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Hi all, I'm new(ish) to the forum and to the wonderful world of allotments (and to be honest have not done much gardening since working on fruit farms in the west country as a teenager) so please be gentle with me.
Mrs Convolvulus and I took on an overgrown half plot at our local allotment a few weeks ago and after a fair bit of skip diving (hundreds of feet of old decking and 4"x2"), fleabaying (£20 greenhouse), freecycling (replacement panes and slabs for greenhouse) and a lot of digging, sawing and barrowing we have gone from this;
to this
Still quite a bit of work needed to sift out the couch grass and bindweed from the sods we've dug over but we are starting to get stuff planted.
Most of the useable land is now covered with raised beds, a greenhouse and a fruitcage (which we inherited) but my first query is what to do with the shaded area under the apple and cherry trees in this picture.
The compost bin will be moved (it just has weeds in to at the moment) and the mound of soil/weeds is sitting where a fruit tree was removed by the previous holder.
I could just level it, cover with matting and use the council supplied chippings to suppress the couch grass, bindweed and nepalese raspberry that are competing for domination of that corner but I'd rather do something more interesting/useful.
Option 1 - weed out as much of the couch grass and bindweed as possible and let the nepalese raspberry take over - the previous holder seemed to like it but it had rather run amok and apparently never fruited.
Option 2 - weed out the couch grass, bindweed and raspberry and plant something else that compete with them.
I have quite a few comfrey tubers and nettles which I've dug out from elsewhere - which seem to be able to look after themselves. Would they be OK in a shady area beneath a Bramley?
Any other suggestions for something to put in a shady corner which will be able to hold its own against these creeping challengers.
Many thanks;
Mr C.
Mrs Convolvulus and I took on an overgrown half plot at our local allotment a few weeks ago and after a fair bit of skip diving (hundreds of feet of old decking and 4"x2"), fleabaying (£20 greenhouse), freecycling (replacement panes and slabs for greenhouse) and a lot of digging, sawing and barrowing we have gone from this;
to this
Still quite a bit of work needed to sift out the couch grass and bindweed from the sods we've dug over but we are starting to get stuff planted.
Most of the useable land is now covered with raised beds, a greenhouse and a fruitcage (which we inherited) but my first query is what to do with the shaded area under the apple and cherry trees in this picture.
The compost bin will be moved (it just has weeds in to at the moment) and the mound of soil/weeds is sitting where a fruit tree was removed by the previous holder.
I could just level it, cover with matting and use the council supplied chippings to suppress the couch grass, bindweed and nepalese raspberry that are competing for domination of that corner but I'd rather do something more interesting/useful.
Option 1 - weed out as much of the couch grass and bindweed as possible and let the nepalese raspberry take over - the previous holder seemed to like it but it had rather run amok and apparently never fruited.
Option 2 - weed out the couch grass, bindweed and raspberry and plant something else that compete with them.
I have quite a few comfrey tubers and nettles which I've dug out from elsewhere - which seem to be able to look after themselves. Would they be OK in a shady area beneath a Bramley?
Any other suggestions for something to put in a shady corner which will be able to hold its own against these creeping challengers.
Many thanks;
Mr C.
It's not a welsh poppy at all but some sort of weed....pretty but still a wild flower 
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