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I am going to look at a plot next week or soe, and from what the councel has told me it hasn't been used for a while and there is quite a bit of grass on it where to start?
any advice helpful.
the plot is 500 square yards, is it worth putting a couple of lambs on it for slaughtering?when ready, or do councel owned allotments not allow it?
Or is it worth rotovating the hole place?
thanks rob.

You need to check with your council over what they allow, but generally fences are not allowed around allotments (insurance reasons) and so it is unlikely that you would be allowed to keep lambs on there.
Also the saliva of grazing animals stimulates grass regrowth so it may be a futile exercise in the long run. Also is 500 square yards really enough to keep lambs on?

Some allotments allow poultry and rabbits to be kept, but many don't. Best to check to be sure.

Allotments are generally provided to allow individuals to grow vegetables and fruit and occasionally a small amount of flowers for domestic purposes. Most allotments are not allowed for business use.

A good idea of where to start may be to strim the whole plot down and then cover half with weed suppressant or old carpets if the council allows. Then you can concentrate on a smaller part until you are ready to do more. Some people would apply weed killer to kill the grass, or the ground could be rotatvated. Personally, I prefer the back breaking digging and I remove the turves and form a cleat which breaks down over time. It's much more thorough that way - and painful!

Check out the many other posts under the allotment sections because lots of people take on rough plots and many really useful pieces of advice has been posted there.

Good luck.

thanks for that

Depending on what kind of weeds you have, rotovating might just make the problem worse! If they are weeds that spread underground, i.e. via runners, or have long tap roots, every little bit of root that you get after you've cut them with the rotovator will grow into another weed... And unfortunately it's mostly these kinds of weeds you get on an overgrown allotment. That's the likes of couch grass, nettles, ground elder, docks, thistles...

When we took one of our plots last Sept it was so overgrown we had no idea we had 4 current bushes and no end of cabbages and carrots hidden! It had become overgrown quite quickly I think, just that year with all the rain. The weeds varied, one bit had loads of very tall but easy to remove weeds and it was really good for the soul clearing that, waist high one minute and hubby amazed it was clear 40 mins later!

There was another bit that didn't look so bad but had deadly nightshade so it was painstaking trying to make sure I left no berries behind and hoeing it everyweek this year to be sure they don't reestablish.

There is definitiely clearing and clearing, overgrown & overgrown, but if you haven't the time/energy to blitz it then decide to do a bit and keep on top of it then increase the size of your 'bit' as you get to grips with the plot. Rome doesn't have to be built in a day!

The common mistake is to blitz, break you back in the process & don't come back for 6 weeks whilst resting said back only to find you are back to square one.

Oh yes how could I forget: turnips,radish, winter radish and LOADS of pak choi which has to be planted after mid summer, plus winter lettuce and landcress. I got most of the seed from Realseed, they advise you on what can be planted when.

We are in the same boat, and were fighting a losing battle with couch grass. We've decided to just clear a bit for planting (possibly fruit trees/bushes) and I just bought some stuff to lay down over the rest of the plot which should hopefully kill it off in time for next year. Carpet apparently is good for this (check out freecycle) but our council don't allow it.
Also, no livestock on ours except for rabbits and a small amount of chickens.

spoke to the councel yesterday and i was going to speak to the person on the allotments but the car broke down last night, and i had to spend most of today outside working on it, at least i know what's wrong now.
but anyway the lady was quite helpful and no livestock is allowed at all.
i am going to speak to the stewart tomorrow morning to arrange to have a look at it, looks likely i'll end up having a smaller one than planned as a possibility of a job has come up, but we'll have to wait and see.
thanks for the advice.
rob

Also the saliva of grazing animals stimulates grass regrowth[...]

Never heard this before! Is there some information somewhere where I can get more information?

How can I make our sheep to produce more saliva?

Ahh I found something here (PDF). It sounds as if there wouldn't be any grass if there are no grazers. Sorry I am totally confused now!

Cheers

Peter

This business about carpets....I cover my compost heap with carpet, so is that a bad move then? If coucils are banning it it must be quite serious

Saliva of grazing animals. I first heard this on "How to be a gardener" but later read it when I was reading a book on the structure of grasses - yes I know I am a complete bore! Grass regrows from the sides not the top so the more you cut it the more it thickens. There are enzymes in the saliva of grazers that stimulate growth. How, I don't know.

Carpets on allotments. There are several problems with carpets on allotments. 1. They don't degrade very fast because not many are 100% organic nowadays. Most have a large proportion of nylon and plastic in them. 2. new plot holders often get stuck with a load of manky carpets to dispose of. 3. Most carpets give of pollutants when they degrade or are burned. I'm sure there were other reasons too but can't think of them just now.

We use a large piece of wool underlay to cover the compost heaps. It's 100% natural and it's not a carpet!! We got ours free as an offcut from a carpet shop.

Thanks, thats kind

I was lead to understand black plastic is not much good because it doesn't let the rain in?

I can understand all the checmicals, I suppose no real harm if the carpert is ancient as they are probably long gone by now, but I know from experience new carpet is often the cause of sick buildng syndrome in new offices- probably the formaldehyde they use, that usually gives you a cracking headache...alos a slug repellant...which leads me to think my bit of old carpet is cleared of that since the slugs I recover from under it are HUGE!

Peggy Sue wrote:I was lead to understand black plastic is not much good because it doesn't let the rain in?

You don't really want too much rain in your compost - it leaches out the nutrients! On the other hand, it needs to stay moist... So I suppose you'd have to water it occasionally, if you went for a waterproof plastic cover.

I admit - I don't cover my compost at all, so it gets sogging wet at times. And I do have some old carpet in the garden, in various stages of disintegration, and yes, the slugs are doing very well under it. (Or at least they were last year - haven't had a chance to look yet this year!)

i have found out that i have been short listed for a job, and need to go for an assessment with in the next week.
so with the possibility of moving away i've have left the allotment for the minute as i don't want to get started and then find that i am moving up to wakefield.