Seven easy ways to let weeds get on top of you

This is for vegetable plotters and allotment holders everywhere!

Is this your plot?
Are your weeds getting on top of you?

Here are 7 sure fire ways to make sure they do!!

1. Make sure you let the weeds flower and set seed. 

2. Leave piles of weeds exposed to sun and wind so that the seeds can blow all over the place. 

3. Put the seeds on a compost heap and don’t let the heap rot properly i.e. don’t let it heat up to kill seeds and bugs before spreading back on the plot.

4. Don’t bother to dig out perennial weeds – e.g. dandelion taproots

5. Pick the leaves but leave the taproots of dandelions in the ground – they will multiply alarmingly

6. Don’t bother to hoe or preferably hand weed regularly between rows of stuff. Too much hoeing or digging can make seed infestation worse.

7. Just neglect it all!

So here are some easy ways to stay on top of the the weeds:

1. Every visit, even if you don’t have time for thorough weeding, remove flowers from any weeds before they can set seed. People think I’m mad when the first thing I do is go around the surrounding grass paths picking off the dandelion heads! Not so! I know what I'm doing!

2. Do have a properly constructed compost bin and keep it covered so that it gets hot enough.

3. Don’t ever dig compost back into the plot until you’re sure it’s fully rotted

4. Do always dig out the roots of perennial weeds such as dandelions.

5. Don’t dig too much if you have a weed infestation – you are just bringing more seeds to the top and they will spring into life!

6. Do cover bare parts of the plot that will not be used for a while with mulch, manure, old carpets, black lining, anything to discourage growth.

Carpet and manure are being used here. Black plastic is another good idea.

7. Do hand weeding little and often 



Finally, just love your plot - and good luck!

Manure and compost

We are very lucky on our allotments to have an unlimited supply of horse and cow manure brought to the site by local farmers. This may be either straw or wood shavings based, and may be supplied in various stages of decomposition. We have just had the latest load delivered and as I gradually clear the crops, I am busy stockpiling barrow loads onto the bare earth ready to be spread and dug or forked in over the autumn and winter. A thick layer over the soil at this stage will keep any weeds at bay, and once dug in it also really helps to break up the heavy clay soil, improving its texture and drainage, as well as supplying plenty of nitrogen for healthy crops next year.

I also compost all plant waste on the site. Here you can see my two green plastic bins, and the two wooden compost containers, that are filled in rotation. By the time the fourth container is filled to the brim the first container will have produced beautiful sweet smelling, fully rotted compost, that will be fine and friable to the touch and can be spread across the allotment.

The plastic "dalek" bins are OK, but the very best compost is being made in the two square wooden bins. I bought them from The Recycle Works, they are very easy to construct from the flat packed wood, and I am delighted with the first compost from them.

Like many other "plotters" I started with a compost bin made from old wooden pallets, tied together with string at the corners - very rough and ready! These seem to be very popular - presumably because they are cheap - but they do not make good compost; there is too much ventilation, the material dries out too readily and does not heat up sufficiently to complete the decomposition process.