[neil1967]

To speed up getting my plot ready can i rotavate it even though it has couch/dock and brambles or will this just cause me more problems later on?

If it is o.k to rotavate will it be best to skim off the top growth or just mix it in.

Neil

[richyrich7]

Downside rotavating will chop it all up giving you loads more weeds  
Upside rotavating will break up the soil making it easier to weed, plant, hoe etc, repeated rotavating will kill all weeds eventually.

Me, I tend to spray off with roundup wait for a fortnight or so and the weeds are starting to die then rotovate.

[shaun]

its not a straight yes or no answer neil,there's a few things to look at like how much couch/docks and brambles there is,you need to remove as much as you can by hand,if it was dry I would say have a fire and burn the lot down to the ground   ,but at this time of year your best is to strim it down and remove by hand,
then its the soil has been dug over recently or is it compact because unless you have a big rotavator you will be pissing into the wind,the average size machine will just bounce of it and you will injure yourself or even worse damage the rotavator.
once you have it turned over and rotavated at full depth you will need to keep doing it but only the top couple of inches to kill any new growth of weeds etc

[Swee'pea]

Rotovating - quick to break soil surface up so you can get in and get to all those couch grass roots but downside is all the beneficial worms you kill with each pass of those blades....I personally am going the long and painful route on my new plot and doing the dig n weed by hand version.....it's what makes gardening so worth while . also rotovating, so I was informed, at a family run gardening centre a couple of weeks back, compacts the soil under the surface if it is used too much....think the terminology used was soil plateau or something like that.

[compostqueen]

Non-rotovator here. Can't stand the blooming noise they make.  The guys on my site know this and torment me for months with the damn things  
When they want peace and quiet though they come to my plot  

[Leapyear]

Have to agree with the majority,best to dig and hand clear the plot first,also gives you the chance to see whats lurking in the soil....ie;wireworms etc :evil:
Plus.......... my bl**dy rotovator is still not working :cry:

[shaun]

Non-rotovator here. Can't stand the blooming noise they make.  The guys on my site know this and torment me for months with the damn things  
When they want peace and quiet though they come to my plot  

mine purrs like a rolls royce  

[compostqueen]

nah, monotonous drone  

[Stripey_cat]

I'd not rotovate.  All those long roots wrap themselves around the axle, and you spend more time cleaning the damn thing than using it.  Also, wear goggles - I got an inch-long bit of muddy nettle root in my eye, and nothing but the dew on the grass to wash it out with!

[Peterjohn]

Could not even keep my section up without a rotavator, I use a honda so the engine is quiet compared to other machines.The plot I work is approx 160 mtrs x 10 mtrs wide, so the thought of using a fork I dont think I would get to the end before the weeds would have started at the other end. I also use the machine to keep the weeds down on my plot, you hardly ever see any weeds on my section.

Peter

[Aunt Sally]

Never seen a rotovator on my site !

There are quite a few non-diggers there now,  but I love digging (or rather getting Worzel to do it)

[shaun]

ive posted these pics before from last year but it just shows how a rotavator can do a brilliant job in a very short time,ok I don't do raised beds its just plain simple effortless gardening

spread muck on top of the soil



and turn it in with the rotavator  



and the same bit of plot a few months later looking the other way

[gobs]

Very nice.

[Aidy]

I have used mine to great effect last year, but I still dig, I would do a pass then get the fork in to remove everything I could and continue to fork, then rotovate again, I use a tiller as a mechanical hoe which makes very light work of weeding between rows. I agree with everyones answer, I dont use it a lot now as it kills the worms big time (unless they have big ears like Shauns so they hear him coming) but my plot is weed free all but the anuals and this is down to the rotovator. I would probably go over it 3 times a year.

[richyrich7]

Nice Shaun, but I'd watch out some one with a flat bed truck's gonna nik your mantis