Advice needed on vegatable plot?

Question

I have a area of ground about 5m by 20m I set it aside a few years ago for growing veg but never seem to have the time to get started. What I'd like to know is, will I have to pluck out the weeds or can I get away with just turning over the ground, if so is perhap hiring a rotavator the best solution.
Will the weeds not re-grow if the ground just turned? Is using weed killer on a veg plot adviseable ?
Thanks in advance

Andy

Answer 1

Don't use weedkiller as this will carry on working when you put the veg in. All perenniel weeds have to be removed, annual ones can be turned in, but personally I like to remove all. The weeds will grow again if they have light, air and moisture and will then take moisture from the veg when they grow. You can use a rotavator but will probably spend more time in the long run removing the weeds which have regrown. Good luck and I hope you finally get your veggie plot going - it is extremely rewarding and therapeutic. (I used to teach City & Guilds gardening). I have a small plot in my garden and just love seeing it all grow and harvesting the organic veg.

Answer 2

That's a good size for a vegetable plot.

Take off the top weeds with a fork and plant what you want to begin. A hoe may not be strong enough. A mattock is quite handy for grubbing out grass and weeds - better than a fork in some ways.

Plant spuds for starters as they are weed resistant and help break up the soil.

All the rest of the plot cover up with whatever you can find. Old carpet is ideal as it does not blow away. Plastic sheeting, old plastic bags, straw, newspaper, cardboard etc etc will all do. You need to weight them to keep them there. This looks a bit ugly but it gives the weeds a reason to die down until you are ready to go on. It takes a good few weeks.

When you want to continure planting, roll back your carpet, or whatever and hoe off any scrappy little weeds that are still showing.

This works pretty well.

Don't use poisonous weedkillers they stay in the soil and have environmental effects.

One of the best things about your own vegetable plot is you can have great tasting organic food for pennies!

Answer 3

I had excellent luck this year with the following strategy: In the spring, the weeds were up before most of my perrenials (which you don't have to worry about since its a veggie patch), so I used weed killer (round-up or wipe out work great) and made sure not to get any on the perrenials that I like. I still needed to weed once in a while, but boy was it ever way less than previous years. FYI I also did this in the areas of my garden where I plant tomatoes, chili peppers, and swiss chard. They all turned out beautifully. The killer only kills green plants -- it will not kill anything planted in the soil at a later time. Happy gardening!

Answer 4

You can use a weed killer onj your vegetable plot. It is just a matter of selecting the right one. However, that will not eliminate the need to weed your garden. Nothing can do that. Where you have a garden you will always have weeds. You can try the heavy mulch no tillage syste- lay down a 2-3 inch layer of mulch (compost would be ideal) over top of existing soil and plant through that. The theory is that by not tilling the soil you do not break the weed seeds ot their dormancy and they do not germinate. Key to this system is that you do not walok on the beds themselves but on pathways between the beds to prevent soil compaction.

Answer 5

Weeds are a pain, if only everything else grew like they do! I'm afraid they won't just go away if you dig the soil up. I would advise against weed killer as it will harm most other things too. If you really want the best results, prepare to get dirty and rub on plenty of elbow grease and make sure you pull out all the roots!
Good luck.
PS: A good session of weeding is actually very relaxing and therapeutic.

Answer 6

The bad news is as the saying goes: One year of seed is seven years of weeds.

You are going to have to pluck out many weeds but cheer up - over time (If you catch them before they seed) they do become less and less.

I would turn over the ground with a rotavator right now (the weeds will form compost) and again in 6 weeks, just before you start the vegetables.

Answer 7

when we started our we rented a rototiller and tilled up the ground weeds, grass and all. we went over the area five times to make sure the soil was nice and loose. i did have to get some larger chunks of grass that wouldn't break up. after the 3rd and 4th time we tilled we added a 20 pound bag of manure to the soil. do not use any weed killers, or any other chemical it might get into the food and you will ingest it when you eat it. if you are worried about weeds after use straw in between your rows of plants as a mulch. you can also use grass clippings after mowing the grass. these will help keep the weeds down. with the grass clippings when you are done with the garden for the year can be tilled in the dirt for compost.

Answer 8

Sorry mate, if only it was that easy! You've gotta get the roots out, and i properly out, or they will just keep growing and growing. They will never ever completely go, but don't weed killer- it can sometimes affect your veg bad! I got so annoyed about weeds in my plot that i got a buddy (who's a pyro-technical expert) to blow up my plot, and then i had a massive bonfire on it. and the bloody things still came back!

Good Luck!

Answer 9

Weeding is unavoidable with veggie growing - unfortunately! I seem to remember that using a rotivator is not a good way to prepare soil, as it cuts up the eed roots into lots of pieces, which then grow into many weeds. Personally, I do all the weeding by hand.
If you need to use weedkiller, use one with glyphosate, as they say that the chemical used does not stay active in the ground afterwards.

Answer 10

I would'nt use a weed killer. It could do with double digging as the land has'nt been cultivated for so long but as your plot is quite large, i'd say a rotavator, the trouble is, if you use a rotavator, the weeds will be chopped up and spread into the soil, so you need to clear the sight of as much weed as possible. It's gonna be a big job for you but it'll be worth it if you do it thoroughly.