To Rotovate or Not

[Lavenderblue]

I just wonder about your opinions on rotivating.

Our plot is mahoosive (20m x 16m), not been cultivated for donkey's years and we think the only way for it to be even a bit productive this year is to rotivate it. As far as we can tell there is no couch grass, just normal grass in big tufts that come out with the swipe of a fork, some brambles that we have hacked down and some nettles to one side which i am tackling by hand. Will we be starting down a road to oblivion by rotivating it?

[pigletwillie]

If you are clear of couch and bindweed it may well be your route to salvation however it may pay to get it ploughed first as this will help the rotovator get down to a worthwhile depth.

Clear whatever you can weedwise first and then call in the cavalry. Just get the hoe sharpened as lots of annual weed seeds will be disturbed and start to germinate. They will need cutting off regularly.

My new half plot is expecting the rotovator next week.

[Lavenderblue]

we can't get a tractor up the lane or getting it ploughed would be a fantastic idea. Its going to be a problem for muck delivery time too.

Top tip about the hoe, i will get it out of the shed and inspect it. I will inspect plot on friday for bindweed. I know we have a few bobby's buttons (I don't know the proper word for it!) along the fence but they don't go further than 50cm from the edge of the plot.

[snake the squadie]

dont do it. i know it sounds easier but it was the biggest mistake of my gardening life. i am still paying the price

[Lavenderblue]

Why do you say that Snake?

[snake the squadie]

well for starters its a lot harder than it looks. secondly the amount of weeds that grow now has gone up 10 fold they just got scaterd to the winds. thirdly all the other allotments have now got loads of weeds because of me. best advice is take it very very slow just dig what you need then plant and just keep doing this for a couple of years until it is all sorted

[mackenzie]

Personally I wouldn't rotovate, though I can see the attraction. Use a really good deep root weedkiller, and work on small areas at a time. It doesn't all need to be done this year. Kill it and cover with carpet until you can do it.

[jeannine]

Personally I would never use a weedkiller, I'm all for the easier and cheaper ways to deal with a problem than buying poisons.

Also, I wouldn't use carpet as it can have toxins in the backing material. Apparently it breaks down and gets into the soil, so its use is banned on some allotments.

Having said that, I completely agree with mackenzie's advice on doing a bit at a time, and covering what you can't do - anything that makes your plot more managable is well worth it.

I can see the arguments for and against rotovators - some of my neighbours swear by them, and I used one on my first plot (that hadn't previously been touched for 6 years and I got it in summer so the ground was solid). On my new plot, we just dug the areas we planned to use for beds, but the ground there was easier to work.

What about having an allotment party (with lots of food) and getting your mates to come and help you dig 6 by 4 foot beds, leaving the grass in between for your paths?

What ever you choose to do, good luck with it and have fun!!!

[pigletwillie]

If a rough plot is rotovated then I totally agree, any weed issues are just going to be magnified many times over for you and your plot neighbours and the cover and clear policy is the best option.

If you have a clean plot however, I really cannot see the problem. If you rotovate or dig you will disturb annual seeds which will germinate and need hoeing off but other than that there is nothing to spread other than a fine tilth ready to plant on.

I dont mind hard work but if an opportunity is available to bring a reasonably clean plot into quick production, then to rotovate it would be, in my mind its far better than digging away with three quarters of your plot under cover till you find the energy and time to dig.

On our plots, far too many newbies gave up after the first year as most of it was either under plastic or covered in weeds and they could just not see the light at the end of the tunnel. We now, clear, plough and rotovate and hand over a clean, ready to plant blank canvas and lose far fewer newbies as, not only can they see that its manageable, but more importantly, they actually get to plant the ground and despite weather or any other problems, manage to harvest a bit of something and once they take a trug of produce home, they tend to be hooked.

[travellers joy]

I've been asking myself the same question over and over. I have so much neglected for years plots covered with nettles, brambles and old mans beard that can live for over 50 years I wonder if I will ever get it under control. My peasant neighbours tell me to weedkill the lot and then cultivate next year. But I'm not going down that road. So I'm cutting and burning and wondering if a rotavator wouldn't help. Then I start diogging and pulling up roots and it somehow seems the only solution on a hill farm that no tractor can get to. Will I have the energy and will to carry on?
Watch this space

[SarzWix]

If you're absolutely certain that there's no nasties in the soil like bindweed, couch grass, horsetail etc, then the rotovator seems like a good idea. But you have to keep in mind that some weeds won't even be showing above ground at the moment - my plot is full of horsetail, but there's no sign of it now unless you dig & then you find stringy black roots going down for metres So really check under the soil in many places, before you start! Also, the rotovator can cause a hard 'pan' of earth under the surface, so once you've done it you might have to do a bit of digging too, to loosen the subsoil for drainage.

Traveller's Joy, welcome to the 'Vine, and good luck with your project. Don't forget that light deprivation can kill/weaken weeds too, would it be possible to cover some of the ground up? Or you could try a flame gun?

[Two_Sheds]

I believe there's no quick fix: I've learned to be slow but thorough. I did my overgrown plot, with ALL its persistent perennial nasties, by hand, with a fork. It was all done and under control and planted, and productive, by the second year.
On rotavating, here's one we prepared earlier:
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ces_10765.html

[starwatcher]

are you going to build raised beds, if you are then I would clear an area build some beds and get somthing growing, you can then keep control of the weeds in the beds by mulching and weeding and work away at the rest slowly

[Lavenderblue]

We think we are going make little beds (6 x 4 maybe) with paths in between. Our plot has just grown another 1.5 meters because our lovely neighbours and us decided we didn't need a 4m wide path between our respective plots. Its now 21m x 17m so space isn't an issue. We've done really well and almost cleared half of it of brambles and massive clods of grass. The nettles are proving to be right b*ggers to get out but they won't beat us! I think if we do rotivate it this year we will just grow green manure on half of it and cultivate the rest.

we are still not sure what to do - well Simon is convinced that rotivating is the way forward, i am not so sure....

[Pyewacket]

Hi Lavenderblue,
I am now starting my 3rd year with an allotment & I was a 'vegetable virgin'. My allotment is the standard 250 sqm (massive) & was a piece of old pasture that had last been cultivated 6 years previously. The nettles and weeds were 3 or 4 ft high in places!
I paid to have my allotment rotovated and would recommend it every time. Many 'old hands shook their heads and sucked in their teeth (a bit like plumbers) but I've never regretted it. Yes some weeds did come back and yes they still do re appear BUT it would have taken years to clear it by hand. I would advise you to leave grass paths in between your beds though, I didnt do this and wish I had as I have had to make paths using old paving slabs and bits & bobs. Pyewacket