Selfsufficientish.com

Hello,

Just got a new bit of allotment, and, well, it's grass. All of it. Solid turf that's grown up. What's the best (okay I'm being lazy, the easiest) way of clearing it?

Thanks chaps.

Hi if you'r not in a hurry you can cover it with old carpets or anything that blocks out the light that will kill off most of the grass and annuals,
And if you want a quick fix you can hire a hand held burner wich will burn off everything even the pesky over wintered seeds that keep coming back,
but make sure that you keep some water nearby in case of accidents,
i found the latter method pretty good but both are easy as they are non dig methods and organic
all the best
Russ

Thanks Old Tree Man.

Will the burner work in now when everything is still very wet?

That sounds exactly like our plot when we got it. On our site we are not allowed to use carpets or black plastic to kill grass/ weeds. We've found the easiest/ cheapest way to deal with it is to remove the turf. Then we stack all the turfs out of the way - apparently they will break down in a year or two.

As we wanted to create beds we decided it was counter productive to try & clear the whole patch at once. We have had a complaint about the remaining grass getting too high & seeding though...

Yes you can burn now but some larger clumps you will have to persist with
and as ranter said if the clumps are "big" scrape the top off and turn them over untill they rot down.
Then go back and burn whats left
good luck
Russ

You need to check with your allotment rules first before you start burning. Many will only allow you to have bonfires at certain times or not at all. Also many will not allow you to burn grass as it is a skilled activity and can easily get out of hand.

Our allotment rules do not allow carpets or black plastic either.

We advise that you lift the turves and pile into a "cleat" in the corner, covered in tarp. It will break down and provide you with some nice soil in a year or two.

You can hire turf strippers from your local handihire but they're only any good if the ground is flat I find.

What we did was ask the local scout group to come up for a couple of hours and lift and pile the turf with us. Cost £20 donation but it was all clear in a morning. They're always looking for ways to earn money.

Hope this helps.

Gently does it though. Seen too many people break their backs to clear the whole allotment and then lose interest in the growing because the first bit was such a hard slog.

Why aren't you allowed carpet or black plastic?

some allotment associations have strict council guidlines ie building regs, smokeless zones and neighbour friendly sites but some are really analy retentive for lack of a better description.

Russ

We're not allowed black plastic as it takes so long to bio degrade and the same for carpets really.

Also with carpets, there are unscrupulous people who use the allotment to "dump" their carpets and create an eyesore and a lot of work that the poor next tenant has to clear!

I suppose it depends on what you want to grow inititially. You Could try mulching with Cardboard and compost. I saw it in a book and am going to give it a go on a part of my plot that I haven't got around to digging.

The book says to:

Strim and then mow the grass as short as you can. Leave the cuttings in situ.

Cover the area you've cut with cardboard (I guess corregated suff would be best). Put it in the area you want your beds and then cover with a thick layer of compost.

I am going to put wood to make raised beds around the areas i do to keep it nice and tidy. Obviously rooting veg like carrots and parsnips, and also tubers won't grow. but appranetly it'll work for seedlings you transplant.

I'll let everyone know how it goes on my plot - nothing ventured nothing gained eh??

That's how our plot was when we took it on. I simply buried the turfs as I was digging. Hard work, but it worked.