Where to Begin??

This very much depends on the condition the last people left it in. You may be lucky, and the plot may only require a small amount of clearing, but this quite unusual. Often plots have been vacant for many months. Which in the weed calendar is a long time, and a lot can happen!

Often if a plot has been empty for some time there can be quite a lot of rubbish. This can vary from plastic bottles, sheeting and old carpet, to glass and metal. So please do be careful in the early days and ensure you wear thick gloves and boots at least until you know exactly what you've got.

Thereafter there are 4 basic methods:

Method

Advantages

Disadvantages

Dig by Hand

Enables you to effectively pick the weeds out and give special attention to those stubborn perennials.

* Can be very time consuming, and back breaking especially on a big plot.

Rotavate

By far the fastest clearance method with almost instant same day results.

* Doesn't actually remove the perennial roots but simply cuts them up. This means that you could actually be increasing the problem in the future.
* Rotavator hire or purchase can be expensive and if you do get one it may be worth seeing if you could share the hire costs with somebody.

Chemical Clearance

Will effectively kill the majority of weeds on the plot including the perennial weeds.

*  Weed killer is also indiscriminate and will could potentially kill any good bushes you may have. Not to mention the environment impact.
*  You will also still need to get rid of the dead foliage and it may take several treatments.

Cover & Wait

This is generally popular even for established allotments. It requires you to cover the area with a light suppressing material such as carpet and simply wait for the weeds to die due to lack of light. This method can be used for all sizes of area and also provides a good habitat for wildlife. A good way to use this method is to cover the plot and gradually uncover it bit by bit. Allowing you to clear and plant an area before moving onto the next.

*  Can take some time to work so it really is a waiting game. *  Some allotments won't allow the use of carpet over fears of chemicals in in the carpet leaching into the soil.

But when in comes down to it as long as the plot is workable and a safe and enjoyable place to be, then you'll want to spent time there.  Once you have a clear space you will need to consider the Layout of the plot, the Soil Type and whether you intend using a Crop Rotation  or any of the other methods such as Intercropping, or using Companion planting.

If you are not sure on these or any other terms refered to in this site then please see our comprehensive Glossary.