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New allotment plot

davholla2002davholla2002 Posts: 6
in Problem solving
I have a new plot which is full of grass and weeds and I want to plant fruit bushes in it.
I was thinking of using cardboard with stones to keep it down to control grass etc.
Any ideas?
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Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 22,852
    Dig dig and more digging is what most people do on the allotment, card will get wet go soggy and the grass and weeds will grow through.
    Dig out the roots and get some nice manure/compost dug in ready for Spring. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Fran IOMFran IOM Posts: 2,562
    Not a good idea! I thought it was the answer but it was a waste of time as after all the wind and rain it has disintegrated and little bits everywhere. Complete mess to tidy up. Will have to think of other ideas open to me.  :/
  • davholla2002davholla2002 Posts: 6
    Lyn said:
    Dig dig and more digging is what most people do on the allotment, card will get wet go soggy and the grass and weeds will grow through.
    Dig out the roots and get some nice manure/compost dug in ready for Spring. 
    How much digging a week do you think I would need to do?  I am a bit worried about the amount of time needed.  It is 60m square
  • davholla2002davholla2002 Posts: 6
    Fran IOM said:
    Not a good idea! I thought it was the answer but it was a waste of time as after all the wind and rain it has disintegrated and little bits everywhere. Complete mess to tidy up. Will have to think of other ideas open to me.  :/
    Thank you and also thank you to Lyn who I forgot to thank.
  • Fran IOMFran IOM Posts: 2,562
    I was covering over the areas that I had already weeded as I know, if I am unable to get there in the winter, what will be waiting for me in the Spring - a lot of hard work which I don't mind but if it could be avoided I could get on with other things which I enjoy.  :)
  • davholla2002davholla2002 Posts: 6
    Fran IOM said:
    I was covering over the areas that I had already weeded as I know, if I am unable to get there in the winter, what will be waiting for me in the Spring - a lot of hard work which I don't mind but if it could be avoided I could get on with other things which I enjoy.  :)
    What cardboard did you use?  Was it package cases.
  • Fran IOMFran IOM Posts: 2,562
    It was packaging I used but obviously not good enough. Probably old carpet would do the job but I shall have to have a think and see what I can come up with. Anything to avoid the weeds I had to tackle last Spring. It's an area which as yet hasn't been allocated any plants. 
  • AndyDeanAndyDean Posts: 157
    We upgraded to a full-size plot this autumn, very overgrown so spent a long time carefully removing all the weeds (couch grass :#) we could before putting down a big mulch of manure. Fully expecting to do lots of weeding for the next couple of years but hoping that if we keep on top of it and mulch well it'll calm down after that. Haven't tackled the paths yet, that's going to be a pain but hopefully a big mulch of bark (our allotment association has loads) will help.

    Re digging: I'm a big fan of Charles Dowding's no-dig philosophy, a lot less work than double-digging every year! He says he gets far fewer weeds because the soil isn't disturbed as much. I'm too new at this to say from experience, but it makes a lot of sense to me!
  • Fran IOMFran IOM Posts: 2,562
    Welcome to the forum by the way @davholla2002. Hope you enjoy and learn a lot like me  :)
  • Alan4711Alan4711 Posts: 1,657
    Hi Fran10m,you might want to be careful what backing is on any carpet you might use,rubber backed is a big NO,NO apparently.  
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