rotavating

[vicki]

We are two thirds of the way through digging our new plot - covered in weeds so loads of hard work - but after we've got all the nasties out, is it worth rotavating? There seems to be such a lot of different advice on it - one of the 'old boys' on the allotment suggested it today (probably cos he hires out his rotavator for £20 a day! Is it a good thing to do, or not neccessary?
HELP!!

(by the way, I am having a fab time and soooo pleased with how its all going so far!!!!)

[dexterdoglancashire]

So pleased things are going well Vicky! Think there is an article in this months GYO re: digging/rotavating - or knowing my memory may have dreamt it!

I have read that there are many different "fors" and "againsts". Something to do with the type of weeds you have growing - you don't want to rotavate the nasty ones as they will only spread and grow again.

No doubt everyone else who has more in-depth knowledge than me can help!

Even though my back garden is small, I did think about hiring a rotavator, but then thought hey (can't afford it!) but just divided my garden up into sections and tackled each one, digging and weeding by hand. Yes, it was hard work, but extremely satisfying and I knew that all the weeds etc were out before I added the fertilizers etc and then my crops.

Hope this helps! (?) DDL

[NOG]

Digging.....that was outdated when they built the Canals.....

[Insert]{Standard Advice no1}
Get your plot.
Burn it off.
Run the rotovator over it and pull out any weeds or roots. Its better to have too people you rotoavt and they collect the roots behing you.
Cover it it leaves, Compost, Grass cuttings any thing green that you can get your hands on.
Rotovate it all in.

Rotovating opens the ground up and if it has been left breaks it up.

I rotovate very time a bed is empty just to mix in the greenstuff.

I wouldn't hire one at £20 a go. I got two (a bit of a long story) after a week of looking a Mountfield for £40 and a Al-CO for £125. As I only needed one I put a card up at the allotment for £200 for the AL-co and had to beat them off with a stick.

Look in the Friday Free Adds (also on Web) there are loads of them.

[vicki]

Thanks DDL! I have to admit, although its been hard work, it was such a good feeling when we looked at what we'd achieves before we left the plot today, and worth every minute. It finally looks like an allotment plot, not a bid overgrown weed patch wher you couldn't see the edges! I love it!

[dexterdoglancashire]

Once you get the "bug" you can't stop! DDL

[nick the grief]

Depends how much you like digging Vicki Thats why I'm in negotiations to aquire one of someone I know . Rotavating greates a nice fine tilth but if you do it too much you can get a pan so some folks reccommend double diging every now & then - Bloody hard work if you ask me

[Snadger]

Depends how much you like digging Vicki Thats why I'm in negotiations to aquire one of someone I know . Rotavating greates a nice fine tilth but if you do it too much you can get a pan so some folks reccommend double diging every now & then - Bloody hard work if you ask me

Agree with you Nic, I think regular rotovating to the same depth will cause a 'Plough Pan' Thats why farmers plough to different depths!

Having said that, I've never seen a farmer with a spade in his hand!

[Shortie]

What's "Plough Pan"...?

[nick the grief]

it's like a frying pan only comes with a choice of cheese or ham

Only joking Shortie, if you use a rotavator all the time to the same depth the bottom of the tilling depth becomes compacted & hard & won't let water drain away and effectivly means youonly have that depth of soil.

If you double dig occasionally it breaks this hard pan up & if you incorparate compost or muck you'll convert some of the subsoil into topsoil ( only about 1" per year ) so you get a greater depth of soil.

[NOG]

Also depends on you depth of topsoil and what you are on. My allotmens are 6in (if you have a good one) of topsoil over yellow clay. So a rotovating i my case helps. I also notice the more you rotovat the deeper you can go.

[dexterdoglancashire]

Have just dug over my plots again, for the final time this year, found that the soil was much, much easier to dig than it was in the first place! when I first dug it over with my peddled special fork, it was really hard work, ie. 3 or 4 presses on the peddle bit - managed to dig them over with 1 or maybe 2, presses on the fork. Goes to show all my hard work earlier this year has paid off!
Realise I'll have to do some double digging at some point - next year methinks, but am pleased that my hard digging efforts earlier this year have paid off! DDL

[rustylady]

Double digging sounds like torture!! I know the theory and it sounds good, but it's hard enough single digging.

The only time I've double dug was when I was clearing my daughter's back garden (new build house) and I had to because of the rubbish the builders had buried.

Worms and friendly beasties do a lot of hard work for you if you let them, and if you use plenty of organic matter (manure and compost) they drag it down into the soil for you. A couple of seasons of this improves the soil structure no end.

I'm a bit wary of rotovators - they spread perennial weeds like bindweed, dock and dandelions, and bramble roots. The site looks lovely when first done, but the chopped up bits soon start growing so you have to either pull or dig them up anyway. Dock roots in particular go down a hell of a long way.

Also, maybe I'm a softie, but what about all those earthworms that get chopped up into little tiny pieces.

[NOG]

and feet....must wear boots.

[Lesley Jay]

Nick when the OH does the rotovating he goes down deeper with the rotovator than I would if I double dug the ground.

[Snadger]

Nick when the OH does the rotovating he goes down deeper with the rotovator than I would if I double dug the ground.

LJ, do you garden on a beach then?