clearing allotments easily

get someone else to do it hahahaha!!! well on gardeners world last nite Joe did a thing on allotments and he said the council provided a service where they bring in a digger to scrape of the surface! this may not apply everywhere tho! after that you will need to get as many of the roots out as possible and dig/rotovate to break up the soil!

I saw that, Ickledigga. Not sure where Joe was, but thought his Council was very good if they provide: scraping with digger AND compost AND woodchips all for free! I obviously live in the wrong area.....

not sure about the digger but i know people who have gone and asked for free compost from the council as they have contributed with their green bin! We get woodchips for free from a local tree surgeon he's glad to get rid of them and delivers them too! We give him a tray of eggs as a thank you but you can get them for nothing!

The allotment Joe took on looked like part of a field that had never been used as an allotment before .... how come there were no paths left by the previous holder, neglected beds or dilapidated compost heap that many of us experience when we take on an allotment?
Did you ask advice about clearing the site when you arranged to take on the allotment ? It may be worth mentioning Joe's experience to them ... nothing ventured nothing gained :-)
What is th state of your allotment? Is it like Joe's full of maretail or ...... ?

We took on an allotment 3 weeks ago, and we have basically just dug it over with a fork and spade. We are lucky though that it wasn't too badly overgrown, just lots of crouch grass, bind weed, docks and dandelions! Our soil is quite light though, not clay based so it hasn't been too bad to dig out...

Hi Everyone, Thanks for your comments. Our council has done away with its person for allotments and put it in with parks dept. They reckon I could wait 2yrs if I wait for them.
Apparently they want to get ride of the allotments so they are not encouraging anyone.Has any one had experience with weed killer or just putting carpet or plastic down to kill the weeds off. I will dig what i can but I'm sure there will be some I don't get too. The soil seems pretty good. Theres a lot of brambles to clear. I'll have to be in an Indianna Jones mood. Although I do love clearing overgrown gardens. Best wishes Charlotee