[MulesMarinair]

Hi folks
It's been ages since I was last on this forum (about two children ago!) and with our oldest being 5 and showing an interest, I went resurrected a small bit of the garden where we kept the veg patch.
We also have had chooks for the last few years and moved them up there.
But, the garden was well overgrown and I finally bit the bullet and had all the brambles and overgrowth scrapped off.
So now I have a lovely (brown) blank canvas, albeit with lots of roots and seed still below the surface.

I'm going to reinstate the veg patch and beds, but there is still a large area that I'd like to seed with wildflowers or lawn.

I was wondering what the best tactic for this is.
Should I wait a few weeks, let whatever seed/roots is in there germinate and come up and then kill them off?
or maybe is it a case of rotovate while it is still fresh, level it out and get some seed in while I still have some weather.

Any tips?

Thanks
MM

[Yorkie]

When was the ground cleared?  Any rotavating etc will bring more seeds to the surface which will need to be hoed off or otherwise killed.

I'd try to get roots out before planting anything on top.  Depending on the nature of the roots, rotavating might just make your problem far worse, if it chops perennials up into lots of smaller plants ... 

If planning on putting lawn down, I'd try to get it seeded in a week or two's time.  September is an ideal time for this, and I note you're quite far north so don't have such a long growing season as someone a lot further south.

Wildflowers probably should be sown at a different time of year. They prefer poor soil (i.e. don't fertilise) and I don't think they should be planted together with lawn seed - they compete with each other.

[MulesMarinair]

Thanks Yorkie
Ground was cleared on Wed, so only just.  Plans for this weekend are to pick stones, rubbish and try to get up some lingering roots.
After that I think I'll aim to even out the bumps and get grass seed sown asap.
I might put a green manure down where the veg beds used be for now and leave it over the winter.

Can already feel the autumn snap coming here in the mornings so it isn't far away!

Thanks again
MM