What tips should we give to plot holders?
Q What advice should we be giving our new allotment holders so they enjoy greater success?
Stephen Scaife, Exeter, Devon
A The main problem for allotment newcomers is available plots are badly overgrown. Most then struggle and usually give up within a couple of years. They’re not helped by some of the advice out there, the worst of which encourages them to clear a small area and get some crops in the ground for a ‘sense of achievement’. In reality, the newcomer spends all their time dealing with the weeds among their struggling veg while the rest of the plot grows head high in more weeds. My advice to any new plot holder is to grow nothing in the first season but get the ground cleared.
A weed infested, full-size plot will defeat many newcomers. They stand more chance with a half plot, but need to put aside a long weekend to clear it. A hired brushcutter will make relatively light work of even brambles.
It’s best to bag up the material and take it away for recycling or burn it if it’s dry. Plot holders often create great mounds of this material at the end of their plot. If it ever breaks down, they then spread a mass of uncomposted weed seed back over the ground.
Healthy fruit trees can be retained but it’s likely that soft fruit such as raspberries and strawberries will be virused and almost certainly choked with pernicious weeds such as couch grass.
Once the plot is clear, cover it with a large sheet of UV-treated, black polythene, available from horticultural or agricultural suppliers (as silage sheet). This prevents weed regrowth and keeps the soil dry, so even in wet weather plot holders can gradually dig over the soil and clear the weeds. Alternatively, allow the weeds to regrow and when they’re knee-high, spray with glyphosate such as Tumbleweed or RoundUp.
Once the plot is cleared, it probably needs the equivalent of a full day once a week over the year to maintain a productive, weed-free plot that produces worthwhile results.