Hi everybody!

I'm a newbie in this forum and gardening world.

I'm from London and applied months ago an allotment near my flat.

Some plots are available now. I will go to see them on saturday and 'll be able to pay the rent on sunday.

The letter from allotment society says all plots owergrown with grass and several with brambles.

I didn't know what does it mean until had a search about them on internet )

It means lots of work

I'm working part-time, looking after my 22 months old son and going to holiday for 20 days only 3 weeks later ))

I think the best thing to clear the allotment to find someone and pay for it Do you have any idea how much it can cost me?

Should i make clear it before I go to holiday or after I come back? I'll be back end of april.

Another question, is it safe to take my son to allotment while I'm working?

Thank you!

"Esra" wrote on this newsgroup via gardenbanter.co.uk...

Hi everybody!

I'm a newbie in this forum and gardening world.

I'm from London and applied months ago an allotment near my flat.

Some plots are available now. I will go to see them on saturday and 'll
be able to pay the rent on sunday.

The letter from allotment society says all plots owergrown with grass
and several with brambles.

I didn't know what does it mean until had a search about them on
internet )

It means lots of work

I'm working part-time, looking after my 22 months old son and going to
holiday for 20 days only 3 weeks later ))

I think the best thing to clear the allotment to find someone and pay
for it Do you have any idea how much it can cost me?

Should i make clear it before I go to holiday or after I come back?
I'll be back end of april.

Another question, is it safe to take my son to allotment while I'm
working?


Quite normal in my experience. Grass and weeds are easy to kill with an
application or two of weedkiller which will leave you with clear ground and
no perennial weeds, the brambles will need cutting down and digging out.
There may well be someone on the site with a "Brushcutter" that can do the
work for a small fee, ask around.
Anyway, you need to get onto this ASAP as the growing season is fast
approaching and weedkiller takes time to act.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden

The message
from Esra contains these words:

Hi everybody!

I'm a newbie in this forum and gardening world.

Tis is a newsgroup, not a forum.

I'm from London and applied months ago an allotment near my flat.

Some plots are available now. I will go to see them on saturday and 'll
be able to pay the rent on sunday.

The letter from allotment society says all plots owergrown with grass
and several with brambles.

evil grin

I didn't know what does it mean until had a search about them on
internet )

What just brambles, or grass as well?

It means lots of work

Hence the evil grin

I'm working part-time, looking after my 22 months old son and going to
holiday for 20 days only 3 weeks later ))

I think the best thing to clear the allotment to find someone and pay
for it Do you have any idea how much it can cost me?

If you want the satisfaction of an allotment, you should do all that
yourself. Otherwise, why bother?

Should i make clear it before I go to holiday or after I come back?
I'll be back end of april.

Cut down brambles and dig out the roots. Burn them. Spread the ash on
the plot. Cover the plot with black plastic sheet and peg it down, and
put old wood, bricks, etc by the edges to make sure.

By the end of April most of the grass will be dead.

Dig it in.

Another question, is it safe to take my son to allotment while I'm
working?

Why do you ask? Do we know your son? Your control? What you are going to
do on the allotment? Can we guess what your fellow allotmenteers are
going to do with those flame-throwers, rotavators, forks, spades, axes,
mattocks and the like?

--
Rusty
Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk

The message
from Aries contains these words:
On Wed, 4 Mar 2009 08:23:45 -0000, Bob Hobden wrote:

Anyway, you need to get onto this ASAP as the growing season is fast
approaching and weedkiller takes time to act.

A question Bob. Doesn't weedkiller poison the soil for growing crops? If
not how long should one leave the soil after first apply weedkiller before
it's safe to sow seed ?

Glyphosate (Roundup) and Paraquat, etc, only act on the plants. Once
they contact the ground they are neutralised as far as any effect on
plants is concerned.

You can plant immediately.

The sort of weedkiller which is absorbed by the roots wouldn't be used
on an allotment - I hope...

--
Rusty
Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk

valerie. wrote after
Bob Hobden wrote:

Anyway, you need to get onto this ASAP as the growing season is fast
approaching and weedkiller takes time to act.

