PLease help (its for the kids!!!)

Hi All
Last year i was preparing my garden for a lawn , then due to some discraceful behaviour by a neighbour of mine (story is too long) I lost the access to the back of my garden. Access is now restored and I am desperate to get a lawn down for whats left of the summer for my kids. I have managed to get enough topsoil to fill the area (sort of dipped between 2 paths)and have strimmed away the weeds (which were taller then me in places!!!) what i need to know is basically if I use a petrol rotavator on the remaining area will this dig up the weed roots sufficiently to put the new soil over before turf or will I need to dig them out by hand?? Don't get me wrong i'm not shy of the shovel but time is against me and I can only get at it in the evenings after work.
Cheers in advance.

 

Welcome to the forum Blackylad.
If you rotovate the area it will NOT get rid of the weed roots. You will just chop them up and most of them will grow. Sorry if that's not the news you wanted.

But I don't think you have to dig them out either - that could be a big job.
You say you ave strimmed the weeds.
What I would do is let the weeds come through and spray them with a systemic weedkiller. Look around the shelves for the most suitable product for you. Yes, I know we don't like the stuff but as a one off thing I can live with it.
Once you've killed off the weeds you can spread your topsoil and lay the turf.
A couple of weeks should do the job.
I hope you get a nice place for your children to play.
See what others think.

 

Roundup is the stuff to use, I use it myself, about (£20 from Wilkinsons) but be careful with it, it will kill everything it touches so pick a calm windless day to avoid spray drift.