Advice on clearing area for vegetables...

I have just bought a new house that has lay empty for a few years and I want to try growing my own veg etc. There is an area in the garden that looks like it used to be used as a vegetable plot, however it has been overgrown with moss/grass and daffodils etc.

As I want to use this as a veg plot I am looking to dig this area up. Does anyone have any advice before I start digging away? Is it fine to just clear the surface or should I be killing the moss/grass/plants with something before digging?

Also once the area is cleared is there anything I should be putting into the soil before planting veg to give it nutrients or anything? I am a little unsure since the patch has been left for so long with no attention. Any advice greatly appreciated...

 

Hi there welcome to GC

There are a few things you can do...

There's the dreaded weed killer which means you won't be able to use the land for a while(depending on what you use)

There's covering it to kill the weeds but this takes time and you'll still have to do alot of digging

Then there's the route of hard work and digging, start in a corner and take the weeds out with their roots (althought I'm not sure about how this works with the moss), pot up the daffs( if you can't wait till they're done flowering),

Once youre done then soil conditioner/compost will probably be needed or if your leaving it till next year a good amount of manure will do it the world of good,

There are others that know alot more than me on this so don't just take what I say, The dogging and hard work is what I've done to mine

Good luck

 

Yup, I'd agree with sweetpeas, dig it over and take out the weeds and moss by hand. I'd then get some soil improver and dig it in if you don't have any homemade compost. I'm using New Horizon peat free Mulch and Mix for the first time this year and it seems pretty good. I'd also add some general fertiliser e.g. Growmore, Vitax Q4 or chicken poo pellets.

It'll be strenuous work but will pay dividends later. See how your first crops turn out and keep a gardening diary so you can make improvements next year.

Good luck.

 

You need to be getting started, really, as the planting season is upon us (notwithstanding that Any Time will do, of course, just it seems a shame to delay and start late etc.)

So with that in mind my approach would be:

1. If you are not adverse to chemicals use a herbicide containing Glyphosphate (such as Round up). Don't get it on any plant you want to keep, don't let the spray drift into your neighbours garden (use a coarse spray, rather than a fine spray) - its designed to kill anything it comes into contact with, of course! Do not "wet" the plants to the point of it running off - you want to put enough on that you get just to the point of run off.

2. Wait two weeks. Re-apply to any patches you missed, or that have not turned yellow. Wait another few days.

3. If the plot is a decent size hire a Rotavator for the day and get the soil broken up. You need the sort of Rotavator that powers the wheels (and the tines) rather than the "Merry Tiller" sort that just powers the tines (they won't dig virgin soil at all well). Otherwise dig it.

4. Start planting!

Variations:

If you are fit and the patch is small enough you can dig it. Remove every single root you find from pernicious weeds (such as bind weed).

When you dig scrape the top inch off (grass / moss / etc.) and put it at the bottom of the bit you dig - as you dig you will have a trench that you can put this rubbish into). Grass side down, it will rot down and provide good "loam" which will retain moisture and the plants can get their roots into.

The Rotavator will chop up all the roots it encounters. Each one will form a plant. The weed killer should have destroyed most of the weed but, around here, the bind weed isn't above the surface yet, so none of that would be killed. I would still adopt this approach, and live with having to remove / kill off each weed that reappears - you could cover the whole plot, once rotavated (or dug even) in some sort of black plastic / weed membrane and then make little Cross-shaped cuts and plant through the plastic. That will help keep the weeds down the first season, or two.

 

hi fuvquia

as this is a new garden i would start with a small section to grow in and be patient with the rest as only hard work and time will bring about the end result. in time with plenty of digging and removing persistent weeds you will get control, also keep digging in plenty of well rotted horse manuire the more the better , this is a time tested way to succeed .

good luck rpdiy

 

this is what it looked like before

there was more brambles and stingys that i thought

 

We moved into our house two years ago. The garden was like a meadow - grass/weeds and plenty of stones. We fenced off one area for our chickens and next to them we fenced off the vegetable plot.

We found that we just had to remove the grass cutting it like turf; take out all the weeds by hand; apply a lot of food, eg. chicken pellet manure and invest in every gardening tool there is. Our chickens have been a real help. When we were digging initially they came into the veggie plot and helped remove slugs etc. We put a pile of turf that we'd removed into the chicken area and now they've worked it down to soil! That is very useful.

Our friends all said that potatoes would break up the soil, and its true they did. All the hard work has been worth it. Don't get me wrong there's a lot more to do. But if you do it the hard way, you will be grateful later. We are organic so we never use pesticides etc.

Good luck!