Grow Your Own Magazine

I took on an allotment about 6 months ago which was overrun with Giant Hogweed (I didn't know this at the time!) I have since been forced off the plot by said weed and am now in the process of moving and starting over again from scratch! (The allotment with the weed will be 'poisened' off and left for a year)

I was wondering if I should risk moving the Raspberry canes, Rhubarb and Gooseberry bushes that I planted earlier in the spring? Will they survive the move? And is there a risk of taking the Hogweed with me?

Advice please!

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Kermit aka Jade

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad

Two choices that gaurentee no seeds or seedligs transferred, you need to cost them.

Leave em and buy bare-root replacements at the appropriate time of year.
Cost new plants.
Risk of loss low.
Time spent low.

Dig em up and pot them, keep in pots until autumn and then plant out at new site.
Cost, pots, compost, feed, space, transport, watering.
Risk of loss high. (go on, go on holiday )
Time spent high.

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Could you just take some cuttings from them to raise new plants? I think gooseberries are easy, dunno about rasberries as I normally just divide those.

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Bonnie Rait

What does hogweed look like ive not come across it before.

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It is quite a statuesque plant growing to approximately 8 feet high!!! It has reddish hollow stems and and the sap can give you severe burns. A friend of mine was working as a summer temp for the council and they gave him the job of strimming it down! Poor bugger was of work for ages with severe burns on his arms!:
Go to google images and type in giant hogweed for some piccies!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Cant beleive the council were so stupid! Mind you they gave me an allotment covered in the stuff even though both me and the friend I 'allot' with have small children!

If anyone does come accross and Giant Hogweed please be aware it is a notifiable weed and you must call the council and / or environmental heath! Oh, and it's only Giant Hogweed that's the problem - Hogweed is not the same thing and as far as I know it's completely harmless.

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Kermit aka Jade

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad

Why dont the council respond in the same way with asbestos? Loads of it at our plot, they wont even tell us the nearest place to dispose only that we will have to pay ourselves for experts.

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Yo an' Bob
Walk lightly on the earth
take only what you need
give all you can
and your produce will be bountifull

This was 20 years ago, when Enviromentally Friendly, Carbon Footprint, Health and Safety and Risk Assessments were unheard of!!!!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Just as a warning, parsnips are just as bad if they run to seed and you start cutting them down & the sap gets on you. It's a photosensetive reaction I think so be careful if you get an allotment with these on as well.

Back to your problem, I would have said lift them & wash all the soil off the roots and replant but with the weather that we are having at the moment I'm not so sure they'd survive. Were they container grown? If so you may be able to lift the original rootball & transplant them.

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ntg

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Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic

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They were bare root.

Think I might just get some more and replant when I can. As Peter points out, for what it will cost to replace them it's not worth taking the risk!

Thanks for the advice everyone!

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Kermit aka Jade

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad