How should I prepare my soil for winter?

Okay so the first year on the allotment went well, then I had to work away for a month and the weeds completely took over of course!

So what I'm thinking is, pull up as much as I can, then rotovate, sow green manure, then cover over winter with cardboard and black plastic.

I have however seen that rotovating can really multiply horsetail and couch grass which is not what I want, so what would you seasoned lot recommend as an alternative? Would simply green manuring and then covering work just as well for when we dug over in the spring? When is the best time to actually dig over and weed the plot? Is it possible to rotovate and weed as you go?

Happy to put the elbow grease in if long winded is the way to go but don't want to waste time or make it harder for myself come spring!!

Happy planting all! X


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Hi Amy,If you have couch grass of mares tail I would not rotovate the plot as you say you will only chop every thing up small and make weeding next year harder.If you are going to sow mustard then do so but when it has grown about 150mm or a bit more dig it into the garden.Dig and leave as rough as you can without leaving any green mustard showing,this will allow frost to get into the ground more.I suffer from couch grass,so what I do is after a few frost's is look to see if any grass is starting to show, if so and if possible dig out the roots (not the full plot ) and just leave on top of the soil to let Jack Frost do his work.

 

Id just cover it in plastic and come back in the spring and see how it looks and weed from then on.
Plant some garlic into the plastic for next year while your at it.

 

the Amish farmers put a coating of Lime powder on top of the soil, for the last thing they do. makes the veggies sweeter.

 

Personally I'd have hit it with glyphosate a few weeks ago, its a bit late now.
Not sure about sowing green manure and covering, got me a bit confused there.

Sow green manure but dig it in, in the spring

But if you have persistent weeds you cant actually do that.

So I would just dig it rough, take out any weed you can, and leave for the frost to work on it.

 

Thanks everyone for your suggestions - Pete, I'm trying organic for now, so I want to hold off on the glysophate (much as I just want to nuke the couch and horsetail everytime I see it) and see what I can achieve with suppression. With the green manure and covering - I was going to sow it now, then when it's reached a good height, chop it up (either with rotovator or not) and cover with cardboard/black plastic so it forms a mulch which can rot down over winter and early spring.

What does it mean to 'let the frost work on it?' is that all about letting the water get in and expand to aerate the soil?

redstar I did not know that! I'll have a go with the lime - might be time to test the ph of the soil anyway! Thanks!

fileyboy I don't have much couch but I do have a bit of a horsetail nightmare since I first got the plot back in January... I'm tempted to rotovate however because I feel like the horsetail is so impossible to get rid of the only solution is just to pull it up as it comes - and I'll have to do that whether there's ten or a hundred shoots! And maybe if they're smaller shoots they'll be closer to the surface? Maybe it's fool's logic, but the alternative is digging them all out by hand and some of the roots go six foot deep I've heard! But I do hear you - I know rotovating will mean more work in the long term....decisions decisions!

xxx

 

My thoughts are that going organic is much easier said than done, possible.
but dont turn your back on it for more than a couple of days next spring.

Horse tails suggests its badly drained, which could be a problem in a wet winter.

If you sow green manure now, I doubt you would get enough growth to dig in this side of next April, so that is why I was confused about covering.

If you dig it over rough the frost will break it up over the winter, and make preparation much easier next spring.

 

Hi Amy,as pete says digging now and leaving rough will let both the winter rain etc,get down into the ground which will help when the frost come's along,if you have very little couch grass then digging and leaving over winter will help as you could just fork out the grass before you rotovate it in spring.As for mares tail,some years ago a chap near to me on the allotments took over a plot that was covered in mares tail,he covered the whole plot with carpet and black plastic,left it alone for 12 month's just cut holes in it and planted what he wanted.When he took up carpet and plastic nothing was thereBUT within 3 month's it was growing back,so all he did then was just run over it with a hoe to keep it down and he grew some very good crops and won a lot of prizes in our shows.
I hope this help's you with your problem,enjoy your plot,and have many happy hour's on it.

 

Horsetail is such a survivor! I'm almost in admiration of it - it really just wants to live! It doesn't really bother me too much as long as I can keep on top of it. (Watch me revoke that statement come next spring and bring that emoticon into play!) I heard a rumour about horticultural vinegar applied to the crushed stem - anyone had any luck with this?

I have loved my first year on the plot, thanks so much for your advice, looking forward to the next! x