A question Bob. Doesn't weedkiller poison the soil for growing crops? If
not how long should one leave the soil after first apply weedkiller before
it's safe to sow seed ?

Not Glyphosate doesn't, it only works on green stuff and becomes inactive on
contact with the soil and is broken down by the soil bacteria. Should be
safe to sow seed almost immediately. It's the only way to rid an overgrown
plot of perennial weeds...Couch or Twitch especially. Digging that out
successfully and permanently is only possible over years IME.

That said, sensible precautions should be taken with all chemicals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyphosate for more info.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden

"Robert (Plymouth)" wrote
after "Rusty_Hinge" wrote
after Aries wrote:
after Bob Hobden wrote:

Anyway, you need to get onto this ASAP as the growing season is fast
approaching and weedkiller takes time to act.

A question Bob. Doesn't weedkiller poison the soil for growing crops?
If
not how long should one leave the soil after first apply weedkiller
before
it's safe to sow seed ?

Glyphosate (Roundup) and Paraquat, etc, only act on the plants. Once
they contact the ground they are neutralised as far as any effect on
plants is concerned.

You can plant immediately.

The sort of weedkiller which is absorbed by the roots wouldn't be used
on an allotment - I hope...

Of course the safest and best way all round is to avoid weed killer and
cut it down and dig out manually. You get much more satisfaction that way
too

In an ideal world I would agree with you but...
For a "new" gardener I have seen them become totally disillusioned with an
overgrown plot and give up when they could not get on top of the weed growth
at the start, they want to grow stuff not fight entrenched weeds. Glyphosate
allows them to get going growing this season with a weed free plot to start
with. Yes, the weeds will also grow back from seed but then you can stay on
top of them with an hours hoeing each week.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden

On Mar 4, 5:04*pm, "Bob Hobden" wrote:
"Robert (Plymouth)" *wrote
after "Rusty_Hinge" *wrote



after *Aries wrote:
after Bob Hobden wrote:

Anyway, you need to get onto this ASAP as the growing season is fast
approaching and weedkiller takes time to act.

A question Bob. *Doesn't weedkiller poison the soil for growing crops?
If
not how long should one leave the soil after first apply weedkiller
before
it's safe to sow seed ?

Glyphosate (Roundup) and Paraquat, etc, only act on the plants. Once
they contact the ground they are neutralised as far as any effect on
plants is concerned.

You can plant immediately.

The sort of weedkiller which is absorbed by the roots wouldn't be used
on an allotment - I hope...

Of course the safest and best way all round is to avoid weed killer and
cut it down and dig out manually. You get much more satisfaction that way
too

In an ideal world I would agree with you but...
For a "new" gardener I have seen them become totally disillusioned with an
overgrown plot and give up when they could not get on top of the weed growth
at the start, they want to grow stuff not fight entrenched weeds. Glyphosate
allows them to get going growing this season with a weed free plot to start
with. Yes, the weeds will also grow back from seed but then you can stay on
top of them with an hours hoeing each week.

Some years ago I had an allotment. The plot next to me became
overgrown due to the illnes of the elderly tenant.A new tenant was
found, an incomer from London town, full of bluster and energy.On the
bank holiday weekend he got all his friends and relatives on perade at
dawn and dug the plot from end to end, then sprinkled slugkiller
everywhere. Seeds of many kinds were sown the next weekend. He raised
one of the finest crops of perennial weeds we had ever seen because
nobody thought to tell his townee labourers that they had to remove
the roots. We never saw him again.

Esra wrote:
Hi everybody!
snippy

Should i make clear it before I go to holiday or after I come back?
I'll be back end of april.

Do it now. By the end of April it will be twice as bad.

Another question, is it safe to take my son to allotment while I'm
working?

