Identifying weeds in the allotment

Identifying weeds and their roots when weeding the allotment or garden weeds.

 

Black Nightshade

Black Nightshade Solanum nigrum

Dandelion seedling

 Dandelion seedling

 

Dock weed and roots

 Dock with long tap root. You need to remove all of the root otherwise it will grow back again.

Ground Elder. Aegopodium podagraria

 Ground Elder Aegopodium podagraria

Horsetail. Equisetum

  Horse tail. This has small black roots that break easily. They are almost impossible to eradicate.

 

Convolulous climb up and stangle other plants and take the sunlight.

Couch grass have strong wirey roots

Fat Hen. Chenopodium

 Fat Hen Chenopodium

Lesser Trefoil. Trifolium dubium

 Lesser Trefoil Trifolium dubium

 

  Nipplewort Lapsana communis

Red Dead Nettle. Lamium purpureum Red Dead nettle Lamium purpureum Stinging Nettle. There have orange-yellow rootsThistle have long tap roots. You will have to remove the whole root otherwise it will grow back again Willowherb are tall attractive weeds but they spread like mad. Short-fruited WillowherbWillowherb flower

 Short-fruited Willowherb Epilobium obscurum

 

Smooth Cat's-ear

  Smooth Cat’s-ear Hypochaeris glabra

 Sun Spurge Euphorbia helioscopia

Wood Avens. Geum urbanumWood Avens. seed head Geum urbanum Wood Avens seed head

Wood Avens seedling and seeds

 Wood Avens Geum urbanum

Wood Crane's-bill. Geranium sylvaticum

 Wood Crane’s-bill Geranium sylvaticum

Photography Neil Bromhall Complete Garden planting advice, plant identifier and pruning guide CD-ROM

Saving the Allotment

        

Allotment holders’ bid to save plots from housing plan.

Allotment holders across Oxford defiantly said they would dig for victory in the battle to save their plots from the treat of new houses.

Planners have identified three allotment sites on which 400 homes could be built in a confidential list of potential sites if demand for housing continues to soar. These new housing plans will spell disaster for what little green space is still left in Oxford. At a time when growing your own food is seen as increasingly important for people’s health and the environment we need to be opening more land for allotments, not slapping housing on ones that already exists. With the ever increasing demand for new housing the battle lies between the need for housing, as against protecting our important green spaces. In 2000 the city council, which rents allotments directly to associations, agreed a standard lease agreement until 2021 – effectively meaning allotments are free from development for another 14 years.

Most of the 36 city council-owed plots are bound by long-term leases, meaning they are free from development until at least 2020.

Allotments are incredibly valuable spaces. In addition to growing your own tasty vegetables which saves on carbon miles as the vegetables are locally grown rather than grown abroad, they keep you fit, are educational and save you money.

SPORK. Innovative British design garden tool

Innovative garden tool.

The spork. Half spade half fork the spork is an ingenious two in one garden tool.

Designed by Oxford engineer Robert Todd.

This light weight but very tough blade can be used for general digging. The 75cm long wooden handle is suitable for both men and women and make light work of digging.

The blade has an ingenious cutting edge for cutting through roots, slicing turf, trims lawn and border edges and slices through heavy clay. 

The blade has gaps which reduces the weight, also the surface area is less and doesn’t become so heavily clogged in heavy soils making digging a laborious back-breaking chore. The blade can riddle soils like a fork.

The triangular pointed teeth can make easy work of weeds in a gravel path as well as raking for seed drills.

This nifty garden tool can be used for digging in the garden as well as making light work of digging and planting vegetables in the allotment.

The SPORK blade is easily sharpened to keep a true edge throughout its long working life.

Robert has also produced the SPRAKE and smaller hand working garden tools in much the same ingenious design.