To Rotovate or Not To Rotovate

[helss]

Hi everyone

I have recently taken on two new plots at my local allotment site and have been advised by other plot holders to strim and then rotovate the site. Now, I have read conflicting advice on this - some say to do it, some say not. What do you think? The plots are covered mainly with nettles and dock with some grass in between. I am thinking that rotovating would bring up all the seeds and create more problems. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Scarlet]

Yes, i think you'll find the majority of grapes on here will agree with you. Strim and dig, cover over the areas you can't get too with card and plant through with squash courgettes etc.

If you use the rotavator you'll chop up all those roots and make another thousand plants! Stick to your guns!

[bearded bloke]

Hello & welcome

If you use the rotavator you'll chop up all those roots and make another thousand plants! Stick to your guns!

Agreed

[Bill HH]

If you have a clean well weeded plot then I suppose rotovating is ok to loosen the soil. But as has just been said chopping up weeds like couch grass, docks and nettles will see you cursing the day you ever saw a rotovator. In the end you will have to dig it out or smother it but it will be far worse than if you do it slowly and carefully now.
If you are not anti chemicals you could spray it with round-up a few times and then rotovate it but of course that is a decision for you.

[roitelet]

NOoooooo Don't rotavate. I did it once a long time ago to a plot covered with creeping buttercup and spent the next few years trying to get rid of them. Dig small areas after strimming and cover what you can't manage. You won't regret it in the future even if it seems to take ages now.

[alldigging]

I think it depends what you want to do after.

If you think rotavating is the answer to avoiding lots of work, it's not.

If you think it'll break into really horrid ground then you're in for a surprise.

In the right situation it can help.

covering flat soil with cardboard is an easy way of killing the weeds whilst you work on small bits at a time.

Taking two plots on at the same time sounds a bit crazy (unless they are tiny ones)

[Greenleaves]

Strim, cover, dig. Bite sized areas that you can manage, plant and maintain.

I strim, then using a sharp hoe scape them to remove remaining growth to soil level. Cover and then dig bit by bit.

To give an example a guy took on a new overgrown plot and went the rotovator route.....worse now than when he started

[snakeshack]

Don't rotavate as said above it is a marvellous way to propagate weeds and will destroy your soil structure. Cover with cardboard to exclude light and prevent weed shoot penetration then top with manure or compost . You can cut holes and plant through and after harvest leave over winter. The worms will mix the soil and manure over winter and in the spring when you dig the soil will be much improved


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[The Nichols']

I fully agree with everyone else. I made the foolish mistake of rotavating my potato bed this year. The problems I've had with the weeds compared to the fork dug beds is unbelievable. I'd only say rotavate if something is desperate to go in to save you time in the short term. Long term, you'll be weeding a lot more.

[crucy86]

I know I’m going against the grain here but I rotavated my plot at the beginning of the year. It was a new plot and full of weeds, I did confirm there wasn’t too much couch grass etc. and rented the biggest rotavator I could get my hands on.

It buried the old grass and weeds really far down and so far, have not come back to haunt me yet. When I have been digging down to plant I have noticed lots of rotting material which I can only presume is the weeds, I may have just been lucky with the weed types and the fact I have quite heavy clay soil but it appears that they are far enough down (at least 10 - 12 inches) to be suppressed and have rotted.

Rotavating has however ruined my soil structure slightly as I had large ish lumps of clay sitting on the surface, however lots of rain and no doubt a frost in the winter will help sort that out

Weeds are starting to come through but nothing that appears more than any other plot on site. As I say, I probably have been VERY lucky however it has meant I have been able to fully utilise my plot, which for me I think was important so I didn’t get down about the lack of progress! I’m one of these people who likes to make big changes in a short space of time! although having an allotment has started to cure me of that!

to be honest, I would go with the majority - just because it seemed to work for me, doesn’t mean it will work again. I do wonder however if it was successful purely because I rotavated it very deep and its simply buried the material so deep that its suppressed it and killed it off?

either that or it will be back next year! :P in which case I fully expect everyone to say "I told you so!"

[ceborame]

I got an allotment 3 months ago and rotavated it about 2 months ago, because i saw it as a way of getting out of lots of digging.

Massive mistake, all the weeds came back and its worse than ever.

My advice would be to spend your money instead on a really top quality digging spade.

[WendyC]

I got an allotment 3 months ago and rotavated it about 2 months ago, because i saw it as a way of getting out of lots of digging.

Massive mistake, all the weeds came back and its worse than ever.

My advice would be to spend your money instead on a really top quality digging spade.

I've seen exactly that on the plot next to me. Two men took over the plot which had been mainly covered and wasn't too bad. Hired a rotavator and provided amusement to those of us nearby as they bickered about whose go it was!
Then they left it and came back about a month later when all the seeds had germinated, mainly chickweed, and it looked like a green carpet. By that time the soil had dried out and the surface was like concrete. One evening one of them turned up and was shocked by what had happened. He tried to get a fork in but couldn't.
Eventually they covered it up with flimsy landscape fabric which shredded. The weeds grew even more. Finally they gave up within the season, never having planted anything.

[helss]

Thank you so much everyone, didn't expect to get so many replies so quickly. I have been up to the allotment today and decided that it is a bit late to get much in the ground this year, so I am going to cover it with cardboard and bark (we get it free on the site) and then work on a small area at a time and maybe get some winter crops in. Thanks again, it's great to know that there are so many of you out there will to help a mad newbie

[WendyC]

You could get some lettuce going, perhaps runner beans. Look out for kale or broccoli plants at the garden centre.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Wendy's right, helss - the garden centre will sell you squash and beans, I think, both of which you can bang in to your new plot.