To rotovate or not to rotovate, that is the question

[benhowell1]

Hi,

I've recently got my hands on a half plot allotment and have decided to go for a raised bed approach as I'm hoping this will be easiest to manage.

The plot is essentially weed free at present so my question is, shall I rotovate the site first before building my beds on top or do I need to get a dig on?

The last thing I want is to create a weed problem where there isn't one!!

[jackarmy]

Think youve just answered your own question Ben and welcome to the vine .

[Bigmallly]

Hello Ben & welcome to the vine, I see no problem rotovating if the area is weed free & the soil not too claggy.....the problem comes when you chop up perennial weeds which would just multiply & re-root.

[PyreneesPlot]

I see no point in rotovating if you are putting raised beds on it. Less chance of chopping up your worm population, too

Welcome to the Vine.

[veggiechicken]

I'd put down cardboard where you're going to put the raised beds and build them on top.
Make sure you've removed as many perennial weeds as you can first.

[cptncrackoff]

Hi,and welcome!

Although I now own three different tillers, I no longer use them...

The first two years, I dug out a lot of bindweed, the third year I used a Rotavator thinking I had cleared most of the bindweed..How wrong was I!
I'm now in a worse position than when I started trying to remove it.

That aside, I found the actual rotavatoring as difficult as digging,this could be down to the age of the machine.

Also I seemed to have far more weeds in general the year I rotavated, although it was much easier to sow seeds straight away rather than making a nice seed bed I didn't really notice any improvement in the soil, I feel that the soil is happier with no rotavating.

There are several plot holders on our site that have rotavated the same three, four or more times since summer, every time a warm period throws up weeds, the resulting ground is quite compacted and has a 'washed out' look about it come spring.

I've nothing against rotavator users, each to their own, but i'm erring on the side of trying to really look after my soil, to improve growing conditions and for me, this doesn't include rotavating.

[benhowell1]

Thanks

This forum really is excellent....lots of useful answers, thank you. It turns out the rotovate I was going to borrow has died a death so will be digging all the way anyway. Looking forward to getting going now!

[jonny the plant pot]

Hello and welcome .
You won't get big muscles by using machinary
I've got a full plot .admittatly im only 42 but wouldn't dream of using a rotithingy nothing better than putting absolute 80s on the headphones and having a damm good dig.

[Muddy_Boots]

Hi there

Just joined this forum, this will be my third year with my plot but on the first year I had it I just gritted my teeth and dug the whole length of it as it was full of Twitch Grass and Dandelions. If I'd of used a rota thingy I'd of been looking at even more of a thatch of grass roots later on, never mind the Dandelions.

The soil on my plot this year is now perfect and to dig it all for the winter just took 1 hour, the soil structure is fantastic. One plotter nearby also uses a Rotovator all the time and the soil looks heavy and soon as spring starts I've noticed the weeds go rampant.

My advice would be use a spade every time.

[Glutton4...]

I'm a fan of te 'no dig' method, personally. I only dig if I wanna put something big in, like a shrub. If you're using raised beds, I'd be in agreement with the mad chicken above, and put cardboard down in the base of the beds, and add a decent medium on top. Why dig if you don't have to?

And welcome to the Madhouse!

[Binky]

Hi all,

I'm new here, just joined yesterday. I've had my plot for a year now,it was split into two when I acquired it. Half beautifully left by an elderly gentleman 'mucked in' and ready to go. The other half was knee high in weeds. I covered it for the whole of last season just using the other half. The last few weeks I've pulled back the tarps and dug out all the dandelions and as much of those brown stringy pieces of root (sorry,I have no idea what it is called) as I could. It has been walked on an awful lot so I'm thinking the ground is quite compacted, is it a good idea to rotivate or not? Am I making my weed problems worse?

Thanks :-)

[Muddy_Boots]

Dig; I would advice the no chemical approach. Digging. Very time consuming and laborious but worth it in the end. You have not poisoned the soil fertility or the food stuff you plan to grow. Furthermore you have avoided exposing pollinators to glyphosate.

Well said Stamets, I'd also like to add that using a rota thingy will also kill any worms in the soil as they do not multiply when you chop one in pieces, all you get is one completely dead worm. Even with digging if you chop a worm in half as quoted on QI, you just get 2 pieces of dead worm but at least they have a chance of surviving by being missed by the spade. As you should realise soil without worms in is not a good thing and it will take a good while for them to repopulate the plot again.

[4390evans]

Ive rotavated once in the 5 year I have been gardening and although it is fun I find it very damaging on the worms.
My best friends are spade and fork, they are so much better for the earth and wont destroy the structure of the soil.
If you are putting raised beds in depending on how deep you are having them I wouldnt bother digging.