Good morning all, a few allotment home growing tips would be most great fully received ☺

[**bustysinclaire**]

Well, not sure whether I've bitten off a bit more than I can chew but I'm going to give it ago.

I've acquired an allotment very very near to my oh's on my new home it is in a very bad overgrown state so there's a lot of work to be done to get it ready before I can do any type of planting, so it looks like it is unlikely that i will be able to grow much if anything this year.

I have been told that doing a bit at a time is better than trying to get the whole lot up and running straight away, so what I would like to ask is.......

If there are any home growers out there could you give me any tips on what type of things I could try to grow that don't mind being planted late in the year.

Any allotment tips would be most appreciated and one thing I could do with knowing is how to tackle slugs and snails effectively without using harmful chemicals etc.  As I have noticed the allotment next to mine have lost some lovely newly planted young plants already.

[bankhaunter]

When I was young my grandfather had an allotment, my favourite meal this time of year, was a plate of young, lightly cooked sliced runner beans with a poached egg on top.

To be able to get them reasonably young with absolutely no stringing, you have to grow them yourself, shop ones are always left to grow too big.

[cee-dee]

Grow French beans instead.

I'm surprised none of the old-hand gardeners haven't mentioned planting potato peelings from "sprouting" potatoes. They result in smaller potatoes but are nice as salad potatoes.

[**bustysinclaire**]

Poached egg on tender runner beans that sounds really nice.  Wonder if I can go as far as having chickens. I have thought about it but there are plenty of foxes where I live. xx

CD, thank you for your tip about peelings. Im going to try that as I always seem to get plenty of spuds which start to sprout. xx

[**bustysinclaire**]

I'm getting a lovely new crop of weeds too and the rain is helping them grow lovely and lush lol, so not only am I trying to dig out the old ones but have to cope with new too.

As was said earlier, the rotavator has proved not helpful as it just spresd the underground weed roods around and they popped up everywhere, I haqve had to resort to manually digging them all out.  xx

[theelench]

What sorts of weeds are re-growing from the chopped up roots?  The most common ones are probably Ground Elder, Bind Weed and Nettles.

The new crop of weeds will mostly be seedlings from the last lot and as I said earlier,  at this time of year you should relax a bit.  Instead of digging out new weeds (or even the re-sprouting old ones) you will find hoeing much easier..  Speed is what you need, to kill them before they seed.  You can cover more ground, with less back-ache, by hoeing.  Just chop all the tops off,  it returns the nutrients to the soil and adds organic matter in small quantities.

The perennials are re-growing from smaller bits of root that have less stored food, they might re-grow but if you chop the tops off a couple of times a lot of them will run out of food and die off as well.

[cee-dee]

The old hand gardeners used to say that potatoes "clear the ground". They meant that they eliminated weeds, I think a close crop of spuds blocked the light getting to the weeds.

I think that if you'd rotavated the ground really well, raked off the debris and planted potatoes, a lot of the weeds would be gone (until next year).

Many years back a scout group ran a (fun) competition to see which boy could produce the greatest weight from a given weight of seed potatoes. (That was in the days when most had gardens and were pretty honest!) One lad produced a substantial amount and aroused a bit of suspicion as to how he'd managed to do that. The lad said that his grandad had advised him to cut each seed potato in to pieces, each with one "eye". He'd done that and planted in good ground thereby producing a winning weight.

[**bustysinclaire**]

The re growth is the bind weed and some sort of really strong grass, it looks far more thick than just the couch grass. Sorry not sue how you spell it lol. The new weeds are seeds from the plot next to mine. I am still plodding on with the first digging got about 3/4 oh hole plot done now, so as you did suggest I'll n quibono I'm hoeing the new weeds. I am absolutely amazed at the strength and size of the roots in trying to get out, and the depth too. Fascinating really and how a piece the size of my little finger top can sprout only after a couple of weeks

CD I did manage to plant 2 rows of potatoes xx they do seem to be doing well, and I have to say there isn't much weed around them.

I am determined to keep going, although it is hard work I'm finding it so much fun, I don't mind digging in the rain lol xx. It also is keeping me from ceasing up as my arthritis is playing up. Keeps me out of mischief lol xx

[theelench]

Bindweed is one I would try to dig out, it has the ability to produce new buds on virtualy any small piece of root and then grow into a new plant whereas some others can only re-grow if the piece of root had an existing bud before it was chopped off.

Is the grass rather dark green with a slightly rough feel and a distinctly "V" shape to the leaves on either side of the mid-rib?  If it's what I think it may be the root is brown, grows underground for some distance then produces another small plant at the end.  Each new leaf is bigger than the last and they soon get to a size where they become arching with the ends drooping down.  

[**bustysinclaire**]

I think have got some as you describe but I don't think it is what I'm talking about. 

The grass is just extremely course with really big root mass just under the ground then it seems to shoot with several long really thick white fleshy but strong roots, the leaves and flower/seed shoots would be waist height some of them. (I'm 5'2")

If dug out nettles and brambles too.

