet you will have hell of a job shifting it - do a Google on removing it -- as said by the others Couch grass and bindweed is easy with Glysophate but last time I went for some you need a sprayers licence and no way will I pay Round up prices.

 

Allotments are damn hard work until you are sorted and miss a month in summer and you have to start again.

 

Dave

[Dr W]

Only a few have picked up on Mares tail - that stuff is a nightmare - you will be very luck to get rid of it -- it was so bad at the renter we had we let it grow and mowed it - was better than lawn -- Trouble with Mares tail is if your ground is wet you will have hell of a job shifting it - do a Google on removing it -- as said by the others Couch grass and bindweed is easy with Glysophate but last time I went for some you need a sprayers licence and no way will I pay Round up prices.

 

Allotments are damn hard work until you are sorted and miss a month in summer and you have to start again.

 

Dave

 

I got 5l of Glysophate from Mole Valley by mail, no licence required.

[Imperfection]

Only a few have picked up on Mares tail - that stuff is a nightmare - you will be very luck to get rid of it

 

 

Mares tail is a real pain to eradicate mainly because its stems have a waxy covering which prevents normal weedkillers from penetrating inside.The only stuff which i've found which definetly kills it inside of a week isnt a weedkiller at all-its a commercial grade graffiti remover and even then i still have to walk on the mares tail first to break up the waxy coating.Its a truly prehistoric plant which was apparently around in the days of the dinosaurs and the roots can go down 10ft.

[paulf]

I got 5l of Glysophate from Mole Valley by mail, no licence required.

 

 

I use a commercially available product called Kurtail, it is phosphoric acid based and used for potato desiccation and similar in agriculture works a treat on mares tail and has sorted out persistent problem areas on several business parks whose grounds I maintain.

[jacksdad]

But he will want to grow food on it right away, not wait decades for the radiation to fade.....just how safe are these products?

[Alanl50]

I have 4 allotments and have used all manner of chemicals from my farmer friends, end of the day I use a big rotavator to start with, then and have a small Honda FG110 which I use to weed between rows, no matter what you do your never going to stop them poxy weeds, continual tilling is the best method to stop them getting established, every season I watch the poor **** on there hands and knees digging - weeding for what it, just grows back, get dug once and remove as much as you can then just keep turning your soil, use a hoe / cultivator what methed or tool you choose, once your in a routine you will be surprised at the results

Alan

[V8landy]

This year I am trying covering the ground with damp proof membrane 1200g. £40 deliverd for 4m x 25m.

 

I put it on a few weeks back after clearing the ground, and I will leave it on until spring. Might even plant some spuds under it...the black will been warming the soil and then lift back just as soots sprout.