Your decision, based on common sense. Lotta nasty things on allotments.
Would I? Not unless he was tied to a bean pole I'm just gonna get my
Tetanus topped up.
--
Pete C
London UK

tony.burrell wrote after Bob Hobden wrote:

In an ideal world I would agree with you but...
For a "new" gardener I have seen them become totally disillusioned with an
overgrown plot and give up when they could not get on top of the weed
growth
at the start, they want to grow stuff not fight entrenched weeds.
Glyphosate
allows them to get going growing this season with a weed free plot to
start
with. Yes, the weeds will also grow back from seed but then you can stay
on
top of them with an hours hoeing each week.

Some years ago I had an allotment. The plot next to me became
overgrown due to the illnes of the elderly tenant.A new tenant was
found, an incomer from London town, full of bluster and energy.On the
bank holiday weekend he got all his friends and relatives on perade at
dawn and dug the plot from end to end, then sprinkled slugkiller
everywhere. Seeds of many kinds were sown the next weekend. He raised
one of the finest crops of perennial weeds we had ever seen because
nobody thought to tell his townee labourers that they had to remove
the roots. We never saw him again.

Not everyone these days has been brought up growing veg or, indeed,
anything.
Things that, due to our years of experience, we may take as just normal, the
way it is, they don't know about or understand so they are on a steep
learning curve and I do feel sorry for them. Most are too embarrassed to ask
the old farts, and anyway, what do they ask? They don't know enough even to
know that. Books is all they have and some of those assume basic knowledge.

e.g. One young couple I know very well got a plot last year (unfortunately
miles away from me) and the husband cleared the plot and planted stuff only
to find to his surprise and annoyance weeds germinated. He thought if he
cleared the weeds then that was it for the year.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden

In message , Aries
writes
On Wed, 4 Mar 2009 18:42:41 -0000, Bob Hobden wrote:

e.g. One young couple I know very well got a plot last year (unfortunately
miles away from me) and the husband cleared the plot and planted stuff only
to find to his surprise and annoyance weeds germinated. He thought if he
cleared the weeds then that was it for the year.

I remember my father saying, one year's weed, seven years seeds!

Traditionally, one year's seeding, seven years weeding.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

Thank you for the replies.

On 4/3/09 18:42, in article , "Bob Hobden"
wrote:
snip Not everyone these days has been brought up growing veg or, indeed,
anything.
Things that, due to our years of experience, we may take as just normal, the
way it is, they don't know about or understand so they are on a steep
learning curve and I do feel sorry for them. Most are too embarrassed to ask
the old farts, and anyway, what do they ask? They don't know enough even to
know that. Books is all they have and some of those assume basic knowledge.

They're lucky, though, that people who know how are still around and do have
that knowledge. It's the 'old boys' that had such a treasure of information
to pass on and you're their keeper and can now pass it on to the youngsters
dipping a toe in the water. One idea occurred to me (bearing in mind I
have absolutely no experience of allotment etiquette!) would it work to
have a sort of allotment tea party one Saturday afternoon on the theme of a
Gardener's Question Time where everyone could ask questions and everyone
could answer them at random? At least all the young 'uns could meet the old
'uns and all could share ideas, information, new seed catalogues etc.


--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials online

Esra wrote:
Thank you for the replies.

Thank you from me too. I have been saving the replies.

On Mar 4, 6:42*pm, "Bob Hobden" wrote:
Not everyone these days has been brought up growing veg or, indeed,
anything.
Things that, due to our years of experience, we may take as just normal, the
way it is, they don't know about or understand so they are on a steep
learning curve and I do feel sorry for them. Most are too embarrassed to ask
the old farts, and anyway, what do they ask? They don't know enough even to
know that. Books is all they have and some of those assume basic knowledge.
Bob Hobden

One of the things I did when I retired to supplement my pension was to
sell plants at Boot sales, and very profitable it was. Although some
professional plant sellers came and complained that my prices were too
low. My wife and I were amazed that so many of our customers seemed to
know hardly anything about the plants they were buying or how to grow
them. They did not seem at all backward in asking for advice, in fact
our Saturday and Sunday mornings turned into one long plant clinic and
advice centre. It was a lot of fun if rather repetitative.