[theelench]

I don't know what that is, but it's not what I thought.  (A type of ornamental grass that round here has "escaped" from gardens and is becoming a real pest).

Nettles I would dig out, they grow masses of roots very quickly so chopping the tops off doesn't work too well.  Although Brambles can have deep roots that seem to go on forever they will die off if you chop the new growth off two or three times, so hoeing the tops works well for them.

Can you add a photo of the grass?  From your description could it be a flowering plant?  Some sort of Iris or Day Lily perhaps?

[**bustysinclaire**]

I've cut all the tops down now and piled it high with everything else so wont be able to get a good picture off my plot. I'll have to see it I can get one from around the other allotments.

Still got a fair bit to dig so if I remember ill get a pic of some of the roots.
I have been googling and the only thing I can find like it is couch grass, so maybe that is what it is, as my plot has been left for a good few years it has probably just had a chance to get really well established. By the looks of the pictures of some species I have had to deal with several.

[**bustysinclaire**]

---

@theelench wrote:

I don't know what that is, but it's not what I thought.  (A type of ornamental grass that round here has "escaped" from gardens and is becoming a real pest).

Nettles I would dig out, they grow masses of roots very quickly so chopping the tops off doesn't work too well.  Although Brambles can have deep roots that seem to go on forever they will die off if you chop the new growth off two or three times, so hoeing the tops works well for them.

Can you add a photo of the grass?  From your description could it be a flowering plant?  Some sort of Iris or Day Lily perhaps?

---

I have managed some photos.

I have been doing some more digging an got a few of the roots I'm having to dig up.  It's only a small sample clump just to show what they look like.  Some clumps are really big and the roots are going fairly deep and spreading a long way.   There is some underground shoots begining to come up again after my initial clearing which do look more like couch now. So I think im just dealing with that.

I have never seen couch so huge, but then again I have never had to deal with clearing a very overgrown alottment before.

I've also got a couple of pictures showing what my patch looks like now, how much I have been able to clear it.  (On my own too as my son in law help never came. ---- yet anyway)

[jd.linklater]

I would say that is definitely couch grass, if you look at this video the root structure and top growth looks identical to what you have.  Digging out the roots is the only option unfortunately.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrDLk0YDHms

[**bustysinclaire**]

Thank you JD

Digging it all out it is then.  Done most of it anyway.  Xx

I've been advised to burn all roots dug up and not to compost them so it'll be bonfires soon, something else I have no experience with so anyone got any tips?

[theelench]

I agree with you and jd --- definitely couch, and unfortunately the solution,  digging it out will be a long and tiresome process

Still you are making good progress and as Dazzer said the digging softens the soil, making it easier to work and lets in the air.  You will miss bits of root but often they can be raked out when the soil is loosened up.

[**bustysinclaire**]

---

@theelench wrote:

I agree with you and jd --- definitely couch, and unfortunately the solution,  digging it out will be a long and tiresome process

Still you are making good progress and as Dazzer said the digging softens the soil, making it easier to work and lets in the air.  You will miss bits of root but often they can be raked out when the soil is loosened up.

---

Thankfully the rain we have had has softened the ground up some too so I'm not needing a pick axe lol before getting the folk in.

[theelench]

Bonfires aren't something I've had much experience of either but would advise that you check with others around you.  My father had an allotment and when he enquired was given a small book of "Do's and Don'ts" as laid down by the Council.  They were strictly enforced and infringement could lead to having your plot taken away.

One thing you should never do is light your pile of rubbish where it is.  Hedgehogs often dig in under heaps of rubbish to sleep through the day.  Some of the stuff in the pile will have started to decompose causing heat so underneath is often warm and dry, perfect for them.  So it's definitely best to always move your bonfire before lighting it.

You can compost perennial weed roots by putting them in black sacks with a little moisture and earth.  Leave them for months and a horrible black sludge results.  It looks horrible but is packed with nutrients, weeds survive and thrive where other plants don't because they are exceptionaly good at extracting nutrients from any soil. 

[bankhaunter]

weeds survive and thrive where other plants don't because they are exceptionaly good at extracting nutrients from any soil. 

A lot of people fail to grow meadow flowers because their soil is too rich.

[**bustysinclaire**]

Awwww, thank you about the tip on hedgehogs quibono, lovely little creatures and I certainly wouldn't want to barbeque one.

I have had rules given to me for the plot on bonfires, can't have them till the end of September around our way because it is close to houses.  

Bankhaunter,. I think some of the wild flowers are far prettier than some of the cultivated ones. I love the larger thistle flowers and wood sorrel and tufted toad fletch are a couple of my favourites.

[bankhaunter]

The river I fish wanders over some open pasture land and frequently changes course leaving wide areas of stones.

Foxgloves seem to be one of the first plants to populate them other than a few scrubby tufts of grass.