jamiepro1 Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 I have took on my first allotment. I'm just wondering if anyone could tell me there views on rotavating my weed ridden plot. Is it better to go down the rotavating road or to do the clearing by hard graft and by hand? Cheers in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sibon Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Depends on the weeds. If you have a lot of bindweed and/or mare's tail, don't even consider rotavating, unless you want to multiply the problem by a factor of 1000000000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnomi Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Couch grass, bind weed etc- avoid rotavating like the plague! Personally I prefer the hard graft way, far more effective in the long run! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadique Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 @jamiepro I will let you know my experience and hope that will help you make the decision. I took a new allotment on Ouse Road allotment in May last year. It was overgrown - primarily with nettles but also plenty of couch grass. I invested in a petrol strimmer and cut away the long (around 5 ft tall) growth and then let it to rot and dry. In Feburary, I started to work on the allotment to prepare the soil - and I went the hard way. But with roots and everything - it was so difficult. I gave up and hired a rotavator for a day and just rotavated the whole place. My allotment is 20 metres by 12 metres - so big in size. After rotavating - I planned out the layout and THEN dug the ground again manually as and when I wanted to plant - but this time it was easy for me to do so - while removing roots and weeds etc. Yes I did get the weeds - but I feel this is not as bad as everyone mad it to be. I have kept the weeds in control and they are not as bad as the person next door who did it manually. But - he is retired and is there almost everyday. I can only work on weekends. Now - Pros - It speeds up the process and makes digging and breaking the soil easy. Keeps you 'Motivated'. Cons - Costs you bit of money and you get 50% more weed, but that can be managed. You are welcome to visit my plot on Ouse Road in S9. I will be happy to show you around both my plot and my neighbour's plot. You may decide then. I have some pics on my facebook If you are interested. Kind Regards, Mohammad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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