Preparing the Ground

Here are a few top tips to help you make the best job of preparing your vegetable plot.

  • Be realistic about  what you can achieve. Completing an area at a time will be much more satisfying than only getting half way on an area that’s too big to handle.
  • You can clear and cultivate one piece while you prepare the rest of the plot to sow from the following spring.
  • Cut down brambles or saplings with shears or a strimmer to ground level.
  • If the soil is full of weeds, you can cover them with some black permeable membrane, which is sold by the metre at garden centres. Spread the membrane over the ground, making sure it is fixed well at the edges by digging them into the soil or placing bricks around all sides. This will smother the weeds and make the clearing process much easier. You can leave the area for up to a year, so this is a good way to prepare untended areas too.
  • To make the job of clearing the weeds easier, another alternative is to apply the systemic weedkiller glyphosate. The chemicals travel through the plant and kill the roots. It will take several weeks to have an effect but suddenly the weeds will turn yellow and die. Rake off the dead material.
  • If you need to remove turf, you will get very little regrowth of grass if you have a good, deep soil. For large areas, you can hire equipment to strip off the turf. For small areas, it is easy to do by hand by pushing a spade under the turf about 5cm/2in below the surface and lift it up in strips. Stack up the turf, grass-side down, and you will soon have a stack of quality soil that can be put back on your vegetable plot.
  • If your soil is poor, you may be better to spray the grass with glyphosate weedkiller. Do it on a bright, but not hot, day and it will take two to three weeks to show results, although you can start to dig in the turf after a few days. This is quite hard work as you need to break up the clods of grass and roots. It is best to dig a 30cm/12in deep trench first, and then turn the turf back into this. The aim is to bury the grass clumps so that you have an easier soil surface to cultivate.
  • Dig over the plot thoroughly to at least a spade's depth but preferably a bit deeper to loosen up the compacted layers, removing as many of the roots as you can.
  • If the soil is very heavy clay or very sandy, it would be beneficial to incorporate plenty of farmyard manure or garden compost before sowing or planting .