New allotment and no time ...

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New allotment and no time ...

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Jb

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91ï¿½ N

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 08 12:16 pm Post subject: New allotment and no time ...
... where would you start? My current plan is to rotavate the lot of it and then do nothing except plant garlic about December and potatoes / onions / leeks in the spring. Any other suggestions?

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 08 12:18 pm Post subject:
Cover what you don't use with carpet, else you'll have to redig later.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42208
Location: North Devon

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 08 12:20 pm Post subject:
Don't rotavate it. If you do that and then leave it you'll have more weeds than you'll know what to do with. Cover it with carpet or whatever and take it off and dig each bit as you're going to use it.

Jb

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 7761
Location: 91ï¿½ N

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 08 12:23 pm Post subject:
Plan was to plant to one quarter as alliums and the rest as spuds. Which will be far more than I need but should swamp everything out. I'll just be giving spuds away to everyone I know

lottie

Joined: 11 Aug 2005
Posts: 5059
Location: ceredigion

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 08 1:14 pm Post subject:
You'll get away with the spuds but you will need to weed the alliums at least initially.

oldish chris

Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 4148
Location: Comfortably Wet Southport

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 08 4:26 pm Post subject:

I'm in the "don't rotavate" camp. I believe that sorting out an overgrown allotment should be seen as a three year project. I had surprising success clearing weeds with newspapers and grass clippings. The weeds included raspberries, reeds and nettles. I chopped them down to ground level, covered with a 5 page thick layer of newspaper and then three inches of chopped up grass supplied by a friendly professional gardener.

gil
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18410

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 08 4:31 pm Post subject:

Don't rotavate, it will make it far worse.
As suggested, cover up, and dig over a bit at a time, as you need the space.

Maybe aim to dig half the plot by late spring; two-thirds by summer.
Plan your rotation beds for the first year on that area alone, or less if you want to put fruit in.
Three-quarters of it by this time next year.
The final quarter the year after.

And yes, your rotation beds will change size and shape as you dig more over, but that's OK.

Woodburner

Joined: 28 Apr 2006
Posts: 2904
Location: Essex

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 08 9:11 pm Post subject:

Cardboard, black plastic, newspaper or mulching fabric with something on top to hold it down, carpet (but be careful what you use and don't leave it so long it starts to disintegrate), are all good for killing/suppressing weeds.
Now is a good time to dig or fork over and remove roots of perennial weeds.
Rotavating is not good as it cuts the roots into little bits that make it harder to pick out and easier to miss bits.
Traditional wisdom says leave the soil bare for the frosts to work on it but I don't see what is so good about that. Soil is improved by increasing the amount of humus, not by being left bare for the nutriens to get leeched out. :S

I'm sowing field beans as I clear and will re-cover the rest as I go when I run out of beans. (If I get that far

)

lottie

Joined: 11 Aug 2005
Posts: 5059
Location: ceredigion

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 08 9:13 am Post subject:
TBH I have found rotovating first and then covering the rotovated ground very succesful using carpet,black plastic,cardboard or whatever. You can also rotovate in the spring,bung spuds in and get a decent crop next year,while smothering alot of the weeds. We are digging pasture up here and did exactly that last spring and now have alot of potatoes in store.

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