New allotment

[Mateo]

Hello

I’d love some advice on the best way to get this going. I’ve taken on a 5 rod plot and very happy about this. At the moment there’s grass that’s about waist high, various plants that have been devastated and a selection of weeds, some of which look like bindweed. My thoughts were that cardboard and compost probably won’t be enough, so I thought that polythene sheets across the plot was better and then create holes where we want to plant in the rows. However… that seems like a lot of sheeting and a lot of compost underneath? Would it be better to mulch paths first, straight on top of cut growth, perhaps with large amounts of wood chip (not sure if weeds/grass will grow straight through) and then once the paths are marked out, then compost the big spaces in-between as my beds, followed by polythene only on the beds?

[charles]

Mateo, its late to think of cropping that this summer, I would simply cover with polythene.
Any organic matter you can find to spread before covering will rot nicely underneath.
Personally I would not spread wood chip though some people do. It can restrict sowing options and harbour slugs.

[Mateo]

Hello Charles,

Thanks.

So how long are you suggesting that I cover with polythene before adding compost and potentially re-covering and then start planting?

[charles]

I would keep the cover on until say November, even until February, then shape beds however you choose to, see http://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/no-dig-growing/no-dig-growing-preparation/

[Mateo]

Hello Charles

The plot has been all covered for a while now and I’ve been using bricks to really weight it down. I looked at your link and books and I am still curious about planting through the polythene. In order to be sure that everything is completely clear of weeds, I’d like to plant through the polythene by creating holes, but when I do this, do I need to pull up anything dead and clear the space in the hole, should I be covering the hole with compost or should I expect it all to be gone come February?

Thanks

[charles]

Find out at any tie if weeds are dead, simply by lifting the polythene. If you see white/yellow (because light-deprived) stems, there are still weeds trying to grow from resources in their roots.
From July, you may now see almost nothing, it depends what was there.
I would not try and plant through it now, there will be slugs through winter.
Best wait until spring as I say above, remove the cover completely and start over.

[Author]

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